Ayurvedic care & cure:
Ayurveda offers treatments including external relaxation and muscle & joint soothening manipulations and marma (vital points) revitalizing treatments like Sulochana, Elakkizhi, and Abhyangam etc and these medications when administered by trained hands are the best available preventive methods available for the Overuse injuries.
These include specialized external applications of oils and herbal pastes and along with internal medication, shall bring down the inflammation and pain. Medicines such as Jadamayadi lepa choornam, Nagaradi lepa choornam and treatment procedures like Elakkizhi, Njavara Kizhi etc and internal medicines like kashayam and Arishtams are very effective, in fact more preferable to any anti-inflammatory analgesics of our time, which themselves proclaim to gift lots of complications on long term use.
VISION SYNDROME:
Concentrated tasks can cause tired eyes and blurred vision. Using a computer does not cause any permanent damage to your eyes. However, working on a computer is a demanding visual task that can cause eye discomfort. If you have an uncorrected vision it can make computer use uncomfortable and can lead to blurred vision and eyestrain. Focusing your eyes at the same distance & point for extended periods of time causes fatigue. Ayurveda specifically mentions about continuous eye fatigue leading to damage to the eyesight. The human eye structurally prefers to look at objects further than six meters away, so any work-performed close-up places extra demands on the tiny muscles. The illuminated computer screen can also contribute to eye fatigue.
Symptoms include:
● Blurred vision
● Temporary inability to focus on faraway objects
● Headache.
In case of vision problems, though the monitors are themselves not a culprit, the way they are utilized creates the problems. The problems like long working hours without break, glare and improper lighting can be easily eliminated by good working habits such as resting periodically and refocusing eyes on objects at different distances, overhead lighting and appropriate placement of monitor. Placing monitor at right angle from brightly lit windows can reduce screen glare.
Moreover there are exercises to keep the eyes healthy. Changing the eyes focus can relax the ciliary muscles of the eyes. Blinking can moisten the eyes and stimulates tear production that can wash away the pollutants.
Ayurvedic Care and cure:
According to Ayurveda, for prevention the best medication would be to consume Tribhala choornam, specially prepared, daily with milk or with plain water. Washing eyes twice daily with special eye care herbal medicines and doing eye exercises is a very effective way to prevent potential eye disorders and fatigue. These medications not only keep the eye non-strained and cool but can also prevent even retinal damages owing to constant strain. For cure of eye disorders Ayurveda offers very particular internal medicines and also treatments like Tarpanam, Nasyam etc along with internal medicines like Jeevaneeya Gana Gritam. Special procedures like “Sudarsana” gives one of the best available preventive and curative care for the eye, be it simple eye strain or retinal disorders.
Prevention tips:
Suggestions to reduce the risk of eyestrain include:
Ø Make sure your primary light source (such as a window) isn’t shining into your face or directly onto the monitor.
Ø Tilt the monitor slightly to eliminate reflections or glare.
Ø Make sure your computer screen isn’t too close to your face.
Ø Position the screen so that it is either at eye level, or slightly lower.
Ø Reduce the contrast and brightness of your screen by adjusting the controls on the monitor & also consider using colour schemes that are easier on the eyes, particularly shades of gray for text documents.
Ø Increase your font sizes.
Ø Frequently look away from the screen and focus on faraway objects.
Ø Have regular eye examinations to check that blurring, headaches and other associated problems aren’t caused by any underlying disorders.
STRESS:
The heavy demand of work thrust upon the employees creates a level of stress that makes injury more likely. Whenever a user feels anxiety, the muscle automatically tightens up and it increases the likelihood of getting a computer related injury. Here it is worthwhile to mention the problems and excess stress faced by the call center employees. The excess stress of changing their circadian rhythm once in 30 or 40 days is the most major stress factor faced by them. Loss of sleep or disturbed sleep is a very common symptom among them as is mouth ulcers and digestive problems and headaches.
Ayurvedic Prevention and Care:
Yoga and special kinds of medicines along with mediation shall be the best combination to tackle this, other than the realization and attitude change of people towards causes of stresses. More than these techniques, treatments with internal medicines like Manasa mitra vatakom, Saraswata Gritam, Saraswatarishtam etc and treatment procedures like Takra dhara , Ksheera dhara and Taila dhara including relaxation massages are very good for overcoming mental stress. Food stuffs like drum sticks included in the menu would be good for call center employees which shall help them to stay awake at night without much strain. Also food like Milk and snake gourd and drum stick leaves at night, Ash gourd juice daily morning (before sleep- specific only for call center employees), Butter milk with a lot with curry leaves ground and mixed with it at noon, tender coconut water etc can be very effective in managing mental and physical stress. Also it is better to avoid curd & fish at night.
OTHER SUGGESTIONS:
Evaluate other activities. Problems may be caused or aggravated by other things you do frequently. Sports, carrying children, hobbies requiring intense small work (like knitting), and excess effort/tension in other daily things may have enormous impact too. So avoid these activities, which may trigger the problems to more severe intensity.
Don’t tuck the telephone between your shoulder and ear
Consider voice recognition.
General suggestions:
Other ways to reduce the risk of computer related injuries include:
● Make sure your work space is well ventilated
● Maintain equipment, such as laser printers and photocopiers, to reduce emissions.
CHILDREN AND COMPUTERS:
Kids are at risk too with increasing hours in front of the computer at home and school, using equipment that rarely is set up correctly for people their size. Parents can reduce the risk of children developing computer related injuries in additional ways, including:
● Set up the computer, desk, chair and keyboard to suit your child
● Install a smaller mouse that contours to the child’s hand
● Show your child how to use the keyboard and mouse properly and safely
● Encourage frequent breaks
● Reasonably limit your child’s game-playing time
● Make sure your child has enough time for other activities, such as sport.
Ayurvedic prevention and care:
Children should be helped with dietary supplements (like Flowers of Sesbania grandiflora, drum stick leaves, carrots and Grapes) and massages so that the formative muscles and bones do not get bad as it is the stage where maximum damage can occur and also preventive and curative efforts can be the most effective.
What If I Have Symptoms of RSI?
We all have occasional aches and pains that go away in a day or two, especially when we overdo anything. But if you have the symptoms listed above regularly when you are using the computer, run; do not walk to your doctor or health care provider RIGHT AWAY. Dealing with this early is critical to limiting the damage, and to spare you a world of hurt, trouble, and frustration. You are not overreacting: by the time you have symptoms there has already been some damage done, and if you try to ignore the pain you may sustain a serious injury. If your doctor doesn’t seem to know much about RSI, find one who does. When you find one, listen to them and check with them about any changes you intend to make or therapy you want to try.
Remember that “RSI” is a mechanism of injury, not a diagnosis. Where or how seriously you are injured, and how best to treat it, varies immensely from person to person. Also, many systemic disorders such as diabetes can mimic or exacerbate RSI, and these can be ruled out by medical tests, so don’t go chasing a treatment you may have heard about UNTIL YOU’VE SEEN A DOCTOR.
Last but not the least, PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BODY. Pain is your body yelling that it is in big trouble but learning what is comfortable or awkward for your body before you are in pain may prevent injury.
Look to nature – it adopts. So can you.
