I have found it hard to cope over the last two weeks. I have been in constant pain! The sad thing is that is was my fault!
I discovered that I do not practice what I preach! For two years I have taught with Business Services at MIT (as well as the School of English). I teach Computing at Level 2 and Level 4. I love teaching computing and really enjoy the variety in my teaching day. One of the things I always teach is OOS Prevention and Ergonomic Principles – OOS being Occupational Overuse Syndrome and Ergonomics being the guidelines for effectively and safely working in a particular environment, especially looking at the use of office equipment and computers. I know that there are many hazards inherent in computer use.
Wednesday, a week ago, I had a very boring, repetitive job that I was trying to complete. I was using Photoshop to edit pictures representing each of the phonic sounds in the English language. I was then bringing the pictures into PowerPoint and making them into a set of five Phonics PowerPoints. The mouse movement was monotonous and I did not stop to micro pause (or any other sort of pause or stretch!) I worked for an hour and a half, fed my family, and then went back to the same task for two and a half hours. I did not want to stop – I just wanted to get it over and done with. I finally thought, ‘Yay!!!!! All finished!’
I tried to move my arm, but it was completely numb. I could not feel a thing. I turned to move a pile of books and I heard a loud cracking noise in my back and a stab of pain. I was sure I had somehow nipped a nerve in my back. All day Thursday I suffered. After two nights of little sleep and a great deal of continuous pain, I decided I had to do something. I tried to make an appointment to see a wonderful Osteopath I had been to previously. I was told he was in Germany and would not be back until the 16th. I couldn’t wait, so I looked up local Osteopaths and Chiropractors. I chose a Chiropractor in Botany and made an appointment.
The Chiropractor sent me for a full spinal X-ray and then I went back to see him. He did a very, very quick and brutal manipulation that simply shifted the pain. By Friday night the pain had increased dramatically. Saturday night was truly a nightmare – all night. At 3 am I woke up in such pain that I thought I was dying. The pain still felt like a nerve pain, but now shot all the way along the nerve line underneath my shoulder blade, under my arm, through my upper chest and all down my arm. The pain under my arm and down my arm felt like a relentless, burning pins-and-needles. It felt as though I could not breathe, the pain was so intense.
By mid-morning on Sunday I could not move or keep still. I just cried and moaned. I was taken to Middlemore Hospital by ambulance. I waited and waited and waited – I tried the technique that worked so well for labour pains – just focussing on breathing slowly and deeply. After five hours I was seen by a doctor. She suggested the Chiropractor had actually moved a disc out of place and had pulled muscles in my upper back. I was given morphine-based pain relief. As the pain abated, I felt much better, but then I had a negative reaction to the medication. - for 24 hours I suffered from projectile vomiting! It was truly awful!
I left Middlemore on Sunday night and wanted to try to go to work on Monday. I eventually rang both my bosses to explain that I would not be in class on Monday. Tuesday morning I succeeded in teaching my first class. All week it was very hard to put forward my best while in pain. On Friday afternoon, I went to see a Chinese doctor for acupuncture and massage. For the first time, I could feel the strength back in my right hand. I will be seeing him again this Friday.
Each day is better than the last. Yesterday, for the first time, I was able to crank out the work on my computer. But, this whole experience has truly converted me to the extreme importance of following ergonomic guidelines when using the computer. I really want my online students to remember how important it is to micro pause, stretch, exercise and take frequent breaks. I will never, never, never make the same mistake again.
If you haven’t thought about ergonomics and safe computer use before, look up these urls:
http://www.safecomputingtips.com/ergonomic-exercises.html
http://www.witc.edu/library/tips/nrich/ergonomics.htm
http://dohs.ors.od.nih.gov/exercises.htm
ALWAYS TAKE THE TIME TO PAUSE, MOVE, HAVE A BREAK, AND RELAX!
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