A discussion on health and writing

[Kiersten, Mod]

I sit at my desk a lot, writing for long periods of time. I try to remember to get up and walk around and stretch, but I know I don't do enough to keep my body up to snuff.

If we don't watch out, we can develop some pretty serious injuries just from working too much, such as carpal tunnel, tendonitis, muscle cramps, back pain, neck pain, eye strain, repetitive strain injury, and weight gain.

Writers, have you experienced any writing-related injuries? What do you do to keep yourselves healthy?

[Chloe]

I'm also a cake decorator and have a nasty habit of cracking my thumb knuckle, so I already have arthritis in my right hand. I added some things to my diet, but the biggest thing I had to do was correct the way I hold my phone when I read on it (using a larger e-reader makes it worse).

It's gotten a bit worse this past year, so now I'm in the middle of redoing my work space. I just ordered an ergonomic keyboard, but I've struggled with them the few times I've used them in the past, so we'll see. I also got a large monitor (ok, it's a TV lol) that I can sit farther away from and still see clearly, so I'm not hunching over a laptop anymore.