How To Be A Healthy Programmer

ermahiggins — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 09:10:21 +0000

Computers undoubtedly make our lives easier and save a lot of time. We use them to perform a number of tasks like shopping and paying bills or communicating with other people, but there is a price to pay. Headaches, low back and neck pain, muscle strain and sore eyes are ailments commonly associated with sitting in front of a computer screen for a long time.

Most of us have experienced these health issues to some extent, but people who are especially prone to suffering from them are those who use computers in their work on a daily basis. These include translators, accountants, office workers, and IT specialists. Fortunately, you are not doomed to pain and there are a few simple ways to avoid it.

Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS)

After working for long hours most computer users complain about watery and bloodshot eyes, conjunctival redness, burning and tingling, headache, drowsiness, apathy. Most also give symptoms of blurred vision and the feeling of dry eyes.

The reason behind this discomfort is the fact that working in front of a computer forces your eyes to continuously focus and align to the changing images on the screen. Your eyes need to accommodate to what they see in order for the brain to interpret the images correctly. The task is much more demanding for your eye muscles and requires greater effort than, for example, reading a newspaper. The eyes have to move in a way they are not naturally intended. To make matters worse, a light source facing a computer screen causes a significant glare, which may contribute to the feeling of eye fatigue. Older monitors may additionally cause a noticeable flicker of images, which is not only irritating, but may also cause eyestrain. Other harmful factors are excessive or poor lighting in the room, incorrect posture during work, and an inappropriately arranged workstation. If you are worried about CVS, implement these simple changes in your work environment and follow the advice.

How to prevent it?

1. Use proper lighting.

Minimalize the glare and reflection on the screen by moving the monitor away from a direct light source. The windows should be to the side of your monitor, and remember to avoid excessive overhead lighting. Instead, you should aim for a number of different sources of ambient light.

2. Rearrange your workstation

Your screen should be between 40 to 70 cm from your eyes. That is why CVS is more common among laptop users, as with laptops, the distance between the screen and our eyes is much smaller. In addition, the centre of the screen should be about 20 degrees below your eye level.

3. Remember to blink

A healthy person normally blinks about 18 times a minute, but it has been found that this number falls to as little as 4-5 times when we are working in front of a computer screen. Why is blinking so important? Its main job is to keep your eyes moist and dirt-free. An inadequate blink rate could lead to dryness and irritation. If you experience dry eyes, ask your doctor for artificial tears, and try to blink more often to rewet your eyes.

4. Upgrade your monitor display

Buy good quality large IPS display 19 inches or more. They have a sharper display, usually with an anti-reflective surface and produce less harmful glare. Another thing you can do is to adjust the brightness of your screen so that it matches that of your work environment. Also, change the contrast between the background and characters on the screen if it is not high enough. If you wear glasses, remember to get anti-reflective (AR) coating applied to your lenses.

5. Take breaks and exercise your eyes

A good way to give your eyes a rest is to look away from the screen every 20 minutes and gaze at a distant object for about 20 seconds. This would relax the focusing muscles in your eyes and reduce the feeling of tiredness. You should also take more short breaks and walk away from the computer. According to a study conducted by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), workers who take up to four 5-minute breaks throughout the day, reduced the feeling of eyestrain and fatigue.

Computer Back and Neck Syndrome

If you spend long hours hunched towards a computer throughout the day, you are more likely to suffer from the so-called computer back syndrome. The term refers to posture and back problems, as well as a sharp pain in the upper and lower back and neck. This is caused by prolonged and excessive stress placed on the muscles, nerves and joints. Generally speaking, even if you keep a good posture, your spine is under much greater pressure when sitting than standing or lying down. To make matters worse, people with desk jobs may find it difficult to keep the perfect posture for 8 hours or more. They have a tendency to twist around in their seat, cross their legs, change the position of their feet. All this may increase the feeling of tension and back’s overload to an even greater extent.

Overweight and hypertension

The link between sedentary behaviours and overweight has been known for a long time. Since IT specialists tend to spend hours sitting in front of a computer screen, it should come as no surprise that they are at great risk of developing overweight or even obesity. There are several reasons for it. One obvious factor is the inactivity of sitting, as a result of which your organism burns fewer calories. In addition, people with sedentary jobs are likely to munch on sweetened and salty snacks, eat irregularly and choose junk food over healthy diet, which does not help to prevent overweight. What is more, the researchers from Tel Aviv University discovered that placing your backside under mechanical pressure, such as sitting down for prolonged periods, actually makes the cells in your stomach turn into fat cells much faster. To make matters worse, larger weight is often associated with higher blood pressure levels.

Fortunately, there are a few steps you can take to reduce the risk of overweight and hypertension.

Start with your diet: make healthy food choices and watch the portion sizes. Avoid fast food and processed food, and if you must snack, opt for fresh and dried fruit or nuts, instead of sweets. Eat regularly and make sure you do not skip meals.
Cut down on coffee you drink throughout the day, as caffeine may raise your blood pressure. For the same reason, you should also quit smoking and limit your alcohol intake.
If limiting your working hours is not an option, try to adopt a more active lifestyle after work: take regular exercise, go to a gym, start jogging, etc. If the weather conditions allow, leave your car in a garage and walk or cycle to work.
Sit as little as possible. You can try working at a standing desk or just stand up as often as possible during breaks or at meetings. If you have a tolerant and progressive boss, ask them for a treadmill desk, which is taking the standing desk to a new level!

Between coding, developing new software and applications, IT professionals spend significant amounts of time working in front of a computer screen and putting their health and well-being at risk. Whether it is stress, eye muscle strain, pain in the back or headache, when unattended to, these issues may have serious health consequences and lower the productivity and performance of the workers. That is why, it is in the best interest of both the workers and employers to address these problems as soon as they start to occur, or better: prevent them from happening in the first place. Fortunately, with a few changes in the attitude and working environment, most of the health problems can be easily avoided or reduced to a large extent.

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