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Either writing articles on my $40 laptop (bragging), using a school computer to print some stuff(free printing) during the day, or doing some big work on my site at night.
At the end of some days my right wrist is killing me. I can tell it is a overuse pain. Too much mouse/typing. I have already got those keyboard/mousepad gel pads, but I was wondering if there was some other kind of wrist support I would get. Maybe like a mini caste to keep my wrist straight while I type.
Anyone else get this pain?
[edited by: zulufox at 11:35 pm (utc) on Aug. 30, 2004]
Maybe like a mini caste to keep my wrist straight while I type.
I just got a Carpalmate [google.com], and it's amazing. The first day of using it, I worked through the entire day w/o any pain.
Of course, I've also been told to just get a trackball.
I'm going to advise you to do an about face in your thinking about this. Stop thinking about how to protect and ease your wrist and start thinking about how to strengthen it.
I worked in injury rehab for the best part of ten years, and keyboard injuries were a significant part of the caseload. That said, I am not a doctor.
The problem with wrist rests and the like is that firstly by resting your hand/wrist on them, you are actually compressing the problem area (and carpal tunnel syndrome and similar problems are actually about compression of nerves for the most part).
Secondly, wrist rests tend to result in people typing by leaving their wrists on the rest, arching their hand up/back and typing with their fingers only. Bad bad bad. Extended compression of the problem area, excessive strain on the fingers and hands.
Wrist supports, ie, cast and brace type structures, should in general only be used for acute type injuries and for the shortest term possible. Why? Your body is very good at only working as hard as it has to. If you take the strain off that area, your muscles will lose condition surprisingly fast, and you'll end up in a worse position than you are currently. Ever had a broken arm or leg? Remember how much condition that muscle lost in the six weeks or so of casting?
So. Solutions.
Get a good chair that supports your posture, so you can sit upright and relaxed. Good back support essential. And no arm rests, or low arm rests so your arms are not touching them at all when you are in an 'active' working position.
Get a matching desk, so that when you are sitting comfortably in your chair you can relax your shoulder, let your arms drop, hold your forearms out at right angles to your body, with your hands straight out from your forearms and fingers curling so your fingertips, not fingerpads, face the keyboard... and your keyboard should be exactly under your fingers. You shouldn't have to lift or drop your hands/arms to reach the keyboard. If you do, adjust either your chair or desk height.
Ergonomics is everything.
Your hands should look like a concert pianist when you're at the keyboard - hands raised and fingers curled down for a minimum-effort keystrike. If you look like you're manipulating a sock puppet, with your hands bent back at the wrist you've got a problem.
If you aren't a full-hand touch typist, go get typing lessons. A big contributor to overuse is the inability to use the whole hand efficiently.
Just noticed you're using a laptop. DO NOT use your laptop keyboard - get an external keyboard so you can position it correctly for your hands, and the screen correctly for your neck. Laptop keyboards are often smaller, requiring the hands to be unnaturally 'tight' in their movements. and as for the distance between a laptop screen and a keyboard - it MIGHT be ergonomically correct for a small three year old, but for an adult extended use of a laptop will almost certainly cause either hand or neck problems from raising hands/lowering head.
Ok ok. I'll stop now. Maybe.
Right after I remind you about taking regular breaks and doing exercises to strengthen and relax your wrists.
It sounds like you already have an acute problem. Go see a physiotherapist and get some treatment to resolve that now before it gets any more entrenched.
But please, do not self-treat with 'rests' - you will only create a much larger problem for yourself longterm.
deejay
90-100 wpm
16 years on a keyboard
No problems
So I guess my next question is: Do you know any good wrist exercises?
The other neglected area I think is your forearm near your wrist. That is mostly from my fore fingers clicking away at the mouse. I massage that area to release the tension there. I've also used aides for [url="http://www.take-care.com/elbo/aircasttennis.html"]tennis elbow[/url], but can't vouch for how well they work.
The wristguards, I like, because it forces your hands and wrist to be a certain posture. It also adds heat to the area which improves blood circulation.
The pain meds were a bad idea -- yeah, they stop or dull the pain, but when you KNOW you're going to keep working through the pain, having it disappear isn't a good thing. You push your wrist even further into injury because you don't feel your body yelling at you to make changes like better posture and an ergonomic work area, exercise --whole body as well as wrist strengthening exercises, and more frequent breaks. I wasn't really taking ANY breaks when my problems first showed up. I'd work through lunch and easily find I hadn't moved more than 5 feet from my desk for several HOURS or more; I was in a cube farm and then went home and put more hours in behind MY computer.
I still have some wrist pain -- in fact, the past couple weeks have probably been my worst in the past year. Why? I've let myself fall into old habits and my wrist is yelling in pain with a reminder of that. When I take care of myself through exercise, breaks and watching my posture, however, the pain disappears in several days.
What haven't I been doing that I should?
I haven't done any whole body exercise recently, like walking for at least 30 minutes regularly at a good pace, rowing (not especially good for wrists, btw) or hiking (Anything that gets you moving will do, imho. If I could swim and had a pool nearby, swimming's ideal!) I haven't been taking adequate breaks, and have skipped some meals which is a double whammy because it's one less break AND leads to poor nutrition/eating habits. I haven't paid attention to my posture, so I've found my elbow and wrist are being compressed as I've laid them on the chair arm and desk, respectively.
Changing all of the above WILL alleviate my type of wrist pain, and even with that knowledge it's surprisingly challenging to change bad habits... even ones you thought you'd trained out of yourself after a year. My thought, after writing all this out (which brings the present pain I've been ignoring to light), is it's probably not something you can ever take for granted as "learned" but instead requires consistent effort. Work at it or your body will remind you that you're cheating yourself by slacking off on one or more crucial items.
PS: I did switch to a trackball about a year ago. They're not for everyone, and you really have to try them out before you buy because I've only found ONE model I can use comfortably. I personally eased into using one -- I used a trackball at home, and an MS Explorer mouse at work, which seemed to help "balance" my wrist use a little better. I work for myself now (not related to the wrist pain, btw), so I now use a trackball 98% of the time. I just prefer it, and find it generally easier not to lapse into resting my wrist and compressing the nerves (my present lapse into pain and bad habits notwithstanding, of course...)
I don't recommend a wrist brace except for very short periods of time. You'll find yourself working against the brace and potentially causing more injury if you wear it too often and while typing. I stopped wearing the full wrist/forearm (typical "carpal tunnel" prescribed one) brace over a year ago due to it causing more harm/pain than good. Now I only use a small (maybe three inches in width) ACE velro wrist brace. I typically use it when taking photographs (I do a lot of handheld photography with a heavy camera and long, heavy zoom lens) to provide extra strength to my wrist, then take it off immediately after a shoot is over. Or, at times like this week when I'm in pain, I will resort also to wearing it when typing but usually for no more than a day or so. when I need to do this, it's a sign I've pushed my wrist too far again and need to address the causes rather than just the pain by bracing it.
[edited by: Shannon_Moore at 11:02 am (utc) on Sep. 3, 2004]
At the end of some days my right wrist is killing me.
I would like to urge you and anyone else for that matter involved with computers NOT to ignore early signs of RSI. After being into computers for the last 15 years I started getting pain in my palms, particulary right one when I used mouse. Read up on RSI - a lot on the web.
The key thing is to get better ergonomics and make breaks. I switched from mouse to 2 trackballs that I use with my both hands now (switched to mainly use left hand), I also got Microsoft Natural Keyboard (MNK). I used to derive MNK before without trying, but now I bought the concept - it is indeed more natural for hands to be placed the way you place them on MNK. It will take time to get used, but its worth it.
At the end of some days my right wrist is killing me
I think the best way forward for you is to stop using right hand for mouse - switch to left for at least 4-6 weeks, then change them few times a day. Get trackball as well - its hard to get used to (initially), but after a while its fine (drag and drop still pain).
Do not settle for just wristsupport - you need more than that. I also suggest visit doctor if you can. Beware - RSI can disable, and you might not be able to use computers. It is serious and scary stuff, amazing its such a low profile thing at the moment.
Another comment: Taking time off is not a sign of weakness, and is something that depending on your type and severity of pain and injury you should consider doing. I nearly fell into tears when the hand specialist I saw 2 years ago said other than pain meds and physical therapy, all he could tell me to do was STOP TYPING and using my wrist excessively for several weeks. I ended up requesting and getting granted a week off work, which at the time was a pretty tall order. It was hell sitting around the house without being able to use the computer, however. I felt useless. I had to do it again a little over a year ago, and it can be demoralizing. It's also a reminder of what will happen if you abuse your wrists too much -- only, you WON'T be able to go back to your work.
So, don't let it get that bad.
With that, I'm off to take a break and do those wrist exercises I've been talking about.
