Table of contents:
- The dangers of laptops lap habits
- 1. Causes skin irritation
- 2. Kills sperm
- 3. Back, shoulder and neck problems
- Healthy tips for using a laptop
If you are a laptop user to support your daily work, you must have accidentally or unintentionally moved the laptop from the table to the lap of your thighs, due to stiffness or other reasons. According to the myth that circulates, laptops can be dangerous to health. Is this true?
The dangers of laptops lap habits
1. Causes skin irritation
Laptop that is warm on your thigh, it causes more serious problems than you might think.
A study in the journal Pediatrics examines the case of a 12-year-old boy who had a skin condition that turned brown, freckled and painful.
The symptom, classically known as erythema abigne, or burning skin syndrome, results from prolonged use of a laptop cradle that is placed on the thigh.
The study also listed 10 other reported cases, and possibly many more. So this is not a myth but a fact.
2. Kills sperm
An article in the journal Human Reproduction in 2005 examined the relationship between laptop heat and reduced sperm counts in men. It turns out that the heat from the laptop can warm male sperm so that they are no longer active.
This condition, called scrotal hyperthermia, has the potential to be a big problem, especially since laptops are so popular among young, productive men. This is a fact that you must be aware of. Do not put your laptop on the bench because it can affect your fertility.
3. Back, shoulder and neck problems
Another risk associated with laptops is back and neck pain due to poor posture. Laptops are not always placed on special desks like normal computers. Without realizing it, it is not uncommon for you to bend too much when using a laptop that is placed on the floor, at a small table, or on your lap.
This can lead to back and neck problems. In addition, shoulder problems can also arise due to carrying the laptop in an incorrect position. The use of a sling bag can burden one side of the shoulder that is often used.
To protect your body, it is recommended that you use a wide strap and high-stability backpack specially designed for carrying a laptop. Children who are still growing need to be especially careful not to carry a heavy laptop without adequate protection.
Healthy tips for using a laptop
A professor in ergonomics, Alan Hedge, PhD, CPE, provides tips so that laptop users do not experience injury while working.
- Do not place the laptop in front of a bright light source, such as a window, for example. Two intense reflections of light emanating from laptop monitors and windows tend to tire your eyes, and too much light being absorbed by the cornea can increase the risk of cataracts.
- Place the laptop at eye level. If there is no place to place the laptop properly, feel free to place an object flat on your lap, such as a chair cushion, several thick and large books, or layers of newspaper. This is very important to do to minimize the tension that occurs in the muscles and neck bones.
- Use mouse connected to the laptop, so that you can move the cursor properly, especially when the touchpad or trackball You are hard to use.
- Make sure mouse and the laptop keyboard is operated at the level of the elbow crease to avoid wrist irritation and upper arm muscle tension.
- If you are using a laptop at the same time as accessing other documents, do not place these documents on the side of the laptop. Movement of the neck that switches from the monitor that is parallel to the line of sight to the document on the side of the laptop can trigger neck posture disorders. We recommend that you use clamp handles that are placed parallel to the monitor so that you get a reading angle that is parallel to the angle of view of the laptop monitor.
- Once an hour, while you are working at the laptop, set aside 5 minutes to rest and stretch. This is necessary so that the body does not experience tension.
- If the laptop has to be carried all day, consider the weight of the laptop complete with all the equipment, such as power supply, external drive, or battery. Make sure it weighs no more than 3.5 kilograms. Carrying loads heavier than that weight tends to trigger injury to one or both shoulder muscles. If you have to carry one anyway, think about getting a carrier on wheels. And avoid laptops.
