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Ask HN: Best way to recover and deal with carpal tunnel?
I'm 21 years old, so I was surprised to have been diagnosed with carpal tunnel about a month ago. Thanks to less typing, I am feeling much better. I have an ergonomic keyboard and mouse, and I've done the reading, but does anyone have some advice to help stave off this annoying condition?
- fagatini 14y agoTake the occasional break when playing Diablo 3. Seriously though, make sure your chair is decent. I replaced mine, which fixed my posture which meant that I wasn't leaning on the wrong nerves. It helped.
- thoughtpalette 14y agoNice
- 1123581321 14y agoI fixed mine by using a good keyboard rest and learning to type Dvorak.
- Mz 14y agoLift weights. (Worked for my ex.) Take gelatin supplements daily. (I did this for two years and basically stopped being a cripple.) Best of luck.
- forgetcolor 14y agoi deal with both carpal tunnel (diagnosed) and tendonitis. an ergonomic keyboard is a must (i use a kinesis freestyle). one of the most important equipment changes for me is to never use an actual mouse, and to never click a trackpad. instead i use a magic trackpad on my desktop mac, built in trackpad on my mbp, and a logitech trackpad on my pc desktops. all are configured with full gesture capability so i can use the tap features instead of clicking. also, no click-drag. instead i use the double tap to lock feature. i also mix it up by using my ipad. for browsing, for short emails, etc. the ipad requires different muscles so changes the patterns of use (a good thing). for exercises, i highly recommend this short youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUyMNyrOHJQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUyMNyrOHJQ. i think this was perhaps the best thing for me. it got me out of the worst of it, and keeps me from slipping back to my worst. i wear wrist splints in bed. this might not be for everyone, but my doc suggested it. a lot of people bend their wrists at night, stressing the muscles and tendons. i was definitely one who did. it helps. finally, ice. i use ice packs to cool off the arms when i'm hurting. walgreens sells a nice inexpensive pack with a built in cover that works really well. i have 10 of them :) best of luck.
- willthefirst 14y agointeresting about the trackpad, my assumption was that the mouse was the best, but I've been using the trackpad recently and not using the actual click feature helps a bunch (click drags are a killer!) Thanks for the complete response.
- jcr 14y agoI cannot vouch for the following personally, but I've seen it recommended numerous times here on HN over the years. http://aaroniba.net/articles/tmp/how-i-cured-my-rsi-pain.html http://aaroniba.net/articles/tmp/how-i-cured-my-rsi-pain.htm...
- thenomad 14y agoI'd strongly recommend the book "It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" - the title's misleading. I've had RSI on and off for a decade, and it's the best book on the subject I've found. Other than that - take breaks. Workrave is excellent free software for Windows that forces you to take breaks - if I turn it off, I tend to feel the effects (negative) within a day or so. Ergonomics, stretches, nerve glides, and a trip to a GOOD physio are also useful.
- blazzar 14y agoAlternating which hand uses the mouse fixed a lot of my issues. I use it on my left during the day and right at night. I leave the buttons all set to right handed use.
- sixQuarks 14y agoThe 3M Ergonomic Mouse has done wonders for me. It looks and feels weird at first, but you get used to it pretty quickly. http://www.amazon.com/3M-Ergonomic-Optical-Compatible-EM500GPL/dp/B00008KWWF/ http://www.amazon.com/3M-Ergonomic-Optical-Compatible-EM500G...
- iterationx 14y agoThese are helpful for me. http://www.amazon.com/Imak-Computer-Glove-EACH/dp/B000FEVWU8 http://www.amazon.com/Imak-Computer-Glove-EACH/dp/B000FEVWU8