Re: Carpal Tunnel

[Lisa Wright <liwright -at- earthlink -dot- net>]

John,
I have tendonitis, a vague description that generally comes about when you have chronic achiness and all other tests prove negative. Good luck on the nerve test! Yuck. My achiness can definitely be aggravated when I am typing /mousing a lot.

I also have a house, and I know exactly what you're talking about. Scraping, sawing, hammering, painting, it all contributes. Although my problem is not nerve-related, here are a few things that I do to make myself feel better:

1. Mouse left-handed (or opposite handed). It balances out the workload a lot. Also, you get to have fun with the tech support/development crew when they come to do something on your computer (evil chuckle). I especially need to do this when I'm doing a lot of diagrams in Visio.

2. Ergonomic keyboard. This is a problem if you're using a laptop a lot at remote locations, as I am currently.

3. Theraputic massage. The muscles in your forearms can get tremendously knotted up. It helps a lot to have them losened regularly.

4. On the home improvement side, try to space out the work a little more. Work 3 hours instead of four, and ice your wrists/arms/whatever after you're done.

5. IANAD, but I find the prophylactic use of anti-inflamatories works well for me when I know that I am going to be putting my arms and hands under a lot of prolonged strain. I absolutely consulted with my dr about the appropriate kind and dose, and you should do the same. Inflamation is bad.

6. Find other ways to give your hands a break. For example, I'm going to be buying an earpiece and belt clip for my cell phone--even holding onto it for too long can make my hands hurt.

7. Look at your ergonimic setup at home and work. 

8. Experiment with different kinds of mice. I find the "ergonomic" ones aggravate my hands tremendously and I hate trackballs. I like a plain old flat mouse, thank you.

Good luck. Let  us know what the Dr says. Oh, be persistent too, and do a lot off research if they even think about suggesting surgery. My understanding is that over the long term it may not provide the advertised relief. 

Lisa

-----Original Message-----
From: John Posada <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com>
Sent: Sep 21, 2004 10:11 AM
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Subject: Carpal Tunnel


Hi, guys...I've been experiencing CTS symptoms over the last two
months. I saw a neurologist yesterday and he believes the same thing.
Therefore, I'm going in for further testing in about a week. 

Oddly enough, the start of these symptoms coincides with my purchase
of a house about two months ago where I've now been practically
living with a circular saw/reciprocating saw/hammer in my off-hours
and I understand that power tool vibration can contribute to this
inflammation. 

So...what have you-guys done when you experienced these symptoms? It
seems that typing doesn't cause me problem, but using my mouse for
long periods does.

BTW...Lisa...congrats...hope this doesn't turn into more than you
bargained for.

=====
John Posada
Senior Technical Writer



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