Technology is great but is not without some pain at times. “No pain, no gain” right? Here are some exercises for you to do to help some common problems caused by devices we use everyday.
Texting Thumb: Too much texting and Black Berry Messaging can literally strain your thumbs. To help abused thumbs, open your hand and stretch out your fingers as wide as possible. You can further strengthen your hand and wrists by putting an elastic or rubber band around your fingers as you perform the exercise.
Wii-itis: This is now being recognized as a real condition, comparable to “tennis elbow.” Overdoing Wii Sports can cause some soreness in the elbows and shoulders. Stretching forearms and strengthening wrists will help.
With your arm reached out in front of you, flex your fingers downward, palms down. Turn your hand palm-side up, and pull your fingers down with your opposite hand. Concentric and eccentric wrist movements will also help. Grab a small 1-pound dumbbell in one hand and rest that forearm along your thigh. Slowly bend and flex your wrist, lifting and lowering the weight.
Computer Slouch: Sitting at a computer or in front of laptop does not make for good posture. People usually slouch to see the screen better.
To fix this, pull your shoulders back and align your spine with a wall sit. With your back to a wall, bend your knees into a semi-squat position. Hold for two minutes and then stand. To counter the turtle-like forward head posture, perform a chin tuck. Sit up straight and pull your chin as far back to your neck as you can, as if to create a double chin. Release.
Phone Cradling: Constantly holding the phone with your neck puts strain on your neck muscles. Strengthen your upper back, posterior shoulder, and rotator cuff muscles with shoulder rolls and shoulder blade squeezes. External rotations —rowing your arms back and then lifting your hands as if up in surprise — should also help with neck issues
Carpal Tunnel: Carpal tunnel syndrome by definition, according to PubMed Health, is pressure on the median nerve — the nerve in the wrist that supplies feeling and movement to parts of the hand that can result in a numbing sensation.
Contrary to popular belief, resting your forearms on computer wrist pads while typing can actually strain wrists more. The position causes you to isolate movement from your wrists, instead of generating it from your shoulder and spine. A safer bet: Keep your elbows bent at 90 degrees and your wrists raised in a neutral position. You can also fend off carpal tunnel with basic wrist-flexor and extensor exercises.
Mary Ann Wilmarth, DPT (doctor of physical therapy), chief of physical therapy at Harvard University and spokesperson for the American Physical Therapy Association came up with these exercises as told to Fitbie.msn.com.
