What has helped you?
Thanks.
I stopped using mice. I use a trackball, a Kensington Orbit with scroll wheel. The twinges in my hands disappeared almost immediately.
I had medium to severe tennis elbow symptoms and comparatively slight carpal tunnel symptoms, and both all but disappeared after I began using a vertical mouse in the office (I used the Microsoft Natural Wirelass Laser Mouse 6000 in 2008-2011, and since then, because Microsoft dicontinued the type, the Evoluent Vertical Mouse 3.)
Moved my mouse to my left hand. It takes surprisingly little time to adjust, and it’s actually a better spot - on the right of the keyboard the mousepad is pushed out by the numeric keypad, whereas on the left it’s closer to the centreline and your forearm is in a more natural straighter angle.
I had surgery 8 or 9 years ago. I tried hand braces, moving from a track ball to a mouse, using a touch pad instead, yada yada. The pain got so bad I could not sleep. The surgery was outpatient, and literally on the way home from the hospital I discovered the pain was gone. I have never had a moment of pain or tingling fingers since. If it gets bad, have the surgery! I recommend finding someone who has done a lot of them and getting it fixed once and for all.
This. My left hand never got as good as my right, but it works. I think it is good for your brain to learn new things like this. It is kind of like a second language.
It really confuses the IT people when they come up to work on your computer.
This is what I did as well.
This utterly baffles me. If I try to use a trackball my forearm will feel like it’s on fire after only a few minutes.
I went to physical therapy, had an ergonomic evaluation, and determined that I MUST use an under desk keyboard tray with the top lower than the space bar. I also used a vertically-oriented mouse for a while, and used a brace at night, and iced three times a day, and took absolute rest from home laptop use for a month, and had to learn to sleep in a different position.
Btw, it takes as long to recOver from RSI as you’ve been living with the pain. See a doctor. You don’t even know that you have carpal tunnel syndrome, which is one specific kind of repetitive stress injury. It could be a lot if things, and what helps one injury makes another worse (as in the trackball example).
This is not a good long-term solution. I did this (except I switched from left to right) and began to get twinges again after a while.
There are two sorts of trackballs: ones which have a small ball operated by the thumb, and ones which have a larger ball which is operated by the forefinger and middle finger. Mine is the latter - they don’t make the former left-handed.
An alternative, which I tried for a while, is to use a pen and tablet, but it didn’t work so well when I switched to two monitors.
I know there are two types. They both kill my forearms. The ones with the larger ball in the center are the worse of the two.
Ps- I got tons of help at work once I stopped talking to HR (dumbfucks) and started talking to Loss prevention, who was actually capable of comprehending that buying me a couple hundred dollars worth of ergonomic equipment is cheaper than me going on short-term disability.
Yes, in the U.K. this is a Health & Safety issue and employers are legally obliged to provide equipment for certain classes of employee.
It can help to take significant breaks from using the computer. Last year I went on a trip for about five days, and nearing the return of my trip the pain in my right hand was completely gone. I did not take my laptop on my trip, and did not use a computer in any way on my vacation (on purpose). Of course, when I started using my laptop again my pain returned, and I have the pain as I am typing this. Of course, the computer is needed for work, but possibly you could limit computer use for things that do not involve work. Also, I’ve read that turmeric can be good for this type of pain, and possibly turmeric and other combinations. Turmeric is good for memory also.
I had the surgery about 5 years ago. Yes, the pain went away almost immediately, but my flexibility has never returned to what it was and my grip strength is down about 30%, likely to never get back to where it was. Once you need the surgery, I don’t think there are really any other options.
Wrist brace, as needed, and wrist rests for the keyboard & mouse.
I’m surprised to hear that you lost grip strength. Did your doctor have any idea why that happened? I know some people who say they lost flexibility but I never did. Maybe I was just lucky, but I feel like my wrist is just like it was before I ever got Carpal Tunnel.
Start with a trip to the doctor.
Probably the first few things will be 1) wear a wrist brace - at least at night. I have the habit of tucking my hand weird under my body which makes it really hurt. The brace keeps that from happening. 2) get an ergo assessment at work - that might be a trackball or a different position for your chair. 3) if you spend a lot of time at the computer away from work - stop. 4) physical therapy.
I had bad luck with surgery. It was ok, but was 80% pain relief and then came back. Plus there was six months of recovery and like Lanzy, permanent loss of flexibility and strength. I wouldn’t do it again.
I changed jobs. From a full time programmer/analyst in CS to a dept’s IT guy. My new job gives me a variety of tasks. Some database reports, staff workstation support, server support, purchasing & installing new hardware, and training new staff.
Basically I went from keying programs 8 hours a day to a variety of tasks. Some require keying and others (thank goodness) require minimal keying.
It’s been years since I’d wake at night with my hands tingling and numb. I was pretty close to escalating to pain.
Same here, and it was no problem adjusting. Confusing the IT guys is a bonus 