How to Prevent Repetitive Motion Injury

Step-by-Step Guide

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   Step 1: Take regular breaks.

   This is the easiest way to prevent repetitive motion injuries.
   
   Repetitive motion injuries (RMIs) occur when a muscle or connective tissue is used too frequently to repair itself.
   
   The more you take a break from the repetitive motion, the more time you give yourself to heal. "Microbreaks" should be taken for 30 to 60 seconds for every 10 minutes of computer use.
   
   Rest your eyes, neck, hands, and back.
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   Step 2: Type in a neutral position.

   Although we might see people typing in a variety of ways, a lot of "natural" positions can cause injury, because typing isn't a natural motion to begin with.
   
   A neutral position, also called touch typing, is the best typing method for preventing most office related RMIs.Keep your wrists elevated and off the surface of the desk or keyboard.
   
   The keyboard should lay flat on the table.
   
   Don’t angle it up.The tips of your fingers should be the only part of your hand touching the keyboard. , Sitting up straight makes it easier to maintain a neutral typing position.
   
   It also cuts down on problems with the neck, lower back, and shoulders.Roll your shoulders back.
   
   Allow for a slight arch in your lower back.
   
   Keep your elbows and knees bent at near-right angles to help maintain the position. , If you are using a desktop, the proper placement of your monitor can help prevent eye strain and injuries to the neck and back.
   
   Your monitor should be between 20 and 40 inches (50 and 100 cm) from your eye to the screen and positioned directly in front of you.If your monitor is tilted back too far, it can distort objects on the screen and also cause glare from overhead lights, which can lead to eye strain.
   
   Do not tilt the screen more that 10 to 20 degrees.Your monitor should not be positioned to high up — the top of the monitor should be at or just below eye level., Your mouse or pointer should be next to the keyboard, not raised above it or placed so far back you have to reach to use it.
   
   This places stress on your arm and shoulder.
   
   Invest in a mouse wrist rest to support your wrist, and make sure your mouse is positioned so that you can maintain a straight, neutral wrist posture.Replace your mouse with a trackball.
   
   Use of a mouse can fatigue your wrist.
   
   Consider using a trackball device, which is better designed to fit the hand and doesn't require you to bend the wrist or grip., Though laptops are excellent for portability, they are not very ergonomically practical.
   
   Keyboards are more compact and screens are smaller and fixed, offering fewer options for placement (ideally, your monitor and keyboard should be on different levels) which can affect your posture.
   
   To combat these shortcomings, consider a laptop docking station to use at your desk at home or at work, which allows you to plug your laptop into a station with a keyboard, monitor, and mouse.
   
   Or, you can purchase a separate full-sized keyboard and mouse and attach them to your laptop, using the laptop as a monitor.
   
   The keyboard should be at roughly the same height as your elbows., Sticky Keys are a Windows accessibility feature that allows a user to activate modifier keys instead of pressing multiple keys at once.
   
   This can help to ease the strain of repeated motions.For example, instead of pressing CTRL + C to copy text, the Sticky Key feature would allow the user to press CRTL, which would remain engaged, then press C.
   
   The Sticky Keys feature can be turned on by pressing the SHIFT key five times in a row.
   
   This will bring up a dialog box that asks if the user wants to turn Sticky Keys on. , One of the most common computer related RMI's occurs when the tendons on the index and middle fingers become strained due to over-clicking the mouse.
   
   Setting the mouse speed to a slower speed means that not as much is demanded from the small muscles and tendons when clicking, reducing the strain.
   
   Adjust the mouse speed in Windows by going to Control Panel-->Hardware and Sound-->Mouse-->Mouse Properties-->Pointer Options-->Mouse Speed.
   
   Then adjust the mouse speed to a slower setting.
   
   Adjust the mouse speed on a Mac by going to System Preferences-->Mouse-->Point and Click.
   
   Then adjust the mouse speed to a slower setting. , Certain keyboard shortcuts can help minimize computer related RMI, particularly if the RMI is related to using the mouse.
   
   There are dozens of different keyboard shortcuts.
   
   You can look at a list for Windows here, and one for Mac here., The Mouse Keys feature allows you to use the directional pad on your keyboard as you would a mouse.
   
   Since a lot of computer related RSIs come from the clicking of the mouse, using the Mouse Keys feature can help.Activate Mouse Keys in Windows by going to Control Panel-->Ease of Access Center-->Make the Mouse Easier to Use-->Enable Mouse Keys.Activate Mouse Keys in Mac by going to System Preferences-->Accessibility-->Mouse-->Enable Mouse Keys.
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   Step 3: Sit up straight.

4. 4

   Step 4: Pay attention to monitor placement.

5. 5

   Step 5: Consider mouse placement.

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   Step 6: Compensate for the disadvantages of laptops.

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   Step 7: Use Sticky Keys.

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   Step 8: Adjust your mouse speed.

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   Step 9: Use keyboard shortcuts.

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    Step 10: Enable the Mouse Keys feature.

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