The Vocational Disease of the Modern Person, Do you also have VDT Syndrome?
People are spending more time in front of a computer, whether they are at work or even at home during their free time, as computers and internet use has become very common. In accordance, there has been an increase in a disease caused by using computers for a long time.
What is VDT Syndrome?
VDT syndrome is referred to as a new kind of disease, which is all the computer-related health problems caused by working on computer such as: pain in the neck and shoulders, other musculoskeletal symptoms, eye strain, repetitve strain injury, foreign sensations, skin conditions and neuropsychiatric problems.
* VDT stands for ‘Visual Display Terminals’ of which the computer screen is the main item. VDT refers to all activities using a keyboard, mouse or printer in front of a monitor.
Stiff shoulders and a tingling feeling in the fingers! Be aware of VDT Syndrome.
Let’s take a look at the various symptoms of VDT syndrome.
First, there is pain and stiffness of the muscles, often referred to as ‘congestion’, myofascial pain and lower back pain. VDT can also cause carpel tunnel syndrome due to pressure on the nerves in the wrists, causing tingling of the fingers. These muscle and peripheral neuropathy problems lead to pain and tingling in the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists and fingers.
Secondly, there are eye symptoms such as foreign body sensations, redness, photophobia, dry eyes, myopia or other refractive problems. Thirdly, psychiatric problems such as: Internet addiction, game addiction, depression, sleep disturbances and migraines can occur. Fourthly, gastrointestinal problems can occur due to bad eating habits and fast food consumption that is often linked to excessive time spent in front of a computer.
What are the causes of VDT Syndrome?
The causes of VDT syndrome include a poor workspace, dry environments, using a low quality computer, use of wrong prescription glasses or contact lenses, bad posture, repeated pressure from keyboard use and repeated movement in a fixed posture (static position), excessive work (insufficient rest) and a workspace design that is not customized for each user.
These kinds of environments and habits slowly and continuously have an impact on our body. For example, the bigger the screens are, the more convenient it is for reading or watching videos, but it leads to earlier fatigue of the eyes and dryness. Also, as users have to open their eyes fully to see the larger screen on a close desk, there is an increased amount of time and surface area in which the eyes are exposed to the air, which dries the eyes at a quicker rate. Color screens also cause fatigue in the eyes as the wavelengths of red and blue lights are different and exhausts the ocular muscles that focus the eyes. Laptops ease the burden on the eyes, but cause neck and shoulder pain due to hunched sitting positions. Moreover, pain and tingling sensations can occur in the wrists and fingers from the keyboard being smaller than desktop computers.
Another reason for the increase in VDT syndrome is because middle-aged and elderly people, who are unfamiliar with computers, are now trying doubly hard to adapt to them. These people have eyes with a lower ability to adjust and thus they are more vulnerable to VDT syndrome. People using glasses for myopia and hyperopia look through the bottom of their lenses when they look at an object of close proximity, therefore they tend to bend their necks when they view the screen, and if this continues for a long time, it leads to pain in the neck and shoulders.
How to prevent VDT Syndrome?
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To prevent VDT syndrome, first maintain a distance from the screen which is at least 30cm or more which will decrease the angle of the neck. Consequently, the pain in the neck and shoulders will lessen and also decrease eye fatigue.
Next, take a break for a minimum of ten-minutes after having worked for one hour. However, if your eyes are exhausted and shoulders are stiff, even if you have not worked for an hour, take some rest. Working continuously in the same posture for a long time tenses the muscles in your body and stiffens the neck, shoulders and the lower back. Therefore, you should take breaks and stretch often to relax the muscles. For those who have myopia or presbyopia, you should get prescribed glasses for work.
Lastly, enjoy your work and be less stressed. Those who work in the gaming industry stare at monitors all day long, but it is hard to find VDT syndrome patients. On the other hand, many young dealers working in the economic market, who are glued to the screens for 3-4 hours per day, suffer from severe VDT syndrome.
Prevention is the Most Important Treatment
If you feel any symptoms suspicious of VDT syndrome, go and see a doctor for an exact diagnosis, because it can also be symptoms from other diseases. If you neglect these symptoms thinking it is VDT syndrome via self-diagnosis, you may lose the opportunity for an early diagnosis of another disease.
When you have VDT syndrome, you should reduce the amount of stress you put on your body and receive appropriate treatment. Then, identify the cause to correct it. Some examples could be improving the work environment or doing proper exercises. Next, you should receive a precise diagnosis of each symptom and carry out appropriate treatments. If it is a musculoskeletal problem, you should take medication or receive physical therapy. If the symptoms are your eyes, then you need ophthalmological treatment.
To reiterate, the most important treatment for VDT syndrome is prevention. There are many patients coming back to the doctors for recurring symptoms, even after they have been treated because there were no changes to the bad habits and work environment.