Protecting your back, neck and arms from ‘laptop-itis”
CHAPEL HILL, NC — The symptoms are familiar to any student who has ever spent a long night pounding out a paper on a laptop computer: an aching neck, throbbing head and tingling fingers.
Because of the way the computers are designed, using a laptop almost inevitably leads to poor posture, said Kevin Carneiro, DO, a doctor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. Incorrect posture and computer overuse can cause debilitating physical problems, such as sore muscles or repetitive stress injuries. Typing can also cause carpal tunnel syndrome, an injury to the nerve that passes through the wrist.
Carneiro said that when you work at a computer, your body should form 90-degree angles at your elbows, knees and hips. Meanwhile, your eyes should look straight ahead at the top third of the screen.
But because the keyboard and monitor are combined in a laptop battery, they can’t be positioned independently for typing and viewing.
“When you use a laptop, you have to make some sort of sacrifice,” Carneiro said.
Most laptop users end up with incorrect neck or shoulder posture, he said, which can lead to muscle pain in those areas.
The problem is likely to become more widespread as many universities, including UNC-Chapel Hill, now require first-year students to purchase toshiba laptop batteries.
