Sitting long hours is an issue?

[Jason]

Lot of us sit in front of the computer for long time due to work and projects. Is it an health hazard and what needs to be done to avoid health problems in the old age?

 

[Lamb]

Lot of us sit in front of the computer for long time due to work and projects. Is it an health hazard and what needs to be done to avoid health problems in the old age?

Yes, it can harm your health to be inactive. Get up and stretch every hour if you can and move around a bit. When I used to work and sit at a computer for 9 hours I was told to get up and walk around or visit other floors...maybe take the stairs. You need to get your circulation going. You might not realize that you aren't sitting properly either, leaning to one side or being hunched over. Your hips and back will suffer after time.

One of my friends used to complain about lower shoulder pain until I noticed she had her monitor in a corner of her cubicle (so that people walking by couldn't see the scree since we worked on top secret things) and so she was twisting her body to view the screen. That caused her back/shoulder pain and once she corrected the monitor to a different position and bought a screen cover then she felt better. She didn't think about how many hours she was in an odd position and hurting her body.

 

[Josiah]

My desk here at work rises..... I'm standing right now at my desk. Helps a BIT

 

[tango]

It certainly can be, particularly if you're sitting at a desk that doesn't adjust so it suits you. Being tall I find most desks are designed for shorter people and it can be a struggle to adjust anything to a point I'm comfortable. I had terrible trouble at my last permanent job because the health and safety requirements for workers who sit include endless lists of how chairs should be adjusted, and yet it wasn't possible for me to achieve such a position because my desk wouldn't rise high enough. But because of the increasing insistence on open plan offices, desks tend to be part of a longer setup so adjusting the height of one isn't an option. That left me in a place where health and safety requirements dictated I needed to adjust my chair in a way that wasn't possible, but the health and safety manager didn't see it as a problem.

I used to get up and stretch my legs every hour or two, I used to make sure I took my full lunch hour, and basically did pretty much anything I could to break up the time I spent sitting. When I clocked that smokers were allowed to take a 5-10 minute cigarette break several times a day I figured I'd take a 5-minute break once in a while too.

 

[Lamb]

It certainly can be, particularly if you're sitting at a desk that doesn't adjust so it suits you. Being tall I find most desks are designed for shorter people and it can be a struggle to adjust anything to a point I'm comfortable. I had terrible trouble at my last permanent job because the health and safety requirements for workers who sit include endless lists of how chairs should be adjusted, and yet it wasn't possible for me to achieve such a position because my desk wouldn't rise high enough. But because of the increasing insistence on open plan offices, desks tend to be part of a longer setup so adjusting the height of one isn't an option. That left me in a place where health and safety requirements dictated I needed to adjust my chair in a way that wasn't possible, but the health and safety manager didn't see it as a problem.

I used to get up and stretch my legs every hour or two, I used to make sure I took my full lunch hour, and basically did pretty much anything I could to break up the time I spent sitting. When I clocked that smokers were allowed to take a 5-10 minute cigarette break several times a day I figured I'd take a 5-minute break once in a while too.

The cigarette smoke break was something I didn't think about until someone else at work brought it up!! She even charted down how many times one lady went out to smoke and for how long. It was over an hour and a half a day!!!!! And she was charging the client for that time! But then again you had the breastfeeding women charging the client for their right to pump milk a couple times a day for an hour each time too. I just walked around and took a lot of bathroom breaks but nowhere near an hour's worth unless someone stopped me to talk.

 

[tango]

The cigarette smoke break was something I didn't think about until someone else at work brought it up!! She even charted down how many times one lady went out to smoke and for how long. It was over an hour and a half a day!!!!! And she was charging the client for that time! But then again you had the breastfeeding women charging the client for their right to pump milk a couple times a day for an hour each time too. I just walked around and took a lot of bathroom breaks but nowhere near an hour's worth unless someone stopped me to talk.

It's quite remarkable what you can get away with, if you're willing to just do it and not mention it. I struggled with air quality in the office so it was a welcome break to go outside and get some fresh air. Whether it was June or January I'd just go outside, maybe only for long enough to walk around the office building, but long enough to get some decent air. Had anyone made an issue of the fact I was taking a "smoke break" without smoking the easy solution would be to buy a packet of cigarettes and walk around with one in my mouth for a few minutes. No need to light it, I prefer them unlit because it makes them last longer.

 

[Jason]

Nowadays i started to take breaks at every 1 or 1.5 hours. Walk and talk with someone and come back to my desk. I am chubby and little tall sitting makes it little difficult

 

[Lamb]

Nowadays i started to take breaks at every 1 or 1.5 hours. Walk and talk with someone and come back to my desk. I am chubby and little tall sitting makes it little difficult

Pay attention to your chair height too since you say you're tall. Your chair reflects how you sit.

 

[briantheroomie]

I've noticed sitting long hours has really affected my IT band by making it tighten up. This in turns creates problems in my knee area by pulling on it and causing pain/awkward movement

 

[NewCreation435]

I had problems with carpal tunnel syndrome when I worked in front of a computer all day

 

[Lamb]

I've noticed sitting long hours has really affected my IT band by making it tighten up. This in turns creates problems in my knee area by pulling on it and causing pain/awkward movement

Have you thought about buying a stand that raises and lowers for your keyboard and monitor so that you can stand at times to do your work on the computer?

 

[overcast]

I heard from one of the magazine that everyday we should atleast walk or run for 10k steps. And if we instead sit for longer hours. We tend to attract issues like high blood pressure, hyper tension and the piles and boils in sitting region. So I think one has to keep on changing routine and move more. That seems to be the only way this can be fixed from what I have seen so far.

 

[Lamb]

I heard from one of the magazine that everyday we should atleast walk or run for 10k steps. And if we instead sit for longer hours. We tend to attract issues like high blood pressure, hyper tension and the piles and boils in sitting region. So I think one has to keep on changing routine and move more. That seems to be the only way this can be fixed from what I have seen so far.

10,000 steps a day is my goal and for the past 2 years I've met that with very rare exceptions. When I do more I feel more inflammation in my knees so I have to be careful. When I do less I feel like something is missing in my day!

 

[bharath]

I got once on a time at back side pain and doctor advised me to do exercises. If you walk around your home or do other offline works, then you need not to worry, or exercises and am spending only few hours per day.
I have left the projects and other things because of more stress.

 

[Fiona1964]

At my job I dont get to sit much were on our feet from 9pm to 8 am with only about a hour sitting doing paper work plus a hour break which is split in to 3 20min breaks

 

[FredVB]

I can see how work that almost all of us find does not seem made well for human beings to do. Many of us have chores or needed postures that are really damaging to our health and wellbeing. Carrying things kind of heavy at some work I had would not have been good for my crooked spine. Regulations for our wellbeing are not always enough to spare us from such damage to health and wellbeing. Only doing what God required when the original ones of our kind were sent out to do after being put out of the Garden, while among thorns and with sweat involved, might have been without any of those issues to us.

 

[FredVB]

I got once on a time at back side pain and doctor advised me to do exercises. If you walk around your home or do other offline works, then you need not to worry, or exercises and am spending only few hours per day.
I have left the projects and other things because of more stress.

I had back pain, and found out about the scoliosis I have. I still had work since then that involved lifting and carrying fairly heavy things. I still wore a back brace safety belt, and I was thinking I would be alright. But now I feel the effect on my back much more, this much later in life. I since have diagnosis about my health involving issues to breathing which could have come from work conditions, or others who smoked anywhere nearby, which keeps me now doing any work at home.

 

[FredVB]

My issues that affect me are why I just do what I can at home. So it is that I am a writer, and do all my writing from here. I go out for some things, that cannot be avoided, but I will avoid what is certain to make me really worse. I am thankful to God to know what things I can do for being better, that I can do, and that I have this ability to write really well.

 

[FredVB]

With the current issue so pervasive out there now, people with serious vulnerability, as I with the diagnosed issue I have to my lungs, should avoid being in places where we would be exposed to the spreading contagion. Places of work would really be jeopardizing the health and very possibly the lives of really vulnerable people, and awareness of this is needed.