Ergonomics, being physically stressed as a digital artist

adaweawe

I find sitting at a desk sculpting in Zbrush is really taxing on the body, maybe more so than other desk jobs because one arm is always active on the drawing tablet and we have to sometimes strain our necks and backs when trying to focus on making the artwork. Right now after a year of working, my right hip and shoulder is getting painful. 

When I first looked into this as a career, it seemed so cool and a perfect fit, but I am really surprised at how physically uncomfortable it can be. I sometimes wonder about the long term effects.

Just thought I'd share, and maybe others out there feel the same way.

ZacD

The month you are starting to get pains from working, you need to immediately change how you are working or see a doctor. These injuries develop slowly overtime, and can end up lasting forever if you ignore them. You should look into stretching, trying to do some regular exercising that works the affected muscles, making your setup more ergonomic, and taking breaks while working. Try getting some mounting arms, putting your displays and tablet in places where you aren't hunched over or straining your neck, and put that tablet on a mount as well. 

Pay attention how you are sitting, and think about getting a different chair or trying a standing desk setup (or a setup that allows you to alternate between sitting and standing). I haven't heard of too many hip issues from working in an office setting. 

pior

I've been through the exact same thing near the end of my studies and during my first job - excruciating pain deep in the shoulder developing from tablet use (surprisingly enough the pain was located on my non-dominant side). It receded for a while (new job, new place, and probably new chair), and then came back later in the form of a highly painful sciatica radiating from the left hip/leg, making it hard to even just walk and sit. Working out at the gym helped, but it really was just a band-aid and not a true fix.

The cause was (obviously) the daily stress caused by posture and tablet+cintiq use, and I eventually fixed it thanks to a few lifestyle changes.

- First, make sure that your desk can be height adjusted. Not necessarily talking about standing desks here even though they can be cool as Zac mentioned - just make sure that you can precisely fine tune the height of the work surface using any means necessary. For instance for a while I used  hockey pucks to lift up my work desk at the office, because I am on the tall side and the adjustable feet were not reaching high enough for me. I am now using a desk on sawhorses, sawed off to the perfect height I need.

- Second, really think about your chair. Fancy, so-called "ergonomic" chairs were actually to blame for my sciatica, and once I realised that I simply started to use very plain waiting room chairs or good old wooden chairs. Similarly to sleeping on the floor, this forces your body to be proactive and does wonders to your posture. I don't have any study to back this up but I am convinced that the swivel and tilt motions allowed by office chairs are pretty bad for the back and core in the long run.

- Last but not least ... make a conscious choice to ban anything that is not 100% comfortable to you. Hip skinny leather shoes might look great, but if they are painful what's the point really, we only live once. Toe shoes forever !

Wishing you a good recovery.

Kevin Albers

Try to avoid doing same thing all day. Don't sculpt in Zbrush all morning, and then all afternoon. After an hour or two, switch to polygon modeling, or working on Substances or some such. 

Plus, deal with ergonomics, as suggested already.

Fuiosg

maybe unrelated but some things that helped me. Back support thing you put against your chair, literally $2 at microcenter. Microsoft sculpt mouse, really takes the stress off your hand if spending a lot of time with a mouse.

To me a chair with arms is almost mandatory. But I agree with others, change what isn't working and do it fast.