From smartphone wrist and WhatsApp thumb to mouse arm, tablet neck, screen eyes and Game Boy back. Physical complaints of computer and gadget use have been lurking for decades. Preventing RSI is better than a cure, which is why you will find various tips and useful free apps for healthy use of your devices in this article.
In medicine, people often talk about rsi, repetitive strain injury. This is a collective term for all kinds of injuries to hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, neck or back due to the continuous repetition of specific movements. As a result, the muscles are constantly tense, there is less blood flow and painful compression and inflammation of the nerves can occur.
Rsi develops in three phases. It starts with a feeling of fatigue and mild pain in muscles and joints, but that disappears after a period of rest. In a second phase, the painful sensation persists even after longer periods of rest. You feel tingling and you experience loss of strength. In the third stage, the pain no longer goes away and you can barely use the muscles or joints. These are called trigger points. Rsi refers to this last stage.
Rsi is unfortunately not easy to determine. There are also many other conditions that can lead to these symptoms, such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or bursitis. There is no specific treatment for RSI: dosed movement remains important as long as the movements do not cause extra pain.
Correct PC Posture
In the first instance, you would do well to observe a few ergonomic guidelines. And that starts with your sitting position in front of your PC. Your chair preferably has armrests and provides sufficient support for your back. If necessary, you can attach a lumbar roll (or a rolled up towel) to the bottom of the backrest for extra support.
Place both feet flat on the floor or preferably on a footrest. Keep your forearms horizontal while typing, with elbows at least 90 degrees. Preferably use a wrist rest or purchase an ergonomic keyboard. Keep the mouse as close to the keyboard as possible. Get into the habit of operating the mouse alternately with the left and right arm.
Your monitor is at an arm’s length from your body, with the top edge approximately at the level of the eyebrows. Prevent disturbing light reflection on the screen image and use a document holder that you position at eye level.
The 20-20-20 rule states that every twenty minutes you look at something twenty feet (six meters) away for twenty seconds. Blink your eyes regularly, pay attention to your breathing and try to breathe slowly from the abdomen.
Correct smartphone posture
Avoid uncomfortable positions while using your smartphone as much as possible. So do not clamp the device between your ear and your shoulder, for example. Do not hold your smartphone convulsively, but try to keep your wrists as straight as possible and to relax as much as possible.
Do not hold the device too far from your eyes and keep it about chin height to avoid bending your head and neck forward. Do not hold the device on one side of your body, but nicely in the middle. That way you don’t have to twist your neck.
You prefer not to type keys with the tips of your thumb or fingers, but with the bottom. You also prefer not to do it with the same hand that you use to hold the device. Better yet, you place the device on a hard surface while you tap.
Do you frequently use a tablet? Then purchase a separate mouse and keyboard, making sure that your wrists receive sufficient support.
take breaks
To avoid repeating movements too much while using the computer, regularly take short breaks. You prefer to perform physical actions that further reduce the risk of RSI disorders. In principle, some self-discipline is sufficient for you, but there is software that reminds you more forcefully of such breaks and exercises.
It is a well-known tool of Dutch origin for free workrave. When you start Workrave, a movable window appears with a countdown for the different break types. Right click in this window, choose Preferences and go to the section Timers.
The options on the first three tabs (Micropause, rest break and Daily Limit) work the same. You can turn the timers on and off, you give Working time, Break duration and delay time in hours, minutes and seconds. You also indicate whether there should be a button with which you can take the break Delay or To skip.
You also set whether a pause request appears and the maximum number of times that occurs. With the usually longer Rest Break, you can also set the number of animated exercises you want to see during that break.
In the section User interface indicate whether the keyboard and screen should be locked during such a break. You can also set here whether Workrave automatically works with Windows start up. Through the section Network it is even possible to force colleagues or family members on other network PCs to take breaks.
Pomodoro Technique
There are also many mobile apps with a similar setup. Many apps focus on the so-called Pomodoro technique for this. Pomodoro is Italian for tomato and thus it is a nod to the original design for kitchen timers.
The technique states that it is best to work in four blocks of twenty-five minutes, a so-called Pomodoro, which you interrupt with a five-minute break. After each Pomodoro you have a 15 minute break. After four sessions, you took a break of about twenty-five minutes.
Here you will find an overview of ten decent Pomodoro apps, for various platforms (besides Android and iOS, often also for macOS, Windows and browsers). You will also find many more or less comparable apps when you search the official app stores for terms such as timer, reminder or pause. You will surely find something to your liking.
Preventing Tired Eyes
So far, we’ve focused on RSI-related conditions, but intensive screen use can also lead to eye ailments, such as asthenopia (eye fatigue). These ailments arise from the overuse of the eyes.
This is reinforced by the fact that on average you blink four times less per minute when you look at a screen. This keeps your eyes less moist. Computer eyes are often referred to as red eyes, itching, blurred vision and even inflammation.
EyeLeo is pause software that specifically focuses on preventing eye ailments. You configure the tool from the Windows system tray via Settings.
Here too you indicate how often you want a short or longer break and whether you want to avoid (Enable strict mode) that you can interrupt the breaks. During such a break, you are then given simple, animated exercises, such as rolling the eyeballs or looking alternately to the left and right.
Limit blue light
So it is absolutely not good for the eyes to look focused for a long time and to blink little. What is also not good is the blue light glow from a screen. Watching a screen at night can even have a negative impact on your sleep. So, finally, some tips on how to do something about it.
Most computer monitors allow you to configure contrast, brightness, and color temperature via a built-in OSD (on-screen display) menu. You should preferably set the latter to about 6500K (Kelvin) during the day and about 3400K in the evening, so that the screen emits less blue light.
You can also control the color temperature from Windows 10. Go to ISettings / System / Display / Night Light Settings / Power On Now. The more you move the slider to the right, the warmer (less blue) the screen light gets.
To automate this process, put Night Light on On and choose you Night light settings. Select Sunset to sunrise or choose Set hours and decide for yourself between which times you want this function to be switched on or off.
What applies to computer screens applies equally to the screen of your mobile device. Both iOS and Android have built-in functions to reduce the blue light glare.
In iOS, go to Settings and navigate to Screen and brightness where you Night Shift selects. Via the slider at Color Temperature adjust the intensity. Choose Planned to switch this function on and off automatically based on the position of the sun or according to your own start and end time. You can also find a similar option on macOS, via System Preferences / Display(s) / Night Shift.
It’s not much different with Android. Also here you go to Settings where you Display select and then (something like) Comfortable screen for your eyes chooses. Turn on the feature and tap Adjusted. You can now set the desired color temperature and Set up schedule you can also choose between Sunset to sunrise or Adjusted.
Hopefully, with the tips, apps and software mentioned above, you can now prevent the most common complaints!