Programmer Neck
I have a theory. Software Development is hard on your body. What?? Yeah, I didn't think that either until 2.5 years after starting my big-girl software development job. Now I am in pain. All the time. I have Programmer Neck. I don't know if that's a common term, but I use "Programmer Neck" to describe when a programmer's head juts forward like a turtle. Maybe it's from straining forward to see code on the monitor more clearly; I don't know. What I do know is that I felt devastated when I looked in the mirror and saw that I looked like a turtle instead of a Disney princess. The blow to my self-image isn't the worse part though. I felt hope slip from me as I tried to push past my pain to live each day. When despair and self-loathing entered the picture, I knew I needed to make changes. I bought a new bed. I slept in a cavern in my old bed, so I never woke up rested but was always tight and in pain. My new mattress gives my bo...