Ask HN: Have you ever had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? How did you deal with it? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Have you ever had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? How did you deal with it?

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Just in the last few days I've been getting Carpal Tunnel symptoms. I've bought a wrist brace, a new mouse, and a new keyboard. They seem to be helping, but I'm still worried that if this continues or gets worse, it could endanger my career.

What has been your experience?

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I briefly had a painful bout back in 2000 - was working full-time and was taking classes too. Luckily, had a good physiotherapist and went for ultrasound. The nerve damage was minimal, and the following helped: 1. Get some rubber squeeze balls - they have different strengths (indicated by color). Remind yourself to use them every 30 minutes 2. You can substitute the above with Chinese medic(Baoding balls). They are extremely effective 3. DO some hand stretch exercises (yoga helps here). A basic exercise is twining your forearms around each other and stretching them gently. 4. Keyboard setup - make sure that your fingers are positioned as in playing the piano - that is, they should not raise the wrist but lower the wrist to the keys. 5. Give regular rest to your hands - go free of mouse/keyboard.

These worked/are working for me - YMMV - I luckily avoided having surgery (not fun)

I managed to give myself RSI [+], to the point that typing was seriously uncomfortable, by typing something like 20,000 words in a single day. What got me on the road to recovery was a pretty radical cure --- two weeks cold turkey on keyboards. That reduced symptoms substantially, to the point of twinges of pain on individual fingers, at which point I'd just stop using that finger.

At this point, I'm largely pain-free, but when that changes, I'm pretty aggressive about treating it --- laying off the affected hand, taking anti-inflammatories, and wearing braces for a few days afterward. (It's almost always the case that I've slipped into typing with bent wrists, and braces force me back into good habits.)

[+] repeated stress injury --- more likely tendonitis than carpal tunnel in my case, but diagnosis is tricky

I had a serious case of RSI when I was putting together my University final year project and inserting screenshots into the documentation. Excessive mouse use cutting & pasting!

It was most painful when trying to get to sleep at night or when it was exposed to heat. Constant sharp tingling.

A long period of rest was the most effective. Ensuring your wrist isn't at funny angles, at any point during the day - esp if you still need to type daily. It's also a good idea to avoid resting on your elbow when bent as associated nerves are exposed..

I also had a swelling at the wrist joint that remained even after the tingling had gone. I found that this only went away when I started doing light punchbag work after several months of rest.

No lasting issues and I'm at a computer for 10+ hours a day.

My Grandfather was big vitamin advocate. He was already 95 when an old girlfriend got Carpal Tunnel and he said to tell her to take a B-complex vitamin for it. I passed that advice on. In two weeks she was pain free. Gave the same advice to a professional guitarist friend a couple of months later. He was pain free in a week.

One of the B vitamins (honestly can't remember which B vitamin, though) is responsible for holding moisture in certaining tissues, including the tissues that line that tunnel. The tissues need fluid to protect the nerves in that tunnel from getting irritated and swollen.

Try taking that B vitamin complex for a couple of weeks. See if it helps.

I had some RSI issues, and in the process of researching remedies, I came across an article that pointed out that a lot of RSI issues involve the way our arms lie when we're sleeping. Thinking about it, I realized that the days I had the most pain where usually the days that I noticed my wrist hurting as soon as I woke up. So I bought one of those wrist brace things and took to wearing it on and off throughout the day, AND while I slept. After a week or so, my issues cleared up.

I did also mix in some various hand and wrist stretches and a limited amount of icing my wrist down as well.

Yep, I bought the 3M Ergonomic Mouse - it's not really a mouse, it's more like a joystick.

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Ergonomic-Optical-Compatible-EM500G...

If you want to continue using a regular mouse, switch hands (it takes a bit of getting used to). Or buy a wrist guard that keeps your wrist straight. That helps a bit.

Does it still hurt even when you take time off? If so it might just be all in your head. It was for me. For real. I had it for a couple of years. All I had to do was look at my wrists and say, "You're inflamed because I don't want to deal with my problems," and the pain went away. It took about three days.

Google "John Sarno" but don't bother buying his book. It's not that complicated.

I stopped using mouse totally and use the trackpad. For some reason it feels better. Also I use the Anti-RSI software to remind me to take break regularly.

I developed moderate CT several years ago. Fortunately just switching to a split keyword and time, my symptoms went away.

Its just weird now that I have to use a big keyboard plugged into my laptop.

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