Beyond the Wrist: Debugging RSI

I remember carpal tunnel syndrome being a big thing 25+ years ago, and I had friends with wrist braces.

You don't hear much about it now. Is it because treatment improved, or we use keyboards with much less travel, or there's better general awareness of ergonomics, or that there's more mouse/trackpad use mixed in with typing now? Or is it something else?

I got RSI after a few years of steadily increasing computer time, culminating in a year of 14 hours per day at the computer, almost every day. The first thing is that having never had RSI, there were signs that I ignored during that last year, notably that my nerves gave me small electric shocks in the armpits from time to time, which I interpreted as a quirky oddity. Then just one day it felt like my arms nerves were literally burning, and the pain just became unbearable. After medical examination, my nerves were fairly damaged, so the specialists I saw advised to either worsen the situation enough to make surgery the only choice, or find a way to get better. I chose the latter, which included every solution that can be suggested. More rest, more exercise, I tried a few device change, and most importantly changing posture. It took almost 2 years before computer use become "generally not painful" again.

Device of choice did not make a big difference, except for one: having a secondary standing desk with a treadmill. I took that from an old Linus Torvalds interview, it's a small monetary investment, but a big health one. The biggest downside is that it takes a lot of space. In my case, the main problem was linked to prolonged pressure on a few key points, a problem that doesn't really occur when moving.

Before that, I used to have a laptop so that I could spend the work day in different postures, move to a couch, etc.

Regarding the article, I can confirm that pain was in different modes during these different periods, but that also matches the risk of physical damage. I feel that as long as you're just doing a half-hearted effort that is just an attempt to deceive your body, pain will only worsen. It's only after you learn to listen to the pain that the real progress is made.

As someone who had RSI for years, my one recommendation (which resolved things for me in the end) would be: Get your neck and posture checked. Chances are your problems are coming from up to chain.

In my case it took me a good 5-6 years to figure this out. Then I started working on my overall posture, and my issues virtually disappeared over night. A friend of mine, who was also struggling with RSI a couple years later, ended up following the same protocol and he, too, is 100% painfree these days.

I play multiple music instruments (piano, violin, guitar), play tennis, contact and pin juggle, and work as a software engineer.

The most important changes I made in my life which fixed RSI related issues (carpal, tendonitis, etc) permanently were:

- Proper ergonomic keyboard (consider a split layout)

- Posture (Alexander technique, Taubman technique)

- Trigger point therapy (with a Knobble tool)

I can highly recommend this book:

https://www.newharbinger.com/9781608824960/the-trigger-point...

Switching to a Svalboard has made a big difference for me. It took me a few years before finding this keyboard. The magnetic breakaway keys make it significantly gentler on my fingers than anything else I've tried. It's similar to the old data hand keyboards. https://svalboard.com/

I have a friend who struggled with RSI for years, tried every keyboard and mouse under the sun, and nothing worked.

Then he quit the job he hated, got a job he enjoyed (both coding), and his RSI went away in a week. Sometimes it really is psychosomatic (which doesn't mean the pain is fake).

Personally I've had mild wrist pain since college (10+ years). Decent posture, a reasonable keyboard, letting my arms form a natural angle, and floating my wrists above the keyboard seems to help. My hands cramp up after 20min of typing in a narrow airplane seat for example. But I can type for hours on my ipad magic keyboard in my lap or my ergonomic mechanical keyboard just fine.

This is supposed to be awesome: https://www.diyjointpainrelief.com/

It’s probably anxiety. The brain is a strange beast.

Try a combination of heavy weightlifting, HIIT, and optionally SSRIs.

I’ve been controlling rsi with upper body mobility and strength training + typing breaks for years. This mind over matter approach sounds like bullshit.