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To me the most important factor is how relaxed your muscles are when working. That is, even while frantically typing on my keyboard my fingers spend most of the

To me the most important factor is how relaxed your muscles are when working. That is, even while frantically typing on my keyboard my fingers spend most of their time resting. It's very easy to keep your muscle contracted the entire time and that's where the danger is. This is something I learned from my music teachers. I would get nervous while playing and my muscles would get all stiff leading to missed notes and sounding dry and whatnot. Most importantly, I was thinking about how to position my muscles to get the sound I wanted rather than thinking about the sound I wanted and letting the muscles do their thing. They made me realize your muscles needs to breathe and to use the window between impulses to relax them. I could have the best posture, best keyboard layout and everything else but if my muscles stay contracted the entire time I'm working I'll definitely feel it at the end of the day. Be it on the guitar or computer.

melling 12y ago
RSI can be caused by many things, and it can originate far from the pain. There doesn't seem to be one magical fix. I've been keeping Emacs org notes on RSI and I publish them here: http://thespanishsite.com/public_html/org/ergo/rsi.html http://thespanishsite.com/public_html/org/ergo/rsi.html
- TheSpiceIsLife 12y ago
  I haven't read through all of your notes, but did click on a few links. I've studied a bit of nutritional medicine along the way. Have you looked at any research or anecdotes on anti-inflammatory supplements for RSI? Any irritated condition is characterised by inflammation. The most common medicines prescribed for RSI are anti-inflammatories. So it stands to reason that RSI is tissue-damage, caused by repetitive strain, and anywhere tissue damage is occurring immune mediated inflammation takes place. Tenosynovitis is inflammation of the fluid-filled sheath that surrounds a tendon.[1] So, the treatment we were taught was to address the physical injury by removing, retraining, or engineering the problem away, then give nutritional supplements that support tissue repair and help down-modulate the inflammatory response: Omega 3 EPA / DHA (fish oils), Quercetin, Rutin, Vitamin C, Bromelain, B12 & Folate, Magnesium (as citrate or diglycinate, or both), plus Turmeric and Ginger. And also give supplements that target musculoskeletal / connective tissues: Silica, proline, lysine, cysteine, glutamine, Manganese, B5, B6, Iron (as iron amino acid chelate), copper, zinc (as amino acid chelate). Where the condition has progressed to considerable over-all wear and tear of a join the also throw in Glucosamine and Chondroitin. The theory goes: remove the mechanical cause of the condition (repetitive strain causing tissue damage) and the condition will resolve itself. Put in the nutrients the body needs to repair the damage and the condition will improve faster. Sometimes the damage is so far progressed it will respond much better if the nutrients are taken too. Once the condition is under control we then direct the patient to look in to seeking advice to strengthen the affected joint. I don't know about the state of nutritional medicine outside of Australia, but here we have some really good formulations available off the shelf and others as practitioner only formulas - so you need a consult. I'll pre-empt the "supplements don't work" argument and say: yes, taking iron oxide or magnesium oxide doesn't do anything. There are formulations that are poorly absorb and poorly utilised by the body. Have a look in to, for example, magnesium diglycinate and magnesium citrate vs. magnesium oxide. Look in to mixed ascorbates with citrus bioflavanoids (Quercetin and Rutin) vs. pure Ascorbic Acid. High does Turmeric and Ginger work so well as anti-inflammatories and blood thinners they are contra-indicated if a person is taking blood thinners / blood pressure medication, eg Warfarin. Anyway, getting carried away. Thought you might be interested. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenosynovitis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenosynovitis This does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your physician / nutritionist / pharmacist before taking any nutritional or herbal supplements. Edit: formatting
  - melling 12y ago
    If you have any good blogs that discuss this, I'll add it to my notes. I'm always skeptical of supplements but I want to aggregate all thoughts on RSI.
    - TheSpiceIsLife 12y ago
      Not off the top of my head. I'll keep it in mind.

melling 12y ago

RSI can be caused by many things, and it can originate far from the pain. There doesn't seem to be one magical fix. I've been keeping Emacs org notes on RSI and I publish them here: http://thespanishsite.com/public_html/org/ergo/rsi.html http://thespanishsite.com/public_html/org/ergo/rsi.html

TheSpiceIsLife 12y ago
I haven't read through all of your notes, but did click on a few links. I've studied a bit of nutritional medicine along the way. Have you looked at any research or anecdotes on anti-inflammatory supplements for RSI? Any irritated condition is characterised by inflammation. The most common medicines prescribed for RSI are anti-inflammatories. So it stands to reason that RSI is tissue-damage, caused by repetitive strain, and anywhere tissue damage is occurring immune mediated inflammation takes place. Tenosynovitis is inflammation of the fluid-filled sheath that surrounds a tendon.[1] So, the treatment we were taught was to address the physical injury by removing, retraining, or engineering the problem away, then give nutritional supplements that support tissue repair and help down-modulate the inflammatory response: Omega 3 EPA / DHA (fish oils), Quercetin, Rutin, Vitamin C, Bromelain, B12 & Folate, Magnesium (as citrate or diglycinate, or both), plus Turmeric and Ginger. And also give supplements that target musculoskeletal / connective tissues: Silica, proline, lysine, cysteine, glutamine, Manganese, B5, B6, Iron (as iron amino acid chelate), copper, zinc (as amino acid chelate). Where the condition has progressed to considerable over-all wear and tear of a join the also throw in Glucosamine and Chondroitin. The theory goes: remove the mechanical cause of the condition (repetitive strain causing tissue damage) and the condition will resolve itself. Put in the nutrients the body needs to repair the damage and the condition will improve faster. Sometimes the damage is so far progressed it will respond much better if the nutrients are taken too. Once the condition is under control we then direct the patient to look in to seeking advice to strengthen the affected joint. I don't know about the state of nutritional medicine outside of Australia, but here we have some really good formulations available off the shelf and others as practitioner only formulas - so you need a consult. I'll pre-empt the "supplements don't work" argument and say: yes, taking iron oxide or magnesium oxide doesn't do anything. There are formulations that are poorly absorb and poorly utilised by the body. Have a look in to, for example, magnesium diglycinate and magnesium citrate vs. magnesium oxide. Look in to mixed ascorbates with citrus bioflavanoids (Quercetin and Rutin) vs. pure Ascorbic Acid. High does Turmeric and Ginger work so well as anti-inflammatories and blood thinners they are contra-indicated if a person is taking blood thinners / blood pressure medication, eg Warfarin. Anyway, getting carried away. Thought you might be interested. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenosynovitis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenosynovitis This does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your physician / nutritionist / pharmacist before taking any nutritional or herbal supplements. Edit: formatting
- melling 12y ago
  If you have any good blogs that discuss this, I'll add it to my notes. I'm always skeptical of supplements but I want to aggregate all thoughts on RSI.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 12y ago
    Not off the top of my head. I'll keep it in mind.