RSI Hurts
Hands are Feeling Better
My hands are feeling better. The tingles have been gone for the past couple of days. My knuckles don't hurt as much.
I haven't been getting much work done lately, so that's probably why. If I were unemployed, my hands would feel great!
The More I Type
The more I type, the more it hurts.
The more I type, the more I want to type.
Which one wins? You would think that pain should stop me, but unfortunately, desire is much, much stronger. I try so hard to stop when it hurts, but sometimes I feel driven to keep typing and clicking just a few more times.
The Best Interface in the World
I am completely blown away by how wonderful the interface on this website is:
http://www.dontclick.it/Yes, I know that there's software that does the same thing. You hover the mouse over something, and after a couple seconds the software knows to register it as a click.
But I don't like having to wait the extra second or two. It doesn't sound like much, but in practice it can be very irritating to deal with.
If all interfaces were like "Don't Click It", I might never have developed RSI in the first place. I wish the designers the best with their project and hope it becomes more of a common practice in interface design, and a reality.
Funny Bone
I accidentally hit the funny bone of my left arm an hour and fifteen minutes ago. The result? My arm hurt severely for fifteen minutes, and continues to be sore even now.
Only a person with repetitive strain injury would feel the pain of hitting their funny bone over an hour after the accident.
It happened in a rather comical way, I'll admit. I was reaching for something on the floor, and my Wacom tablet slid down right into the back of my left elbow. The hit was similar to a doctor hitting your knee to test your reflexes.
I'm probably one of the only people who has hurt myself with a Wacom tablet this badly. Ouch. And the fingers on my left hand are hurting badly now, caused by my typing this message but probably also related to the funny bone incident.
The People at Microsoft Were Nice
I was surprised to find out how helpful and understanding everyone was when they found out that I had RSI.
My manager immediately found a Tablet PC for me to use, so that I could minimize my typing. He also told me that Microsoft had an ergonomics consultant who could help me.
My coworkers were also very understanding. When they saw the wrist braces, they suddenly all had stories to tell about their wrist pains. About half of everyone, anyway. I was completely blown away by how many people admitted to having symptoms of RSI.
Bought Futuro Wrist and Back Supports
This weekend I bought 2 new types of wrist supports. I also bought a back support. CVS was having a sale on all Futuro brand stabilizing support aids, which I took advantage of quite nicely.
I have not had the chance to try using them extensively yet. I will report back with the results when I'm ready, probably sometime over the next week or so.
What I've learned is that you really have to shop around before buying wrist and other supports. There are many, many types but you just have to look for them. The prices vary just as much, so you have to shop around.
But don't wait for sales if you're in pain; buy whatever will help you!
Working at Microsoft
Last summer I did an internship at Microsoft. I was afraid to tell anyone that I had RSI, because I know that accomodating it can be costly for a company. Even though Microsoft has a lot of money, I didn't think they would want to accomodate me.
After working there for a couple of weeks, I could no longer type without using my wrist braces. My wrists and hands ached badly.
So I came to work wearing my wrist braces. I wore a sweater with very long sleeves in order to hide the braces as much as possible. Still, people noticed right away that I was wearing wrist braces.
Weekend Typing Breaks
Every weekend, I try to give myself a typing break. That means No Typing for a period of at least 48 hours.
Sometimes, I can't avoid it, and I just have to type. I may remember something that I wanted to post here on RSI Hurts, or I may just need to check email.
During my weekend-long typing breaks, my hands and arms feel great. The time off really rejuvenates them. I can only imagine what a year-long typing break would do for my RSI. I might even be cured by it.
Should I try to find a new job, completely unrelated to computers? I'm thinking about it.
My Psychic Fingertip
The tip of the middle finger on my right hand can predict when my hands are about to hurt from typing. When I've been typing too much, it begins to feel little tingles.
The tingles aren't painful, but they are extremely annoying. It just feels extremely weird when the tip of one of your middle fingers has pins and needles.
I know when I get that sensation that I should stop typing IMMEDIATELY. Otherwise, I will soon be in a lot of pain.
The psychic fingertip only predicts typing pain, unfortunately. Pain from using my Wacom pen or doing other activities by hand can't be predicted. Those types of pain hit me without any advance warning.
My Hands Didn't Wake Up This Morning
I woke up this morning. But my hands didn't. I found myself lying on my right side, and I realized that in this position I must have been pinching the nerves in my arms.
But why would
both of my hands be asleep? Was my left hand asleep out of sympathy for my right hand? That couldn't be possible.
One possibility is that I could have been sleeping on my left side until my left hand fell asleep, and then I could have rolled over to my right side, making my right hand fall asleep.
Another possibility is that I could have been lying on top of my hands while asleep. I often go to bed lying on top of my hands to ease the pain. Sometimes I find myself lying on top of them in the early morning, even on days when I know I didn't go to bed that way.
Cold, Clammy Hands
After short, intense periods of typing, my hands become cold and clammy. They sweat slightly when I am typing fast. The coldness halts some of the sweat production, I suspect, but the sweat makes my palms mildly sticky.
My hands seem to react this way rather quickly. I know many other people who type rapidly but do not have this problem. Those people also don't have RSI. Maybe they will develop cold, clammy hands once they develop RSI.
Wasted Inspiration
Sometimes I get inspired and my words begin to flow naturally. Words come to my mind faster than I can record them, and I end up typing at a furious pace to try and catch all the ideas.
Last night I had one of those moments. I was jotting down some notes in Microsoft Word while watching television. Suddenly, I had so much to say, and I could not get it all down fast enough. I forgot about what I was watching and instead concentrated on the thoughts that were flowing into my head.
I ended up typing so fast that my right hand fell off. Well, it didn't really fall off, but it sure felt like it was going to. It was throbbing, sharp, and numb all at the same time.
I needed to stop typing, so I went to bed. I felt so guilty that I was wasting all the new inspiration in my head, but I knew that resting was the right thing to do for my health.
Soreness on the insides of my wrists
This afternoon the insides of my wrists are sore. I did not do much typing today, but I did a lot of navigating and tapping with my Wacom tablet.
Oddly enough, the soreness seems to be from yesterday's tortilla-making experiement. I didn't realize it at the time because the pain overpowered all feeling in my arms, but I gave my wrists quite a workout by using the rolling pin to flatten those uncooked tortillas.
The soreness is kind of pleasant, as if I had lifted weights. It was not worth yesterday's pain, though, so I would not recommend yesterday's activity to anyone with RSI.
Homemade Tortillas
I made tortillas from scratch this afternoon. I also discovered that using a rolling pin is almost impossible when you have RSI.
Rolling out the dough gave me severe pain on the insides of both wrists. I was fine at first, but by the time I was starting to flatten the third tortilla, the pain had begun.
I kept going until I had made five tortillas. In retrospect, I really should have stopped much sooner. I will remember not to use rolling pins again. But the tortillas were delicious, so the experience wasn't all bad.
Meeting a Deadline
This morning I woke up 3 hours later than I had planned. I was hoping to finish some work to meet a deadline.
I jumped out of bed and rushed to my computer. Anxious, I typed frantically. I was tapping my pen on my Wacom tablet with much more force than I typically use, because I was stressed. I was also clenching the pen, which didn't help.
I did finish the work, but at a great cost to my hands. Now, my left knuckles have sharp pain going through them. The outside of my left arm is throbbing.
My left index finger and several of the fingers on my right hand are numb and tingly. It is the same sensation as when your foot falls asleep; uncomfortable, irritating, and awkward.
I should not have done this to myself. It's just a job; why do I allow it to give me so much pain?
Driving
Contrary to popular belief, RSI affects much more than typing. It disables you to the point that almost any everyday activity can be excruciatingly painful.
I avoid driving whenever possible, because it is one of those activities that causes extreme pain in my arms. I had to drive today, unfortunately.
My right arm was in so much pain that I could not hold on to the steering wheel with it. I don't usually like to drive one-handed, but this time I had no choice. I ended up exiting the highway and resting for awhile, because I was afraid that the pain in my left arm would soon become unbearable.
I think that driving is so painful because it combines the pain of uncomfortable arm movements with the pain of holding the steering wheel tightly. I try to hold the steering wheel loosely, but sometimes I need to hold it tightly for better control.
How it Feels in the Morning
On most days, when I wake up, my hands are cold. They have this exhausted feeling similar to when you have been sitting on a plane for a long time and your legs feel uncomfortable.
When I wake up, my hands are also curled up a little. They are cupped around nothing, as if they had been typing on an imaginary keyboard all through the night.
Sometimes it hurts more in the morning than it did the previous day while I was typing and using the mouse. I guess sleeping gives the muscles a little time to settle and to realize that they need to send me pain signals. Those muscles just don't want to be used anymore.
Unfortunately, I am a computer programmer and am drawn to computers like a moth to a flame. Fortunately, I am only working part-time now.
My "Dragon Naturally Speaking" Phase
Three years ago, I was in the middle of college and had many papers to write. I had the hardest time writing papers, though, because typing was much more painful back then.
I ended up buying Dragon Naturally Speaking in order to minimize the amount of typing I had to do. Before trying it, I had low expectations, but once I got used to it, it was fantastic. It was such a relief to stop typing.
I don't use it anymore. Part of the reason is that my computer has gotten old and crashes when I try to reinstall it. But the main reason I've stopped using Dragon Naturally Speaking is that it decreases my productivity significantly.
I tend to think non-linearly, inserting sentences and revising phrases all over the place. It was slowing me down every time I had to instruct Dragon Naturally Speaking to move the cursor.
Wacom Tablet Tip
If you use a Wacom tablet as your pointing device, it can be easier on your hands to use the eraser side of the pen instead of the actual pen tip.
It won't erase all your pain, but it may help.
I'm not sure exactly why this has helped my hands. I suspect that there is less impact with the eraser side than with the pen tip.
Chasing the Pain
My left index finger and left elbow. Those are the two places that hurt at the moment. Lately, I have been getting pain in my right arm, which has made me switch more frequently to using my left arm.
I should be careful. As I'm typing, my right ring finger starts to get sharp pains. I know I am typing too fast.
Okay, I am consciously switching to two-finger typing mode now. My left index finger no longer hurts, thanks to the new pain in my right ring finger.
I am starting to get tingliness in the palm of my left hand. The chase looks like it could go on forever, so I'll stop typing now.
My Workstation Setup
I have organized my workstation as ergonomically as I can afford to. Knowing the importance of having arms and elbows at right angles, I sit upright on the sofa and have my laptop sitting on a wooden chair.
Sure, it's unconventional, but it's all I can do with my existing furniture.
Instead of using the touchpad or a mouse, I use a Wacom tablet. In the beginning, it helped me a lot, but now the pain is starting to come back.
Introduction
This blog will be about my experiences with RSI. I plan to write about how I have struggled with pain, the medical treatments that I have tried, and the alternative mice and keyboards that I have used.
RSI is short for repetitive strain injury and is sometimes interchangeable with the term "carpal tunnel". It is common among computer users (although it can also be caused by other types of repetitive motion, such as assembly line work at a factory).
I am only 22 years old, but I have had RSI for approximately six years already. I just have always loved computer programming. I now do it for a living, even though it hurts. I am seriously considering a change in career, though.
More to come later.
