The greatest enemy of the programmer: hemorrhoids

Another really simple thing you can do is walk around while you're thinking. I know you probably incorporate this into "stand up when not operating the computer," but it bears repeating and emphasizing. Not only does it get you away from your keyboard and chair, it also helps stimulate the thought process.

>take breaks regularly

>exercise daily

This.

I actually bought a recumbent exercise bike which sits next to my home office desk. I've mounted a touch screen LCD in place of the "normal" trip computer and it's hooked up to a netbook.

That way, when I feel like my mind is wandering while working, I can take a break and peddle and surf the web/watch something.

It's not lost time that way, just re-purposed.

Agreed. One of the very best decisions I've ever made in my life was to go car-free (which is unfortunately not an option for most Americans :( ). So my commutes don't involve sitting, but walking. If you have the option to give up your car, do it.

I had three different therapies for my back (exercise machines, acupuncture and something that hammered the muscles so they would relax, does not hurt as much as it sounds but it hurts) they all lasted for a few month. Two Years ago I started going to work by bike (7km). Doing that every workday has kept the back problems away ever since. I just hope I can keep that up the rest of my (work-)life. Though a shower at work would be nice. Not so much for me but my colleagues :-)

I can still hear podcasts while biking so I don't "loose" the time. Public transportation would take the same amount of time and is more expensive.

The second greatest: the bran muffin.

Too many people seem ignorant of the strain => hemorrhoid connection.

I do all of that and have still been afflicted with most of those problems.

Get a split desk and spend part of your work time not on your tush.

Same story here, though I've recently given up my Aeron. I bought my Aeron at the Arthur Andersen bankruptcy auction in Houston in response to back, elbow, and wrist pain caused by a half dozen crappy chairs bought from Office Max or Office Depot for about $100 each over the span of several years. I kept the Aeron for 8 years, and then sold it when I was moving out of my house and into an RV...and it looked as good as the day I bought it. The guy who bought it from me couldn't believe I'd had it for nearly a decade and that it was used when I got it. Best $385 I ever spent, and when I can make room for another one, I won't mind spending a few hundred bucks to buy another one. I can say with absolute sincerity that it's just stupid to buy a cheap office chair. You pay for it with your back, your ass, your wrists, your elbows, and with your wallet, because the cheap chairs only last a year or two if you are a heavy user, as programmers always are.

I had started to regret selling it a month or so into my travels, but I've now figured out how to avoid trouble with the new lifestyle. Moving regularly between all of the several sitting locations I have in the RV (dinette, desk, sofa, and also sitting outside in a cloth folding chair or a wooden folding chair when weather is nice (which is most of the time, since I follow good weather), and exercising a lot more (easy since I have to walk my dog regularly, anyway, and I'm always in some place new that is way more interesting than what's on TV). I also still have my tall table from Ikea that I used for a while as a standing desk, but I haven't parked anywhere long enough to make it worth setting up.

As I type, I'm sitting outside under the awning overlooking the desert in a place called "Slab City" about 150 miles west of San Diego, and just south of Joshua Tree. I think I am going to do some customization of my next RV to get an Aeron back into the picture, though. There's just no good reason not to have a really good chair.

I have an Aeron chair at work. It's okay. If I were going to film a movie where the plot was being tied to chair, I would use the Aeron. Even without binding, you feel trapped. When you stand up and manage to escape, you feel an amazing amount of freedom.

I have a "crappy IKEA chair" at home. It is much better. You sit in it, and it feels good. You don't think about the act of sitting anymore.

Did I mention that Aeron chairs are ugly?

In the office I work at a desk and on a chair. But at home (where I work on side-projects several hours most days) I never work sitting on a chair - it's always either curled up with a laptop on the couch, or sitting on the floor. Usually I alternate between the two. I much prefer not sitting on a chair if I can avoid it.

Been using an Aeron for 12 years. Now I have a rip in the seat mesh, and one arm fallen off because of the snapped bolt. I could order parts to fix it, but I'm thinking it might be a good time to try out something new.

Does somebody have any recommendations for the chairs in similar price range of Aeron?

Seconded. I love my Aeron.

One of my favorite features is rarely mentioned: the part of the chair that contacts your body is a flexible mesh. There are thousands of holes in the mesh that make it incredibly breathable. You can sit in it for hours without any heat or moisture buildup on your back or butt.

Surprisingly, I find that it's this feature that I miss most when sitting in other chairs.

Although I didn't realise it, I am sitting on one in my office right now. The entire 3 floors are decked out with them, and I can attest to the incredible configurability. It can, however, bite you in the ass if not set up correctly. Read the instructions!

At least she didn't say "his wife?!"

Two very different lessons here.

First the value of NOT having url shorteners. Wikipedia is much different than youtube in this situation.

Second...the value of a long term partner. Preferably with a steady hand.

There's a lot of talk of fancy chairs, fancy keyboards or fancy mice a way around these kinds of problems.

But really, they don't not get at the root problem.

Getting exercise and a good diet is much closer to dealing with this root problem.

But even more to the point, one needs to reduce the unconscious, habitual tension which is what misaligns and thus tears people up when they sit "doing nothing" for years.

I would recommend the Alexander Technique a key method for dealing with the problem of habitual muscle tension and the many problems that it will cause you over the years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_technique

But there are number of similar methods: the Feldenkrais Method, Tai Chi Chua, Qigong and Yoga all work to give you new body habits, not just "work" your body. Indeed, the gym-style "push yourself" exercise approach can risk injury to the person due to their taking their poor align into a more stressful environment (though I don't doubt that hard exercise works for some)

I bet they'd let you buy your own $500 chair to reduce the chances of injury/hemorrhoids if you explained it well enough. Though if the corporate culture's really oppressive, they might make you take it home after people start complaining. On the other hand, they might buy them for everyone and you could be the hero.

After reading this: http://fateff.com/blog/2009/04/22/bad-afternoon/ I think I'll be ordering a banana tree or something.

Been there, done that -- and by the time I had stopped playing with the do-nothing over-the-counter nonsense, there was some serious cutting going on. The recuperation period was long, and reminded me in no uncertain terms (and here I have to beg pardon) that the assholes really are in charge in this world. It seemed like everything I did, from brushing my teeth to blinking, involved a little-known ligament or tendon that led, inevitably, to the tender area. (HTML was without a version number at the time, I was creating online reference books for Lynx, and I had just heard of a new "graphical browser" called Mosaic ready for release, so there was no live blogging on the school system's grand-a-month web server.)

Direct sunlight is a bitch. I had that fantasy as well when I started my own biz, but even working on my deck with an umbrella overhead and shady trees above is difficult.

Solve the battery and direct sunlight issues for laptops and my techno-world would be complete.

A few inches of difference on a chair's height, for me, makes the difference between long-term comfort and heavy lower back pain.

I ordered an artist's drafting stool recently because they go higher than other chairs.

I just improvised a standing desk this past weekend with boxes and books, and I'm enjoying it so far. Better posture already at least.

Where does one obtain a standing desk these days?

I think that as far as quality of life goes, I'd rather have my hands hurt than my ass hurt.

Yup, I had a couple of friends go through this. Saw the post-op photos one of the guys took - at least from the external viewpoint, they literally 'tore him a new one'.

At least they didn't have movements through the wound though, I suppose.

You can buy an accessory that will turn your western toilet into a squat toilet. Or you can squat on the rim of the toilet, it's not so uncommon to do - ask girls. They often do that in their toilets.

It's really easy to try, Peter:

1. Go to the woods. 2. Drop trou. 3. Shit.

Ta-da.

Not like you have to go to China to try it out.

I bought an aeron recently and I have to justify the cost!

It's also remarkably easy for your wallet to get stolen out of your back pocket.

I learnt this lesson the hard way. Thankfully all they were interested in was the five pound note and some kind soul handed it in.

Adjustable keyboard or desk? Any tips as far some affordable adjustable desks? Thanks.

Great setup! What did you use as your laptop stand?

Thanks for the new expression, "ass strain". I'll remember it next time I have to explain the pros and cons of a programming career.

To that end, a great free tool that I've been using is called Workrave: http://www.workrave.org/welcome/

Otherwise, I don't get off my butt much -- but this reminds me. And it is highly configurable.

Just because people have been sitting/squatting whilst working in previous centuries doesn't mean they didn't have problems. Have you seen the state of some poor people who spend their lives sitting badly whilst working?

I certainly get problems by sitting too long whilst working and I am by no measure fat. :) But, yes, get up and move about.

What's new is people reading magazines sitting on the toilets for hours :)