Silicon Valley: home of the computer and of the computer terminal.
A large percentage of people in Silicon Valley have at least one thing in common: they spend many hours at the keyboard of a computer terminal. They have another thing in common: tight shoulders, back pain, and in many cases, carpal tunnel syndrome.
So let me say a few words about keyboard hygiene -- things that you may not have heard before. Because if you want to avoid stress or repetitive use injuries, you're going to have to take care of yourself. Later in this article, I will offer you some suggestions for doing so.
Tight shoulders, back pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome do not come from mechanical problems of the body. They are not "hardware problems"; they are "software problems" --problems of conditioning, and in particular, of conditioning of the brain and muscular system.
The brain is an organ of learning; it controls the muscles of the body. If your muscles are too tight, the problem lies not in the muscles, but in the brain that controls them. It has been conditioned to maintain a state of muscular tension. The mechanical problems of the body come from your brain's software -- how you have learned to apply yourself to your work.
HOW PEOPLE PROGRAM THEMSELVES INTO HEALTH PROBLEMS
You may notice that people who work at a keyboard spend long periods sitting in one position. As they do, three things happen: they enter a heightened state of concentration, they hold relatively still during those periods of concentration (except for their hands), and their breathing and circulation decrease.
Let's look at what happens with each of those aspects of self-programming.
Heightened Concentration
Usually, keyboard workers enter not merely a heightened state of concentration; they enter a state of high-speed concentration -- the race to beat the deadline or to meet the quota. To work at high speed involves a heightened state of tension.
This heightened tension affects workers in two ways: their whole body gets tense, particularly in the low back, neck and shoulders; and the muscles of their forearms, which control the movements of the hands, get especially tense, possibly leading to tendinitis in the wrists or carpal tunnel syndrome. Neck tension pulls the neck vertebrae closer together and can cause pinched nerves.
Long periods of tension, like long periods of exercise, create a kind of conditioning. As someone programs themselves (i.e., learns) to meet the demands of a job -- they get used to the tensions it entails. These tensions tax the body and form the bodily basis for job stress, burnout, and medical consequences.
This kind of self-conditioning also creates carpal tunnel syndrome. Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, which involves burning sensations and numbness down the arms, has the same origins.
Lack of movement leads to stiffness.
Movement interrupts tension habits. Conversely, lack of movement while under tension leads to conditioning into a state of tension. Postures become set; people "set up" like jello --but without the jiggle! They get stiff on the job. Stiff jello.
The position most people adopt when working at the keyboard involves suspending their arms with bent elbows, hands over the keyboard. This position places strain on the muscles of the back and shoulders below the shoulder blades, which prevent the shoulders from rolling forward. Those muscles get tired and sore and produce mid-back pain.
The combination of intense concentration and lack of movement is a sure formula for stiffness and stagnation. It is an often unrecognized fact that muscles pump blood as they relax and contract. Muscles that stay in heightened tension produce metabolic waste products that accumulate. The effect is stagnation and fatigue.
Circulation Decreases
In addition, muscular tension blocks blood circulation (since blood must circulate through the muscles). This tension-induced blockage makes the job of the heart even harder, deprived as it already is of the pumping action of muscles in movement.
Decreased breathing leads to decreased mental clarity and decreased productivity -- not to mention decreased vitality.
Lack of good keyboard hygiene contributes to tight shoulders, to low back pain, and to Worker's Compensation costs.
WHAT TO DO
Take stretch breaks. A stretch break interrupts the formation of a tension habit and flushes out stagnant body fluids. There are certain movements that you can perform to prevent tension from accumulating in your back, shoulders, and forearms.
Better than a stretch break, however, is an exercise break. Five minutes of calisthenics -- windmills, side-bends, and running in place -- can make your morning break feel like a vacation. No exaggeration!
Another way in which you can reverse the effects of prolonged keyboarding is with somatic exercises. These exercises reverse the conditioning that result in habitually tight muscles; they refresh your ability to relax.
So break your concentration. Interrupt your "productivity program". Take care of yourself.
WHAT HAPPENS TO MANY PEOPLE WHO DON'T PRACTICE GOOD KEYBOARD HYGIENE?
(CHRONIC PAIN, CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME, AND HEIGHTENED JOB STRESS)
Accumulated tension takes its toll. Once accumulated past a certain point, tension cannot sufficiently be eliminated by mere stretching and calisthenics. The person has lost too much bodily awareness to release the stored tensions; you can voluntarily release only the tension you can feel. So the "tension program" continues to run on automatic.
People at that point turn increasingly to massage therapists. Massage therapy produces healthful benefits, and it can be addicting! On-site massage has become increasingly popular in recent years.
However, massage therapy has its limitations. For one thing, the benefits are only temporary; massage therapy can be an ongoing expense of which people may tire -- at the expense of repetitive use injury. Often, by the time chronic tension has produced a Worker's Compensation claim, the person is generally beyond the help of a massage therapist. Their brain is too conditioned to let the muscles relax for long. Something else is needed.
That "something else" is to gain control of his or her muscular tension. The most direct means is an approach called, "somatic education."
Somatic education reprograms the brain. It improves or restores natural control of muscular tension by a physical learning process in which you participate actively, coached by a somatic educator. The somatic educator's job is to make it easy for you to regain control of your muscular tension, so almost everyone gets results. This approach differs from massage and chiropractic because it leaves you self-sufficient and able to manage conditions that might otherwise ultimately require medical intervention, such as surgery. There are numerous forms of somatic education: the Alexander Technique, the Trager Approach, Feldenkrais Somatic Integration, Rolfing Movement, Hanna Somatic Education, and others. Some produce results faster than others, and some produce significant improvements nearly immediately.
Thomas Hanna, the developer of Hanna Somatic Education, put it this way: "You can have your cake and eat it, too!" -- meaning, "You can live in this high-stress society and avoid the effects of stress -- if you take care of yourself properly." Learn and practice good keyboard hygiene and feel better in your job.
Of course, if you let things go for too long, your last resort may be your doctor -- or his favorite surgeon.
