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Work out and lift weights. But ergonomically speaking I use a Kinesis Advantage 2 keyboard and a Logitech MX Vertical mouse. You may also need a long break to

Work out and lift weights. But ergonomically speaking I use a Kinesis Advantage 2 keyboard and a Logitech MX Vertical mouse. You may also need a long break to heal, which might not be an option if you're American. An engineer from Germany I know had something like 4 or 6 weeks off work when diagnosed with RSI and nobody batted an eye.

rococode 6y ago
Did the mouse make a big difference for you? I came across it recently and was considering getting it as my wrist has been getting pretty creaky. I tried putting my hand in that position on my desk and it certainly feels quite relaxing, but I have no idea whether it'll actually feel more comfortable in regular long-term use.
- kevinherron 6y ago
  I think so, but I’ve been using a vertical mouse and a Kinesis keyboard for so many years now that I’m not even sure what’s really helping any more :)
- qq4 6y ago
  Fwiw, I'll never go back to a regular mouse and I don't suffer from RSI. Vertical mice and trackballs are _just_ better ergonomically. My wrists never feel fatigued and it's very relaxing.
  - silly-silly 6y ago
    Can i strongly recommend the 'massive' trackballs rather than the smaller ones, they seem to be easier to pick up and be accurate with quickly.
caseyf7 6y ago
Ergonomic keyboard and switch to trackball helped a lot, but exercise helped the most. I find it doesn’t even have to be weightlifting or anything with the hands. It’s more about the cardiovascular workout. Running and cycling have improved my rsi significantly.
- kevinherron 6y ago
  There might be something to this. I quit lifting weights when I cancelled my gym membership right before the pandemic started. But I did notice a difference in how good my hands/wrists felt during the ~12 months I was lifting. I’ve trained and raced bikes for years and I’m currently on a break from cycling and now I’m running 5-6 days a week instead. I’m eventually going to build a gym in my garage because I felt so dang good overall during the period I was lifting that I’m now convinced it’s part of the key to keeping my body from falling apart as I age.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
shyn3 6y ago
I got the MX Vertical, K860 keyboard, All33 Chair and it has been amazing for the pandemic. At work I had crappy Dell keyboards, a basic mouse, and a horrible chair. It's night and day. Changed my monitor from a crappy monitor to a high DPI monitor and it's so clean and great for your eyes. Granted, all this can be alleviated by working out and sunlight. Get those bands and just work out. Nothing beats it.
- dave_sid 6y ago
  See what works best for you here. I have had the same problem for 15 years and weight training actually made it worse. My worse time was when I was coding, weight training and playing bass guitar in a band each week for a long period. I would get home and my hands would be numb and stiff like hooks. I think the fact I was not giving my hands and wrists recovery time made it worse. I’m much better now that I have kids and zero time for a band or occasional gym visits. My best advice. Try everything and see what helps. I’ve tried every keyboard under the sun. I even bought a datahand keyboard. The Kinesys Advantage is amazing. I have one. It made the biggest difference for me. I cannot use a mouse anymore not even for 10 mins. I use a touchpad now but in the beginning a Wacom touch pen (you can configure it to work in mouse mode) was the only thing I could use. Try these things and see what works. A physio also gave me some writs stretching exercises to do each day which helped a little. Biggest things that helped me when coding?... Kinesys advantage keyboard Wacom Bamboo tablet and pen (with mouse mode). It’s odd a first but seriously try this if you can’t use a mouse. Highly recommend trying this. Ps. Take it seriously and don’t just plough through it. It might never go away fully but you can avoid it getting so bad it affects your career.
throwaway36913 6y ago
I did basically the same. The most intense symptoms (I even had partially numb fingers) went away after visiting the orthopedic who realigned my back. (You know, where they pull up your shoulders and then click, click, ...) I tried to move around more while realizing sitting still is the worst thing one can do for the back even if it might be less painful for the back/arms in some moments. Also I switched to an ergonomic setup and switched from vi to a more boring editor. Then I started meditating regularly, slowed down on my job and quit it a few weeks after. Also I did a pause of around 2 months and at the same time I started doing swimming and parkour (1-2x a week). My new job was far less stressful and as it turned out it was okay to ditch the ergonomic setup. Now, years later, my back/arms/hands are better than ever.
ta54112233 6y ago
Exercise is really a major factor. A lot of IT people don't do it, I don't, but it's vital. The times I've dabbled, its made a world of difference.
- ta54112233 6y ago
  After just a week of lifting weights or running, you feel 200% better and it just gets better. Thoroughly recommend it. Going back for another beer though. Damn this covid forcing me to play wizardry 8.
adkadskhj 6y ago
> Work out and lift weights. Also take care to exercise important muscle groups for your job. Core strength helps a ton in sitting, and in my experience forearm adds a lot of stability to wrist and typing motions. I would sometimes get tennis elbow (not sure why..) from desk work, and a specific type of releasing exercise was almost a light switch for the pain. So not just building muscle, but touching the right muscles in the right way i imagine is important as well. If you're curious, specifically i use a type of rubber-ish solid tube that is designed for you to twist it. You can twist to build muscle in one direction, but you can also reverse your grip and "untwist" it under pressure. This tension-ed untwisting motion is what massively helped my elbow RSI, like a light switch, it was sort of insane. That experience really solidified the idea to me that exercise is the foundation to damn near everything. Ie Physical Rehabilitation over reactive fixes like bone alignment / etc. Yea, posture is important, but i don't think posture can fix a body that isn't capable of supporting itself.

rococode 6y ago

Did the mouse make a big difference for you? I came across it recently and was considering getting it as my wrist has been getting pretty creaky. I tried putting my hand in that position on my desk and it certainly feels quite relaxing, but I have no idea whether it'll actually feel more comfortable in regular long-term use.

kevinherron 6y ago
I think so, but I’ve been using a vertical mouse and a Kinesis keyboard for so many years now that I’m not even sure what’s really helping any more :)
qq4 6y ago
Fwiw, I'll never go back to a regular mouse and I don't suffer from RSI. Vertical mice and trackballs are _just_ better ergonomically. My wrists never feel fatigued and it's very relaxing.
- silly-silly 6y ago
  Can i strongly recommend the 'massive' trackballs rather than the smaller ones, they seem to be easier to pick up and be accurate with quickly.

caseyf7 6y ago

Ergonomic keyboard and switch to trackball helped a lot, but exercise helped the most. I find it doesn’t even have to be weightlifting or anything with the hands. It’s more about the cardiovascular workout. Running and cycling have improved my rsi significantly.

kevinherron 6y ago
There might be something to this. I quit lifting weights when I cancelled my gym membership right before the pandemic started. But I did notice a difference in how good my hands/wrists felt during the ~12 months I was lifting. I’ve trained and raced bikes for years and I’m currently on a break from cycling and now I’m running 5-6 days a week instead. I’m eventually going to build a gym in my garage because I felt so dang good overall during the period I was lifting that I’m now convinced it’s part of the key to keeping my body from falling apart as I age.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

shyn3 6y ago

I got the MX Vertical, K860 keyboard, All33 Chair and it has been amazing for the pandemic. At work I had crappy Dell keyboards, a basic mouse, and a horrible chair. It's night and day. Changed my monitor from a crappy monitor to a high DPI monitor and it's so clean and great for your eyes. Granted, all this can be alleviated by working out and sunlight. Get those bands and just work out. Nothing beats it.

dave_sid 6y ago
See what works best for you here. I have had the same problem for 15 years and weight training actually made it worse. My worse time was when I was coding, weight training and playing bass guitar in a band each week for a long period. I would get home and my hands would be numb and stiff like hooks. I think the fact I was not giving my hands and wrists recovery time made it worse. I’m much better now that I have kids and zero time for a band or occasional gym visits. My best advice. Try everything and see what helps. I’ve tried every keyboard under the sun. I even bought a datahand keyboard. The Kinesys Advantage is amazing. I have one. It made the biggest difference for me. I cannot use a mouse anymore not even for 10 mins. I use a touchpad now but in the beginning a Wacom touch pen (you can configure it to work in mouse mode) was the only thing I could use. Try these things and see what works. A physio also gave me some writs stretching exercises to do each day which helped a little. Biggest things that helped me when coding?... Kinesys advantage keyboard Wacom Bamboo tablet and pen (with mouse mode). It’s odd a first but seriously try this if you can’t use a mouse. Highly recommend trying this. Ps. Take it seriously and don’t just plough through it. It might never go away fully but you can avoid it getting so bad it affects your career.

throwaway36913 6y ago

I did basically the same. The most intense symptoms (I even had partially numb fingers) went away after visiting the orthopedic who realigned my back. (You know, where they pull up your shoulders and then click, click, ...) I tried to move around more while realizing sitting still is the worst thing one can do for the back even if it might be less painful for the back/arms in some moments. Also I switched to an ergonomic setup and switched from vi to a more boring editor. Then I started meditating regularly, slowed down on my job and quit it a few weeks after. Also I did a pause of around 2 months and at the same time I started doing swimming and parkour (1-2x a week). My new job was far less stressful and as it turned out it was okay to ditch the ergonomic setup. Now, years later, my back/arms/hands are better than ever.

ta54112233 6y ago

Exercise is really a major factor. A lot of IT people don't do it, I don't, but it's vital. The times I've dabbled, its made a world of difference.

ta54112233 6y ago
After just a week of lifting weights or running, you feel 200% better and it just gets better. Thoroughly recommend it. Going back for another beer though. Damn this covid forcing me to play wizardry 8.

adkadskhj 6y ago

> Work out and lift weights. Also take care to exercise important muscle groups for your job. Core strength helps a ton in sitting, and in my experience forearm adds a lot of stability to wrist and typing motions. I would sometimes get tennis elbow (not sure why..) from desk work, and a specific type of releasing exercise was almost a light switch for the pain. So not just building muscle, but touching the right muscles in the right way i imagine is important as well. If you're curious, specifically i use a type of rubber-ish solid tube that is designed for you to twist it. You can twist to build muscle in one direction, but you can also reverse your grip and "untwist" it under pressure. This tension-ed untwisting motion is what massively helped my elbow RSI, like a light switch, it was sort of insane. That experience really solidified the idea to me that exercise is the foundation to damn near everything. Ie Physical Rehabilitation over reactive fixes like bone alignment / etc. Yea, posture is important, but i don't think posture can fix a body that isn't capable of supporting itself.