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Having dealt with RSI and having worked at home for a long time, my list of tips that helped the most. Ordered for importance to me personally rather than cost
by graeme 6y ago
Having dealt with RSI and having worked at home for a long time, my list of tips that helped the most. Ordered for importance to me personally rather than cost or other factors:
* Sit stand desk. Not just for standing: lets you adjust height while seated to ideal level
* Placing keyboard/monitor at proper ergonomic heights to one another. This implies arranging keyboard height then having a separate monitor raised up, not a laptop
* Armaid and theracane. Two wonderful and cheap self care tools for tight muscles. Armaid works the arms, theracane all over but I use it for trapezius
* Handshoe mouse. By far the most comfortable and ergonomic mouse I ever used. Once I got this my remaining troubles vanished
* Trigger point massage. Works out small trigger points and knots that can cause referred pain
* Good physio, especially one trained in muscle activation technique (MAT)
* Herman Miller chair. This seems to help, but basically any chair you are comfortable in is the key point.
DO NOT just work through the pain. It compounds and takes much longer to fix. If you address pain while it’s small and set up right, it is easy to deal with.
I lost months (years?) of productivity to RSI. Take it seriously. Doing great now fortunately.
- mft_ 6y agoCan you recommend a trusted source for working out what the ideal ergonomic setup is for an individual?
- graeme 6y agoSurprisingly, no. But a good physiotherapist is a great start.
- graeme 6y agoA note about physio’s. Apart from asking them for general tips about how to setup an office well, you can also ask them to check your usual sitting/computer posture. I’ve even had them check my phone posture too which has been helpful.
- graeme 6y agoActually wait, yes. Back when I was at the worst of it, I spoke to some people at Ergo Canada: https://ergocanada.com/ https://ergocanada.com/ They steered me towards the handshoe mouse, and also guided me through trying those dome type keyboard. (Didn’t work for me but the staff were super helpful) I don’t know if they do US sales but they have every class of ergonomic product under the sun and fantastic experts who were focussed on helping rather than selling. They may point you to a US partner, a consultant, or be able to ship to the US. (If they do give you advice about products I’d try to buy with them rather than shop elsewhere, they’re very helpful)
- jahewson 6y ago100% yes. I evolved pretty much the same setup over the years and it’s essential. I also have a trackpad on the left and mouse on the right to share some of the burden.
- graeme 6y agoOh thanks. I should add I actually have both a left and right hand handshoe mouse, so I can alternate if my right arm is acting up. Interesting to hear you hit on the same setup. I think anyone new to WFH has to give serious thought to getting a good work environment.