不断使用任何东西都会导致问题。计算机也不例外，可以说人类在包括智能手机在内的计算机上花费的时间比我们做的任何其他事情都要多。除了睡觉。这可能会导致或使某些严重的医疗状况变得更糟。
我们将首先研究计算机使用可能导致或加剧的健康问题，最后我们将研究您可以采取哪些措施来防止这些事情发生。或者至少最小化它们。
偏头痛和头痛
有头痛，然后有偏头痛。过度盯着屏幕会导致两者的严重性和频率。你的眼睛实际上是大脑的茎，其末端暴露于世界。所以你用眼睛做的每件事都会直接影响你的大脑。
盯着强光必然会引起紧张，导致疼痛，最终导致头痛。对于已经容易出现偏头痛的人来说，过多的屏幕时间会使他们更频繁和更糟。正如斯科特·图斯利(Scott Tousley)(Scott Tousley ) 在他的文章“阻止夜间电脑屏幕头痛的 60 秒技巧(The 60-Second Trick to Stop Headaches From Computer Screens at Night)”中所写的那样，这种压力“……发生在 50% 到 90% 的电脑工作者身上。”
眩晕
有点头晕听起来很有趣，但眩晕是一个严重的问题。想象一下(Imagine)感觉就像你会一直摔倒。有时你会这样做。眩晕与偏头痛密切相关(Vertigo is closely related to migraines)。因此，如果过度的屏幕时间会导致偏头痛，它肯定会引发或加重眩晕。
每个电脑屏幕都有闪烁。通常(Generally)
你不认识它，但这并不意味着你看不到它。它仍然在你的大脑中登记。这种持续的闪烁也会导致眩晕或使眩晕复杂化。
黄斑变性
想象一下，在你看到的所有东西的中间都有一个变暗或涂黑的圆圈。这就是黄斑变性的作用。这可以通过衰老发生，它比白内障和青光眼影响更多的人。但高能可见光(High Energy Visible-light)(HEV) 是一个因素。
就像盯着太阳看是个坏主意一样。您还听说过HEV被称为“蓝光”。当然，电脑屏幕是HEV的来源，通常距离您的眼睛不到两英尺。
不过，陪审团似乎仍然对此不以为然。验光(Optometry)博士(Doctor)，Marc Grossman，OD，LAc。说，“ HEV 是导致黄斑变性的已知风险因素(HEV is a known risk factor in causing macular degeneration)。”，所以他似乎是在说它可能发生。
(Stephen Rose)防治失明基金会(Foundation Fighting Blindness)的斯蒂芬·罗斯说：“没有证据表明坐在电脑屏幕前对年龄相关性黄斑变性或任何其他视网膜问题的发展有任何影响。(There is no evidence that sitting at a computer screen has any effect on the development of age-related macular degeneration or any other retinal problems.)“不管怎样，为什么要冒险？
抑郁和焦虑
过度使用电脑不会导致抑郁和焦虑，但由于多种原因会使情况变得更糟。我们知道，运动、良好的营养、新鲜的空气和阳光是应对抑郁和焦虑的有力助手。
坐在黑暗的房间里，盯着屏幕吃垃圾食品，恰恰相反。这就是很多人每天都在做的事情，无论是玩游戏还是只是在你什么都不做的情况下跟上世界其他地方正在做的事情。
再加(Add)上头痛、偏头痛、眩晕和其他潜在的健康问题，抑郁和焦虑只会变得更糟。加上你看到和听到的东西会影响你。你正在看到世界上人们希望你看到的东西。你会看到他们处于最佳状态的短暂时刻。然后你环顾四周，感觉自己没有达到标准。俗话说，比较是窃喜者。(Comparison)
另一方面，有些电子游戏旨在帮助患有抑郁症和焦虑症的人(video games designed to help people with depression and anxiety)。因此，就像任何其他工具一样，计算机可以用来解决问题，或者，如果被滥用，真的会破坏事物。
抽搐、癫痫(Epilepsy)和抽动秽语综合征
抽搐和癫痫症不是由计算机引起的，但它们可能会加剧它们。抽动通常与抽动秽语综合征(Syndrome)有关，因此如果过度使用电脑会引发抽动，也会对患有抽动秽语综合征(Syndrome)的人产生负面影响。
闪烁的灯光会引发癫痫发作也是常识。电脑(Computer)屏幕不断闪烁。这是他们工作方式的一部分。
在抽动秽语综合症父母(Tourette Syndrome Parents)的一篇文章中，他们帮助减轻抽动秽语症状的最佳建议是减少屏幕时间。就是这么简单。
腕管综合症
顾名思义，手腕上有一条隧道。穿过那条隧道，穿过正中神经。如果发生任何事情使隧道变窄，它会撞击正中神经，导致手和手臂疼痛、麻木和行动不便。这可能导致手部永久性损伤和功能丧失。
我们大多数人使用计算机的方式可以为腕管周围的炎症创造理想的条件。肥胖也会增加腕管综合症的可能性。整天在电脑上玩又来玩了。
慢性颈部和背部疼痛
我们之前谈到过弯腰驼背导致头痛。这种驼背会导致姿势不良和一系列颈部和背部疼痛问题。
智能手机的使用也促成了这一点。人们没有将手机举到视线水平，而是弯腰看着手机，因为他们将手机握在腰部的某个地方。坚持下去，你会看起来像一个问号，而且会一直处于痛苦之中。
预防(Prevention)和可能的治疗
最重要的预防措施是什么，显而易见，不是吗？少用(Use)电脑和智能手机。
对于与屏幕相关的问题，请尝试降低亮度以匹配您周围世界的亮度级别。降低屏幕与周围环境之间的对比度可以显着减轻眼睛疲劳。它还可以降低您接触到的HEV或蓝光的强度。考虑使用应用程序来帮助减少蓝光，或校准(calib)您的(ate your monitor)显示器(r)。
对于眩晕、头痛和癫痫，请尝试更改显示器的刷新率(changing the refresh rate on your monitor)。大多数默认为 60Hz，这也是荧光灯使用的相同频率。因此，如果您在有荧光灯的房间里使用计算机，那将是双重打击。让您的显示器使用不同的频率，它应该会有所帮助。
对于腕管和其他肌肉和软组织问题，请将您的工作站或战斗站设置为对您造成最小的重复性劳损 ( RSI ) 损伤。考虑使用符合人体工程学的键盘或垂直鼠标来缓解手腕劳损(vertical mouse to relieve wrist strain)。也起身走动。
如果这意味着每小时在办公室休息 5 分钟以便起床走动，那么就这样做。做一些伸展运动。如果这意味着安排您的游戏，以免您连续 24 小时沉迷于游戏，那就这样做吧。如果这意味着当你抬起头看世界时，将手机静音并放在口袋里，那就这样做吧。
7 Health Issues Caused by Computers and How to Prevent Them
Constant use of anything iѕ going tо lead to
problems. Computers are no different, and it could be arguеd that humans spend
more time on them, inсluding smartphones, than anything else we do. Except
maybe sleeping. This can cause, оr make worse, some serious medical conditions.
We’re going to first look at the health issues
that can be caused or exacerbated by computer use, and at the end we’ll look at
what you can do to keep these things from happening. Or at least minimize them.
Migraines and Headaches
There are headaches and then there are
migraine headaches. Excessive staring at a screen can contribute to the
severity and frequency of both. Your eyes are literally brain stalks that have
the ends exposed to the world. So everything you do with your eyes directly
affects your brain.
Staring at a bright light is bound to cause strain, leading to pain, and eventually a headache. For people who are already prone to migraines, excessive screen time can make them more frequent and worse. As Scott Tousley writes in his article, “The 60-Second Trick to Stop Headaches From Computer Screens at Night” this kind of strain, “…occurs in 50% to 90% of computer workers.”
Vertigo
Being a little dizzy sounds funny, but vertigo is a serious issue. Imagine feeling like you’re going to fall over all the time. And sometimes you do. Vertigo is closely related to migraines. So if excessive screen time can cause migraines, it can certainly trigger or worsen vertigo.
Every computer screen has a flicker. Generally
you don’t recognize it, but that does not mean you don’t see it. It still
registers on your brain. That constant flickering can also cause or complicate
vertigo.
Macular Degeneration
Imagine that there’s a darkened or blacked-out circle in the middle of everything you look at. That’s what macular degeneration does. This can happen just through aging and it affects more people than cataracts and glaucoma. But High Energy Visible-light (HEV) plays a factor.
Like how staring at the sun is a bad idea. You’ve also heard HEV called ‘blue light’. Of course, computer screens are a source of HEV, often less than two feet from your eyes.
The jury still seems to be out on this, though. Doctor of Optometry, Marc Grossman, OD, LAc. says, “HEV is a known risk factor in causing macular degeneration.”, so he seems to be saying it could happen.
Stephen Rose, of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, says, “There is no evidence that sitting at a computer screen has any effect on the development of age-related macular degeneration or any other retinal problems.” Either way, why take the chance?
Depression and Anxiety
Excessive computer use doesn’t cause depression and anxiety but it can make it worse for many reasons. We know that exercise, good nutrition, fresh air and sunshine are powerful aides in dealing with depression and anxiety.
Sitting in a dark room, staring at a screen and eating junk food is the exact opposite of that. And that’s what a lot of people do every day, whether it’s gaming or just keeping up with what the rest of the world is doing while you do nothing.
Add to that the headaches, migraines, vertigo
and other potential health issues and the depression and anxiety can only get
worse. Plus the things that you see and hear will affect you. You’re seeing
what people in the world want you to see. You’re seeing the brief moments where
they are at their best. Then you look around you and feel like you’re not
measuring up. Comparison is the thief of joy, as the saying goes.
On the other hand, there are video games designed to help people with depression and anxiety. So, like any other tool, computers can be used to fix problems or, if misused, really destroy things.
Tics, Epilepsy, and Tourette
Syndrome
Tics and epilepsy aren’t conditions that are
caused by computers, but they can be exacerbated by them. Tics are often
related to Tourette’s Syndrome, so if excessive computer use can trigger tics
it can also negatively affect people living with Tourette’s Syndrome.
It’s also common knowledge that flickering
lights can trigger epileptic seizures. Computer screens flicker constantly.
It’s a part of how they work.
In an article from the Tourette Syndrome Parents, their top recommendation to help reduce the symptoms of Tourette’s is less screen time. It’s that simple.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
As the name suggests, there’s a tunnel in your
wrist. Through that tunnel travels the median nerve. If anything should happen
to narrow the tunnel, it impinges on the median nerve causing pain, numbness,
and mobility problems in the hand and arm. This could result in permanent
damage and loss of function in the hand.
The way most of us use computers can create the ideal conditions for inflammation around the carpal tunnel. Obesity can also increase the likelihood of carpal tunnel syndrome. There’s that inactivity from being on a computer all day coming in to play again.
Chronic Neck and Back Pain
We talked about being hunched over causing
headaches before. That hunching can lead to poor posture and a host of neck and
back pain problems.
Smartphone use also contributes to this.
Instead of lifting the phone up to eye level, people hunch over and look at the
phone as they hold it somewhere around their waist. Keep that up and you’re
going to look like a question mark, plus be in constant pain.
The Prevention and Possibly the
Cure
It’s painfully obvious what the top
preventative measure is, isn’t it? Use computers and smartphones less.
For screen-related issues, try lowering the brightness to match the brightness levels of the world around you. A reduction in the contrast between your screen and your surroundings can reduce eye strain dramatically. It also reduces the intensity of HEV or blue light that you’re exposed to. Consider using an app to help reduce blue light too, or calibrate your monitor.
For vertigo, flicker headaches, and epilepsy, try changing the refresh rate on your monitor. Most default to 60Hz, which is also the same frequency that fluorescent bulbs use. So if you’re working on a computer in a room with fluorescent lighting, that’s a double whammy. Get your monitor on a different frequency and it should help.
For carpal tunnel and other muscle and soft tissue issues, get your workstation, or battle station, set up to cause you the least repetitive strain injury (RSI) damage. Look at getting an ergonomic keyboard or vertical mouse to relieve wrist strain. And also get up and move.
If that means taking a 5 minute break at the
office every hour to get up and walk around, then do that. Do some stretches.
If it means scheduling your gaming so that you don’t get sucked into playing
for 24 hours straight, do that. If it means putting your phone on silent and in
your pocket while you lift your head and look at the world, do that.
