What are the symptoms?

The symptoms include; pain through the wrist and hand, and numbness through the fingers.

How to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome:

Try to keep the wrist in a neutral position. What this means is keeping a straight arm from the fingertips to the elbow maintaining relaxed fingers and shoulders. You can place a small rolled up towel under your wrist so that the wrist can relax and does not bend. There are also ergonomically designed keyboards and wrist rests that reduce the computer users’ risk of injury

Stretches for preventing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome:

Whenever you stop typing, stretch the finger tips towards the under side of the wrist and then release to neutral. Another good stretch is to spread the fingers as far apart as they go and then relax the fingers together. Repeat each stretch ten times.

A 135-degree body-to-thigh sitting posture was demonstrated to be the best biomechanical sitting position, as opposed to a 90-degree posture most people consider normal (Dr. Waseem Amir Bashir, researcher from University of Alberta Hospital)

85% of us will experience back pain during our lifetime. Office workers are especially prone to back pain and work related injury considering they work seated in front of a computer for the majority of the work day. Traditional thought says individuals should sit upright at their desk to prevent joint and back pain.

However, recent studies show that the erect sitting posture is NOT a relaxed or sustainable way of sitting while reclined sitting is. Sitting completely upright creates vertical strain on the spine and forces the spinal material to shift out of line over time.

In contrast, when a worker reclines at approximately 135 degrees maintaining lumbar curvature, there is the least strain on the spinal discs and surrounding muscles and joints. Erect posture is only sustainable for two minutes without discomfort.

When you consider most office workers are seated for eight hours a day, the less stressful, reclined posture seem an optimal alternative.

So lean back and relax while at your desk and you are on your way to creating a healthy spine and preventing injury.