Those are fair points! I got too excited and didn't explain what I was talking about clearly -- so it isn't great general advice. To clarify for those who may

Those are fair points! I got too excited and didn't explain what I was talking about clearly -- so it isn't great general advice. To clarify for those who may need it: I think my case was a bit exceptional in how bad it got. I went from having no hand problems at all to having acute pain to the point where I couldn't function in daily life in a matter of weeks. Things such as working, driving, or opening doors with doorknobs became essentially impossible for me. I couldn't even sit in most chairs or sleep without my wrists being in constant pain. 2, 4, and 5 are the most useful because they're preventative. 3 is to deal with the physical trauma and 1 is do deal with the mental trauma. I agree with you that being on psychoactive drugs is not ideal, but when your life becomes nothing but sitting around in pain, I think that they're a reasonable short-term solution. Although non-hand based exercise is surely better if you can manage it, I found that running with my wrists taped up was fine and helped as much or more than the drugs, and I stopped the drugs after a few months when I felt more able to deal with it.