Am I deformed?

[Vinno]

Hello,

Yes, the thread title is correct. I want to know if I am deformed.

I have been suffering with wrist, hand, and shoulder problems for almost 3 years now due to what I can only think is using the PC. I have given up playing any games where I need to use mouse and keyboard. So thats FPS mainly. For anything else I can just use a controller.

Having looked up correct posture etc a million times I have always come to the same issues....

For me to sit like the dude in the following picture is more or less impossible.

http://www.grafika24.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Computer-posture.jpg

** Do Not Hotlink images **

And here's why:

When I sit at a computer desk and allow my arms to hang freely whilst keeping my elbows at 90 degrees, they rest below the surface of the desk. If I then raise the seat up as far as I can, squashing my legs up to the underside of the desk I still find my elbows too low to sit as seen above. Using the PC like this means that I kind of have T-Rex arm posture where my elbows are below the mouse level with my hands above them.

When I use the PC for a bit in this position I inevitably get pins and needles in my hands and wrist and then it starts aching. If I just raise the arm rests so that my elbows sit above the desk I get terrible pains in my shoulders because I am shrugging them upwards.

I'm getting to the end of my tether to be honest because using a PC and gaming is pretty much the only constant hobby in my life and I'm starting to get too old/injured to do it

Is there any solution to this? Maybe some kind of fancy chair or desk? Or am I simply trying to sit incorrectly?

For the record I am using a DX Racer chair, yes I know its not great for posture but I dont see how it can be the cause of my problems since my arms seem to be too long for my body? lol....

Any help would be great...

Thanks

 

[Vinno]

Yes my legs are touching the underside of the desk because my arms are too low. How can I get my arms so that they're above the desk? If I want them to be level or higher than the desk I need to move my seat higher right, which is impossible.

Maybe I need to draw a picture because I'm bad at explaining things

 

[Vinno]

Yeah exactly as Threepwood says, I can't raise the chair or lower the desk. As I am sitting right now at this moment, my legs are pretty much sqaushed under the desk and my arm rests are an inch lower than the surface of the desk. So it is absoloutely a catch 22 situation. My hands sit above my elbows which is why I think they are going numb/pins and needles. Ive been on the PC for about 30 minutes and I can already feel it.

I was just asking because in every "how am I supposed to sit at the PC" thing I see, the person is in a position which seems impossible for me to get into. Its like my upper body is too short or something...or my ass is too fat oh God.

And no im not a dawarf. Im about 5'6... so kinda dwarfey hahaha.

 

[Vinno]

Nobody told you to lower the desk?

I only mentioned that because someone earlier (I think) said that my desk is too high.

you raise the arm rests higher, not the whole chair

If I raise the arm rests at all, my shoulders have to hunch upwards which is uncomfortable and causes pain after a while. Like I said, its as though my upper body is shorter than it should be lol.

Get a standing desk.

How thick is your desk? Is it just a wooden top (a couple of cm) that your legs are pressed right up to or is there over stuff in the way.

The desk surface inc mousepad is 2.5cm thick and there is a support bar under it which is an additional 2.5cm. So 5cm in total.

I feel like I'm being really thick over this but I can't see a solution at all. I never had this problem my whole life until about 6 months after I got this chair, but I dont know if thats a coincidence or not.

 

[Vinno]

Ok sorry thats my mistake. I read some of the thread in a rush at work.

If I do that then I'd be worse off to be honest. I have a small footrest which my feet go on, if I lower my chair so that my feet are on the floor I do fit under the desk very easily. But then im reaching even further upwards to the desk. Adjusting the arm rests to that extent would mean I am permanently shrugging my shoulders.

As dumb as this sounds, could this be a seasonal thing? Could being a bit colder affect me like this?

I remember having this same issue last winter which cleared up around spring time. I just put it down to the fact that I stopped gaming as much and used a controller when I did game. In the summer I played quite a few PC games such as Deus Ex and never had issues... now we're getting to winter again its flaring up?

I feel like just giving up to be honest. I dont want to cripple myself trying to play games on PC.