Submitted by administrator on
Working in IT and with computer screens as I do, it's not hard to make someone believe that I might suffer from extra headaches than the average person due to the job I do. Staring at an LCD monitor for hours on end takes its toll on your eyes as they focus for long periods of time, so there isn't much of an argument there. One thing I do have trouble with is convincing others that a long shift in front of my PC is tiring work. "You don't move all day," and, "all you do is sit and type, that's not hard work," are not uncommon statements that are made to me during the working week and as such sympathies are light on the ground for bloggers such as myself. Asking for a back massage after a particularly stressful day usually receives the same answer, "No, you don't do anything to need a massage." Now eye care specialists, who invariably do similar volumes of moving during the day to myself, I would imagine that they also come up against the same responses. However, a new study suggests that optometrists and ophthalmologists do in fact have a highly stressful working day in comparison to other comparable health care specialists.
The study, published in Ophthalmology, surveyed almost 200 physicians, half eye care specialists and the remainder GP's and similar. The results from the tests showed that eye care providers were at higher risk of musculoskeletal problems during the working day. Musculoskeletal disorders, or MSDs, are conditions that affect the joints, muscles, nerves and related parts of the body. Typical examples include neck and back pain.
Results:
- Eye related specialists are 2x more likely to have neck pain
- Eye related specialists are 2.4x more likely to have pain in their hands/wrists
- Eye related specialists are 2.9x more likely to have back pain
There you go, the 'eyes' have it! So as an eye specialist, you are now officially allowed to complain about a work related condition. Whether it leads to sympathy and the occasional massage is questionable.