The Artdog Image of Interest

Here’s a shout-out to all the diligent folks who are homing in on the end of NaNoWriMo, National Novel-Writing Month. If you’re a serious participant, you’ve been putting in some long hours at the keyboard. But that means you also are courting repetitive stress injuries, if you aren’t careful. Please take time to stretch! 

Stretch your hands

My son Tyrell Gephardt sent this graphic to me several months ago. I parked it on my desktop as a reminder. It helps me think of it, and also makes a handy cheat-sheet if I forget one. I try to stretch regularly. Why don’t you try these stretches right now?

The illustration "Make time to stretch!" shows seven ways to stretch one's hands to avoid repetitive stress injuries: wrist extension in two directions, Wrist flexion with an open hand and with a fist, stretches with your hand flat against a wall, palms-together then lowering one's hands, and a "shake it out" motion. Take time to stretch!

Didn’t that feel good? Each time I do these I think, “I’ve got to remember these more often!” Then I get busy and don’t think about it till I glance down at my desktop and spot this graphic again.

Stretch your lower back

To be ergonomically sound, there are other stretches you also may want to try. Here’s a post that offers 12 stretches to ease or prevent lower back stress. The illustrations are clear, and the stretches are simple but effective. You can do them in your office, although be advised: some involve getting on the floor. 

Lower back pain is common and widespread. The World Health Organization estimates 60-70% of adults in industrialized countries will experience lower back pain. Why not learn how to minimize that risk?

Stretch you shoulders and neck

Computer work, especially for prolonged periods, causes all kinds of issues, including shoulder stiffness and pain. Here’s a link to an article that offers four simple shoulder stretches you can do at your desk.

Long hours of computer work can also be a literal pain in the neck. The Mayo Clinic has posted an article about neck pain. They included a video to show several stretches that can help you avoid or ease neck pain.

An ergonomic office

On this same theme, I posted an Image of Interest in 2018 that bears repeating. You might want to see my post about what makes a good ergonomic office design. Here are more tips, from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Now that you’re all stretched out and limbered up, it’s time to get back to work! Best of luck to all who take the NaNoWriMo challenge! And for anyone who spends time at a desk, I hope that you, too, will take time to stretch!

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to my son Tyrell Gephardt for sending me the “Make time to Stretch!” graphic. I did a reverse-image search via TinEye, and traced it back to Between the Pixels on Twitter. There’s a nice large image available there. The Featured Image is an illustration for an article on Repetitive Stress Injury, or RSI (illustrator not credited).