Stress, long working hours, and the sedentary nature of office jobs in the modern world can wear you down and cause common health problems. In the rest of this article, stay with us to know the 24 most common health problems in the office and office jobs, and if you are suffering from them, come to help yourself as soon as possible.
And it’s not just the tight deadlines, stress-eating donuts, and sneezes from co-workers that wear you down. Even your keyboard can be a problem. From the printer to your supervisor, the hazards in the typical office can have real effects on your physical and mental health. Do you need a reason to overhaul your habits? You don’t have to search anymore.
The most common health problem in office and office jobs
1. Sitting all day can shorten your life by years
Sitting for long periods of time is bad for your body. Chronic aches and pains are the least of the problems—too much sitting can lead to early death. Even if you exercise regularly, you are at increased risk of musculoskeletal disorders, obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and other diseases.
About 86% of American workers sit at work all day. If you are one of them, Alan Hedge, a professor of design and ergonomics at Cornell University, recommends changing your posture every 8 minutes and having a 2-minute “movement time” at least twice every hour.
2. Constantly slouching in your chair can lead to long-term ailments
If your job requires you to sit most of the day, it’s best to have a sitting tool that allows you to correct your bad posture. If you don’t, you’re contributing to a host of chronic, long-term ailments, including arthritis and bursitis.
3. Using a treadmill increases your chances of injury
Although a treadmill desk can help employees deal with the risk of obesity and heart disease, at the same time, those who work with these desks are more prone to typos, and these desks may cause you to fall more than sitting in a chair.
4. Not eating breakfast puts your body in a constant state of stress
Are you always on the run and don’t have time to eat the most important meal of the day? If you do this continuously, you will stress your body and disrupt your metabolism.
People who don’t eat breakfast have a higher risk of high blood pressure, overweight, and heart problems than those who regularly eat breakfast within the first 2 hours of waking up.
5. Eating fast food for lunch regularly increases the risk of heart disease
Most office workers go out for an unhealthy lunch occasionally—some more than others—but even the occasional overindulgence has negative effects.
Fast food usually has 2 times more calories compared to the same amount of similar food, and it also has a lot of fat oxide, which increases the risk of heart disease.
6. A long commute can lead to poor quality sleep, higher cholesterol, and an increased risk of depression
According to a study conducted at the St. Louis University School of Medicine and the Cooper Institute in Dallas, travelling more than 10 miles by car can lead to an increase in blood sugar and cholesterol. It can also increase your risk of depression, anxiety, and general malaise.
But using the public transportation system is not fun at all. Research in England has shown that people who commute by bus for 30 minutes have the lowest level of life satisfaction, and even cyclists are not immune to the negative effects of long commutes.
7. Motivational sessions can depress people
Employers may hold team-building exercises or motivational sessions to get employees excited about fulfilling the company’s mission.
But research has shown that forcing people to feel positive about something they’re not sure about can actually “double their anxiety” and ultimately make them even more depressed.
8. Recirculated toxic air fills your lungs
The Environmental Protection Agency calls it ” building sickness syndrome .” Indoor air can be up to 100 times more polluted than outside, and you’re exposed to all kinds of unhealthy gases and chemicals.
There are pollutants in the air conditioning system, as well as toxic particles, dangerous bacteria, and microscopic fungi that fly into the environment, especially in poorly maintained buildings.
9. Working too much with printers and copiers can lead to lung disease
If the copier’s filter is not changed regularly, it can be a potentially fatal source of ozone, and even a small amount may cause chest pain and burning.
Laser printers also have these effects, releasing toner particles into the environment. These particles can enter your lungs and enter your bloodstream, which may lead to lung disease and other illnesses.
10. Putting a hot device on the leg for a long time reduces the sperm count
If you use your laptop on your lap instead of a table, you may experience heat-induced skin problems, and there’s even more worrying news for men.
Researchers at the State University of New York have found that laptops can raise the temperature of the scrotum, which can lower a man’s sperm count.
11. Working more than 10 hours a day can lead to a heart attack
European researchers have found that people who work 10 hours or more every day are 60% more at risk of a large number of cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack and angina.
12. Working for a bad boss can lead to anxiety, unhealthy habits, and even heart disease
A Swedish study cited by The Washington Post shows that chronic stress from a bad boss is linked to a higher risk of heart disease — and the longer you work for that person, the worse the problem seems to be.
This is just the introduction. Other research has shown that working for an unfair boss may be effective in causing a host of other ailments such as depression, sleep problems, high blood pressure, and being overweight.
13. Working odd hours can cause weight gain and increase stress hormones
Those who often work nights—including programmers—are at increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
According to an experiment conducted by Harvard researchers in 2009, people who wake up later experience a decrease in leptin, a hormone responsible for suppressing appetite, and an increase in the hormone cortisol, which is associated with stress.
14. Staring at a computer screen for long periods of time can damage your eyesight
Although computer screens do not emit radiation, the strain of staring for long periods of time can damage your vision, although many of the effects are temporary. After all, you may also experience headaches and migraines.
15. Not getting enough sunlight makes it harder to fall asleep and concentrate when you wake up
Parents who have sleep problems usually witness disturbed sleep in their children.
Artificial light doesn’t just give your skin an unpleasant green glow—it also messes with your internal clock, leaving you sleepy and restless.
A study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that employees who were not exposed to natural light while working slept an average of 46 minutes less each night than their counterparts with windows—and the sleep they did get was less restful.
16. Excessive boredom may increase your risk of dying from heart disease or stroke
That’s not just an exaggeration—you might actually be bored to death.
Research from University College London suggests that those who complain of boredom are more likely to die young, and those who report high levels of monotony are more likely to die of heart disease or stroke. Boredom also puts you at greater risk of accidents at work.
17. Dirty keyboards. coli and coliform are dangerous
Keyboards, if not cleaned, can be breeding grounds for bacteria.
Microbiologists have found that a keyboard can hold up to 5 times as much bacteria as a toilet, and can harbour dangerous bacteria such as E. coli and coliform —both of which are commonly associated with food poisoning—as well as staphylococcus, which causes a host of infections.
18. Germs are everywhere in the office
The keyboard isn’t the only breeding ground for bacteria in the office. Doorknobs, faucets, handles, elevator and printer keys, handshakes, and many other things are all breeding grounds for bacteria. Germs are everywhere, and some of them can kill you.
19. Too much typing leads to carpal tunnel syndrome
Excessive typing is a known cause of carpal tunnel syndrome. This is a painful pressure condition in the wrist that can extend to your forearm. Carpal tunnel syndrome can become severe enough to cause permanent nerve damage and muscle loss.
20. The open office may be trendy, but it increases your chances of getting sick
In almost 70% of the offices, the walls of the rooms have been destroyed to create an open environment. But while this type of design may (maybe) somehow increase communication and collaboration, it also makes us sick.
Research in Denmark shows that as the number of employees in a room increases, so does the number of sick leave days – and people who work in fully open offices are outside 62% more than their counterparts who have separate rooms.
21. Tight deadlines have a negative impact on your learning and memory
When you have to do something under a strict deadline, you become stressed, which can negatively affect your learning and memory, according to Daily Science. This type of short-term stress can be just as bad as stress that lasts for weeks or months.
22. Holding the mouse in one spot makes you prone to repetitive strain injury
If your mouse stays in one spot all day, you can be prone to repetitive strain injury.
When your tendons are overstretched for a long period of time, repetitive strain injury occurs in the upper limb, which can be caused by repetitive motion, poor posture, or pressing on a hard surface for long periods of time.
23. Excessive smartphone use may eventually weaken your hands and wrists
People who use their smartphones a lot for texting and emailing are prone to muscle fatigue and Decorvain syndrome, which is a type of repetitive strain injury.
The effects of excessive phone use can be so severe that the pain spreads throughout your wrist and can unfortunately cripple your hands.
24. Uncomfortable shoes can eventually lead to spinal injuries, muscle cramps, and chronic headaches
Those lightweight Power Woman shoes you’re wearing may make you look taller and more confident, but they’re also hurting your body in surprising ways.
According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, between 2005 and 2009, women’s visits to the doctor for their feet increased by 75%.
Wearing uncomfortable shoes can lead to spinal injuries, muscle cramps, and even chronic headaches and migraines. After all, the more pain you feel, the more likely you are to sit for longer periods of time, which in turn can cause a host of health problems.