Desk Jobs

The big, burly men and women who make their living doing extremely physical jobs like lifting sand bags or operating heavy machinery probably scoff at you for worrying about what your cushy desk job could be doing to your body. However, you're right to be concerned. Just because you sell Oshawa, Ontario real estate doesn't mean your job isn't taking its toll. The only difference is that any conditions you may be developing or ill effects you may be feeling are probably less pronounced than the chemical burns or mashed fingers that plague blue collar workers. To help you identify some possible conditions or injuries you could develop working at a white collar job, we've compiled this article on the most likely effected areas of the body.

Eyes

The most common complaint from office workers is eye strain brought on by staring at a computer screen for eight hours a day. Some office workers get a reprieve because they have other tasks as well, like staging a Danforth home for sale, but in the end, everyone goes back to their computers. Eye strain can result in vision degradation that could have you putting your optometrist's kids through college, or in persistent headaches that could impede your ability to do your job and enjoy the rest of your life.

Back/Neck

Sitting at a desk all day with the phone cradled between your face and your shoulder while you talk to clients about wedding halls, Mississauga bridal stores, and the price of tulle means that you come home with aches in your back and neck. In some cases it's nothing more than muscle pain caused by remaining in an awkward position for too long, but in other cases it can be more insidious. Improper posture can cause spinal curvature, which is difficult and painful to treat.

Wrists

Hands and wrists are the most publicized victims of the office lifestyle these days. The awkward wrist angles required to use the mouse and keyboard interface on a computer puts undue strain on the nerves in the wrists. A worker whose job requires a lot of typing is at the highest risk, such as a secretary, writer, or the computer programmer that maintains the Riverdale, Toronto real estate listings database. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome manifests as pain, numbness or tingling in the fingers, and can even progress to the point of permanent nerve damage and reduced hand mobility.

General

Office jobs also open you up to some conditions that affect your whole body, most notably stress. Many people believe that stress is a mental condition, but it's a physical one as well. Getting caught in traffic during the afternoon commute, worrying about how tomorrow's presentation will go over, or trying to juggle your job and your children's hockey school schedule makes you tense, stimulates overproduction of stomach acid, and increases blood pressure. The results of stress could be as simple in the short term as muscle aches or indigestion, but could lead to you taking blood pressure medication and having ulcers surgically removed over the long run.