Dealing with Posture Problems?

WebfishUK asks: "Musculo-skeletal problems (such as back pain) affect most computer users sooner or later. Like others I spend many hours sat in front of a computer and wonder what the long-term health implications will be. I recently came across a website for an application called Posture Minder which apparently runs in the background and uses your web-cam to monitor how you are sitting and warn you about bad posture habits. It sounds like a neat idea (prevention being the best cure and all that), although the website doesn't have a download. Do Slashdot readers have other devices or any habits that they have adopted to mitigate the health risks of spending a lot of time in front of a computer?"

Much simpler...

[cp.tar]

I dumped my 18-year-old chair (one of the wheels is broken anyway) in favour of a pilates ball.

It's way more fun and forces you to keep your back straight.

And you can bounce on it while waiting for something slow to complete.

Good for sex, too; my gf says it feels like floating.

excercise helps

[dotmax]

I've spent twenty years working in the control rooms of various particle accelerator facilities. I earn my money by sitting on my ass, using a keyboard, mouse and trackball and staring at a bank of monitors.

i find that almost any kind of upper body excercise helps a lot. I live next to a river, so i kayak regularly -- it really helps keep the musculo-skeletal parts all tweaked up. Juggling is good. I imagine climbing, basketball etc help too. Bicycling is almost useless (i ride a lot, it's just not good for upper back problems). Unicycling is way good. :-) Some of my collegues like to lift.

There's only so much posture / workstation ergonomics can do for you. Excercise is the real key. .max

good question ; )

[mattmacf]

Gee, what a unique [slashdot.org], exciting [slashdot.org], fresh [slashdot.org], unheardof [slashdot.org], never-before-asked [slashdot.org] question!

In all seriousness though, this "Posture Minder" thing is nonsense. I'd be willing to bet it's nothing more then an overpriced motion sensor with a few health tips. My advice? Invest in a post-it note or two (or schedule a periodic alarm) and remember to get up and stretch every once in a while.

Re:Much simpler...

[Anonymous Coward]

Thou shallt not google 'fleshlight'.

Seriously, if you didn't figure it out already, you don't want to google it.

Try this

[kkohlbacher]

try Workrave

http://sourceforge.net/search/?type_of_search=soft &words=workrave [sourceforge.net]

This is a pretty good program that pops up a reminder at set intervals, telling you to get up and stretch. If I'm not mistaken it provides stretching 'tips' as well. Forewarned that you need to take time to change the default settings once its installed. They are atrocious and you'll end up cursing me out for ever suggesting it if you don't. It'll also minimize full-screen games and what not.

It's not posture-related but I came across another tip. Stick your finger out (I prefer index, but if your having a bad day make your choice) about a foot, focus on your finger for 20 seconds, then look in the area behind your finger for 20 seconds, repeat a couple times -- or until you start to hear people laughing. It's supposed to relieve eye strain. Works for me.

Re:Much simpler...

[Anonymous Coward]

It's way more fun and forces you to keep your back straight.

This is a myth. It is perfectly possible to sit on one of these balls with terrible posture. We have plenty of them at work, and I don't sit any straighter on them than I do on a regular chair.

Weightlifting

[Anonymous Coward]

Get yourself an olympic barbell set, a power rack, and flat bench. Lift weights 2-3 times a week. Bench press, chin ups, deadlifts. Slowly and in good form.

Re:One more reason to bemoan the good old days ...

[Joe The Dragon]

the ones who are unreasonable with helper dogs are brakeing the law and they can't fire you for trying to tell them about that.

Re:excercise helps

[Anonymous Coward]

Keeping in mind that the majority of computer users, such as myself, tend to roll or hunch their shoulders forward basicly training their chest not to strech. By doing lots of chest exercises, and not having proper training or form while doing some of the exercise can actually make the problem worse by giving you a very strong unstrechable chest, which makes back problems 100X worse.

Re:One more reason to bemoan the good old days ...

[Broken scope]

If you are in the US that is illegal under the AWDA (amer disablities). If she has that dog to aid her with a disability she can get a court order to allow her or sue the hell out of the company.

Re:One more reason to bemoan the good old days ...

[Fluffy the attack ki]

1. Employee A brings dog to work, improving their morale. (productivity +X)
2. Employee B doesn't like dogs, is distracted and annoyed. (productivity -Y)
3. ???
4. Profit?