The price of technology

With technology becoming a major part of our everyday lives, constant texting, checking e-mails and also sitting in front of the desktop for long hours are leading to problems that have lasting impacts on our mental and physical health. The commonly heard complaints are pain in the neck, headaches, sleep disorders and repetitive strain injuries in fingers.

But we have to face the truth — a world without technology would be difficult to live in. Given the constraints, the best option is to work towards a balance and opt for preventive steps for a healthy body and mind.

Headaches are now common Experts state that the electromagnetic radiation emitted from phones have thermal effects. The radio waves emitted by mobile phones are absorbed by the body. Due to this reason we get headaches as the blood flow in the brain is affected.

Dr J. Anish Anand, consultant of internal medicine at Apollo Hospitals, says, “Thermal energy from phones affects the skin and soft tissue due to which there are rashes. At the same time, constant strain of trying to hear from a small device with limited voice output affects the ear muscles. Wrong position of the neck and head is one of the major causes of headaches.”

Sleep deprivation, stress and also lack of sleep are some of the other symptoms. Sleep quality is also affected when mobile phones are kept close by.

Recent research has shown damage to the body’s cells by vibration signals. This growing evidence is becoming one of the major reasons to ask people to switch off their phones at night so that they can get sufficient sleep.

Maintain proper posture at work Earlier factory workers, dressmakers and musicians would suffer from repetitive strain injury but now people working on desktops are suffering from these problems. Constant typing and improper sitting postures affect the forearms, elbows, wrists, hands, neck and shoulders. Dr Sudhindra V., consultant, lifestyle and rehabilitation at Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences Hospitals, says, “One of the major reasons for this problem is lack of Vitamin D. Also most desktop jobs have people sitting for eight to nine hours which alters the alignment of the spine in the lower back region, leading to central obesity.”

Abnormal posture at work and doing prolonged repetitive work in a wrong posture ends up aggravating the strain on the body which finally results in pain, stiffness, throbbing, tingling or numbness, weakness and cramps.

The best method to control these problems is to maintain proper posture at work, getting up after every 20 minutes and taking a break by walking around. Gently stretching every two hours is found to help a lot as it gives a positive signal to the muscles that they must be active, added Dr Sudhindra.

A recent study carried on IT professionals reported... Clinical cases have seen a rise due to constant use of technology in terms of mobile phones and Internet addiction Personality changes — irritability, anger, depression. Tiredness and early fatigue syndrome. Body pains and hearing problems.