Ergonomics Talk

Back, neck, and joint problems are no longer exclusively for the old. Increasingly sedentary lifestyles and gym culture are taking a physical toll on gen x- and y-ers. The talk on ergonomics organized by Health and Wellness Centre on the 24th of September discussed these issues and possible solutions for them.

The talk began with Mr. Lim Wilson, the young and energetic physiotherapist for Sunway Medical Center who delivered the talk, explaining what ergonomics means. Basically, ergonomics means changing your environment to make work less strenuous on your body. Then, he broke down the benefits of ergonomics including increased productivity and better physical health. He also explained the risks behind not following ergonomics, for example joint pain and injury.

This got us listening as many of us in the audience were facing body pains, ourselves.  Following that, he spoke about common musculoskeletal disorders like carpal tunnel syndrome, rotator cuff, and tennis elbow, and the main perpetrators for these problems, for instance repetitive movement, staying in one position for too long, and muscle stiffness. Moving on, he got to the most heavily-anticipated part of the talk, how to solve these problems. He told us that it is good to take a break from work and do a few simple stretches every 20 to 30 minutes and to stretch before doing almost anything that would require lots of movement, heavy-lifting, and staying still for long periods of time. He showed us the proper way to lift heavy objects, using most of your lower body instead of just your back. He also showed us a stretch to strengthen our back muscles and taught us about planking, an exercise that strengthens our cores better than push-ups. Besides, he showed us small exercises to prevent neck pain while studying or working at a desk. He also showed us a simple stretch to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. It was surprising to find that most of the audience felt pain while doing this stretch.


Then, he touched on proper gym procedure, especially for those who are doing more physically-demanding exercises like deadlifts, in order to prevent injury. He explained the proper way to sit on a chair or sleep, based on the natural curvature of the spine, as well as what a good environment was like.

This was especially useful as I found that I have not been very kind to my back when I sit. The talk concluded with him accepting questions about our own pains and problems.

Ergonomics has never been in my vocabulary, but from now onwards, I am sure that I will pay more heed to my back, neck, and joints no matter what I am doing. This talk was very revelatory. It was interesting to note that such big problems can stem from very simple causes. Mr. Lim Wilson was very engaging, and his use of anecdotes and physical demonstrations made the talk far from boring. All in all, it was a very productive session and I am sure that I will use this knowledge for the rest of my life.

By Divyaa Veerama