Herniated discs and programming.

[iklavya]

Hi Everyone, I've been programming for about 10 yrs now and have now developed a lumbar herniated disc and the doctor advised me to not sit for a long time but he probably doesn't realize that programming is a different beast and requires long hours of sitting and debugging. How has everyone here dealt with this? Any advice would be helpful? Thanks.

[Flam]

I had a herniated disc, and while it was painful and troubling for about 6 months, I'm now back on the computer full time. After I was able to move properly again, I waited a full month to be sure I was fine, then got a gym membership and strengthened my body. Now I'm in great shape.

[staktrace]

Get a standing desk?

[tnorthcutt]

Seconding the standing desk suggestion. However, if you go to buy a "standing desk" you'll soon find that they're abnormally expensive. If you just want to try it out (somewhat) cheaply and have an IKEA nearby, these links might help:

http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/01/wide-standing-desk.html

http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/04/expedit-standing-desk.htm...

http://blogjunkie.net/2011/03/hacking-together-an-ikea-stand...

[thewordpainter]

agree with the guys above...sounds like a pretty easy solution to me. i think there's a lot of positives that can come from a standing desk. more than anything, it's a much healthier lifestyle than slouching over 10 hours/day.