(no subject)

[merrily]

Dudes, I have an RSI, and it sucks balls.

I've been trying to deny that I have an RSI ("no, you see, my dominant hand and wrist and forearm just hurt like a mother sometimes, no big"), but yesterday the sitrep ratcheted up to "hurts all the time, no matter what I'm doing or how I hold my arm", and then last night after the acetaminophen wore off, the pain woke me up.

I'm grumpy about it.

I've been trying to give myself a break from most things - bar typing this right now - which means recording lectures instead of trying to take notes (fun fact: my RSI makes me unable to write cursive! I cannot grip a pen!), and walking instead of biking (so I don't have to grip the handlebars).

I've got an appointment with my GP next week, and I'm looking at braces.

Is there anyone on the flist or reading circle who's got experience with this problem, and can offer advice?

Comments

[devildoll]

Aw, that sucks. I had it years ago, but I was very lucky and it turned out to be easily fixed by switching to an ergonomic keyboard at work. I had the same thing--numbness, tingling, loss of grip. Miserable. I hope you can get it resolved soon.

[k8andrewz]

When you're just hanging out and doing shit you could do w either hand put a sock on the bad one to remind you to not use it at all. Learn to mouse w non dom hand. Set alarm for usage times and force 15 on 5 off (or other ratio) and sock the bad hand for total non use during break. Most important is prevention, so that even when u r good, you force a 10 min wrist break every hour (or your ratio). Harder to remember when u r ok but worth it.

[merrily]

The sock tip is very helpful, thanks!

[merrily]

Ergonomic keyboards seem to be the way to go. And I'm going to suck it up and learn Dvorak-style layout, to further reduce stress.