I came home tonight ready to blog about how thrilling it is that the Democratic presidential candidates are campaigning in Indiana for the first time in my memory, and how much this will galvanize Hoosier liberals, but my wrist is really fucking bothering me. I think the real problem was rediscovering how much I like playing with Photoshop.
After twelve years of living at the computer, I don’t know why this carpal tunnel thing started now. Sure, I spent ten hours a day last week working on internet projects I was excited and obsessive about, seated at my totally-not-ergonomically-correct desk, cross-legged in this five year old, twenty dollar, totally-not-ergonomically-correct office chair that’s peeling fabric like Pete Doherty’s lips — but why now?
I followed the advice of a few websites and have tried to adjust what furniture I have to keep my right hand from going numb, but one habit I think I may never break is slouching cross-legged in this janky chair.
Ditto all the people in the last thread- I started wearing wrist braces when I type or mouse for more than like ten minutes. They are not too uncomfortable, and I found that it made a huge difference. But I only had moderate wrist discomfort, not a full-blown problem. (Something like http://www.amazon.com/Futuro-Reversible-Splint-Medium-Inches/dp/B000FKJPEC/ . Amazon has a much better price than the drugstore I was at.)
Using a mouse for Photoshop/Excel/CAD/etc was really the worst thing for me. What fixed that was getting a tablet to use instead of the mouse for CAD and graphics stuff, but maybe you already have one (if you don’t, they’re a little expensive, like $100 for the lower-end Wacom kind I have).
With the wrist braces, tablet, and maybe an ergonomic keyboard, I can go for hours and hours and hours. It used to be that things started burning about 20 minutes into my programming homework.
That sitting cross-legged will come back to haunt you later, mark my words.
I’m currently going through a very long and very painful bout of sciatica. Granted, I slipped a disk one year while I was moving, but sitting for long periods with legs crossed under does not help. I’ve had to give up weightlifting, especially my beloved deadlifts, spend most evenings lying on the sofa with an ice pack on my hip and visit my chiropractor every other week to be poked and prodded and zapped with electrodes.
I’m at the point where I’m seriously considering giving up the law and becoming a dogwalker because at least then I would not have to sit.
Have I mentioned how much I love aging?
Oh, and as for why now: I developed a really hideous case of some kind of RSI during my first job, which had shockingly bad computer stations. I’m talking about late-70s-era computers in 1990, the kind with screen and keyboard attached, thrown up on any old table. I had wrist problems as well as neck issues from hunching to see the screen.
Anyway, my wrist problems eventually went away after I used wrist braces for a few years and therapy putty, and left that job. But I do have problems every now and again, most often when I’ve been using a mouse a lot rather than the keyboard. And small adjustments really do help; at my current gig, just finding a new place to put my mousepad helped enormously.
Incidentally, I found out somewhere that there are something like 300 or 500 different forms of tendinitis that can affect the hands, because they’re so complex. I did see an occupational medicine specialist, and carpal tunnel was ruled out, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have one of those other forms. Unfortunately, I lost that job with the 70s-era computers and couldn’t afford the COBRA payments, so I never did get a diagnosis.
Delurking to say that the issue may lie in your neck, and the symptoms are showing up in your wrists.
I’m also a huncher, sit-on-your leg person and I was tilting my neck back to look at the screen. Which I also do IRL looking up at people cause hello, short.
Good luck. :)