Ask HN: Does anybody else get bad carpal tunnel/RSI? Any tips?

What worked for him also worked for me.

For me, my #3 was "Code only, exclusively, and forever on a Kinesis Ergo or Maltron Keyboard, and never, ever, ever, for any reason, use a mouse; only a Logitech Marble Mouse". That might be the right story for you. It might not. My particular problems are with the messed up way I type on a flat (or flat-ish) keyboard, and wrist pronation from bad mouse usage.

Here's the thing: My Symptoms Are Useless To You. As much as this thread could turn into 50 people recounting their RSI stories, it's rubbish to you. Follow my #1, #2, and #3, and you'll be fine. Ignore any of them, for any reason, and you may cripple yourself.

There's a time and a place for "Ask HN". This isn't. This is a time a place for "Ask a bloody Doctor".

I'd go as far as to say stop what you're doing and move away from the keyboard, make an appointment to see the doc. Every second the poster is here they're just exacerbating the problem.

This post was v interesting:

http://aaroniba.net/articles/tmp/how-i-cured-my-rsi-pain.htm...

check if out if you haven't read it. I am ordering the book today.

The author of that post talks about a pain that is difficult to distinguish from a sprained wrist or ligament damage. Mine is very different - it is a numb sensation that has a tendency to move around from the wrist, elbow and up into the shoulder.

I ended up going to emergency and getting a cortisone shot, which helped a lot. What I found out that RSI is a cause, pain or numbness are the symptoms, but the root problem can be any number of things. It is best to get it properly diagnosed by a doctor and there is a bit of trial and error involved. At the moment the cortisone is simply treating the symptoms.

I also found that rest doesn't help. I had the flu for 3 days earlier this week and I worked very little during that time - but the pain persisted. The first signs were a week ago but it really flare up last night and today. It was the worst only a few hours after getting back into work after being ill.

I adjusted my ergonomics a while ago - I went from constantly being in a leaning back and feet up position with keyboard on my lap to having my feet planted, arms straight etc. Changing this still didn't prevent the most recent flare-up.

Thanks again for all the info, comforting to know that there are a lot of other ppl who experience similar problems and a lot of people have experiences that they shared.