says Dr. Lidsky. "Another perspective can provide insights on tech-
niques and postures that surgeons can't possibly have on their own."
You can also take pictures of how surgeons stand at the table or
position their instruments. After surgery, surgeons can review the
images to see how their form compares to how they think they're
operating. John Jarstad, MD, an ophthalmologist affiliated with the
University of Missouri in Columbus, had photos taken of himself per-
forming cataract surgery. What he saw made him cringe: His neck was
extended too far forward, and he was leaning off to the side instead of
centering himself at the microscope's oculars.
Dr. Jarstad, and countless ophthalmologists like him, sit hunched
behind microscopes for hours on end during busy days of surgery,
unable to move their arms and shoulders more than a couple inches
as they perform some of surgery's most intricate maneuvers. Even
the relatively brief cataract procedures can cause lasting injuries to
necks, backs and shoulders.
In 2006, Dr. Jarstad found out just how physically damaging his cho-
sen career was when he ended up on the other end of the knife. "A
bulging disk in my back caused numbness and weakness in my legs,"
he says. "I put up with it for a long time and tried everything — physi-
cal therapy, seeing a chiropractor — but nothing provided relief. I
finally had to resort to undergoing a microdiscectomy."
Dr. Jarstad says he's amazed by how many ophthalmologists he's
spoken to who've also had back surgery. Eye surgeons being forced
into retirement because of repetitive strain injuries is "not an uncom-
mon story," says Dr. Jarstad.
Surgery cured Dr. Jarstad's aching back, but it was the steps he took,
some seemingly simple, to improve his posture that helped make sur-
gery more tolerable.
"I'm now much more cognizant of my posture, making sure I'm sit-
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