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Click on each item below for more information on reducing your risk for a potentially disabling illness. Assess your posture. Take 10 minutes to compare your relaxed, normal standing posture to the ideal "power posture". Become aware of the tasks you perform all day, the tools you use, your posture, arm and hand positions, and the repetitive movements required to do these tasks. Modify or eliminate "high risk" habits. Avoid reaching and leaning. Design your work/hobby areas to accommodate YOU or modify a shared area before you begin work each time. Practice healthy habits. Respond to your occasional aches and pains. Learn more about CTD.

• Reduce or eliminate forceful movements and stressful postures. For example, never rest your wrists on the wrist-rest or elbows on the chair armrest while typing or mousing. Compression of the blood vessels, nerves, and tendons while using your hands results in damage to these tissues! Hold the pipette with a straight wrist. Requiring tendons to bend during repetitive motion causes inflammation and tendonitis.
• Decrease the number of times you perform a particular motion or hold an object in the same position for long periods.
• Use tools and equipment that fit you. For example, tools should not cause discomfort and your chair should allow your feet to rest flat on the floor and provide adequate low back support.
• Schedule tasks to last an hour or less whenever possible to minimize your risk of injury.

• Sitting or standing in one position for long periods of time. Change your position often to relieve muscle strain and improve circulation.
• Using your wrists in a hand bent down (flexed), extended (hand up), or twisted position for long periods of time. Maintain a neutral (straight) wrist position when using tools, typing, writing or reading.
• Leaning on your elbows and wrists.
• Holding your head down and forward.
• Elevating your shoulders.
• Hitting the keyboard and other objects harder than necessary.
• Gripping tools, books, and utensils too tightly.

Avoid reaching and leaning. Keep most-used material close to the body; within arm's reach. Stand to reach anything above your shoulders. Keep your elbows directly under your shoulders.

If you are not comfortable, do something to change your environment.

• Modifications and adjustments may include:
  • chair
  • worksurface height
  • keyboard height
  • monitor height
  • arrangement of tools to minimize reaching
  • use of a headset, document holder/slant board, foot rest, proper corrective eyewear, or task lighting.

(NOTE: Underlined items above are links to more information!!)

Making a workstation safe is most difficult for workstations shared by two or more workers. No two workers are shaped exactly the same.

• Build in as much flexibility as possible so that each worker can make adjustments when first sitting at the workstation.
• Avoid the temptation to work at the workstation as the last person left it because it is too much trouble to change it. Your long range health depends on making proper adjustments.

Sit/stand in neutral posture (shoulders back, chin tucked, head upright, elbows as close to the body as possible). Warm up before beginning a repetitive or forceful task. Flexibility exercises improve circulation and help compensate for work that must be done in awkward positions. Alternate tasks. Change your position often to relieve muscle strain. Reduce speed and force. Use the minimum required force and slow down when doing repetitive tasks. Stand up to stretch at least once per hour. Do not anchor your arm when writing or keyboarding (i.e., move your whole arm for either task). Use the whole hand and all fingers to grip, grasp, or lift. Grasp objects lightly. Alternate arms when carrying something heavy (e.g., suitcase, purse, briefcase, etc.) Drink water. Try to get enough sleep every night to wake feeling restored. This allows your body to repair damaged tissues. Be aware of stressors in your daily life and minimize as many as possible. Stressors cause you to work with excess tension and force, and will decrease the amount of restful sleep you get.

Aches and pains are the early signs of potentially serious injuries. Living with the pain and hoping that it will go away results in an injury that is harder to treat and slower to heal. Pay serious attention to any persistent soreness or weakness, numbness, tingling. Make changes in your habits and workstation, and treat your symptoms. Early action can solve the problem and prevent disability. Learn more about CTD and treatment of CTD symptoms by clicking here.