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Ask HN: How have you cured your RSI?

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Re: Ask HN: How have you cured your RSI?

#31

Post by collyw »

Decker87 wrote: post #29
whitepoplar wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw three hand surgeons, all extremely well-regarded, but who ultimately didn't know what was going on with my hands. It's been super frustrating for me because they're loathe to even acknowledge the problem. It's either "all looks to be okay structurally" or "I'm stumped". That being said, even though these were extremely well-regarded surgeons, I didn't feel much confidence during the visits. I didn't get the sen…

I had a similar experience. Surgeons can be excellent at performing surgeries but very poor at diagnosing our understanding the myriad issues with ergonomics.

That's maybe a good thing. Surgery is a fairly drastic solution. I get the impression that a fair amount is psychosomatic - a lot of people mention Sarno's book. Personally a 10 day Vispassana meditation retreat has given me the best relief from chronically tense muscles from my wrist, under my arm and should blade and side. I guess it depends on the person.

Re: Ask HN: How have you cured your RSI?

#36

Post by ElijahLynn »

whitepoplar wrote: post #26
ElijahLynn wrote: post #25

I interviewed someone with crazy RSI and debilitating hand issues (they had to use voice control software). They cured their RSI and you can listen to the interview here and also read their success story. "I had 10 years of 24 hour a day, 7 days a week chronic pain in my fingers, wrists, forearms, arms, elbows from typing, mousing, and using a computer up until 12/12/2008 as a computer science student and as a softwa…

I've looked into TMS and read all of Sarno's books. I believe in it. I believe it's real. I believe all the stories and 5-star reviews. I want this to be the answer, but sadly it hasn't worked for me. :(

For what it is worth, I didn't get that far with Sarno's books either, and I read three of them. It turns out I needed much more specific direction and the work that Alan Gordon (TMS Wiki courses), Dr. Schubiner (Unlearn your pain) and Curable have been gold for me in the specificity that I needed. It took years for me (neck, upper back & lower back) and finally with significant therapy, journaling, and Curable I have had very good success and am 95% pain free but still not 100%, and most of us here are perfectionists, so I want 100% pain free.

It might be worth it to do a consult with Dr. Schubinar who does video consults now (because of COVID) or the Pain Psychology Center (Alan Gordon's center) does sessions too. I am working through the Curable video workshops and found them key too (I am confident they will get me to the last 5%, they really clearly present what is going on).

Wish you the best!

Re: Ask HN: How have you cured your RSI?

#38

Post by Vinceo »

Found out it was psychosomatic. My belief that my pain was caused by structutal damage reinforced the pain. The cause of the pain seemed to rather be a combination of stress, fear, and supressed emotions. When I started working on these areas the pain resolved. It comes back now and then but now I know it's my mind messing with me so I just resolve what's stressing me at the moment and just keep using my hands and then it goes away. I dealt with this shit for years and it severely restricted my life so it's kind of a miracle to be rid of it.

I recommend reading "healing back pain" by Sarno which talks about this phenomena. The book is mainly about back pain but it applies to all kinds of psychosomatic pain. There's also a free forum with free guides and support from others who have dealt with the same: https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/

In particular the success subforum is very inspirational as it contains posts from peoole who have resolved all kinds of pain syndroms that they originally thought were caused by structural injuries (including rsi).

I feel like a shill writing this and I remember I thought people talking about this theory back in the day were paid shills. But I promised myself after I got rid of this huge burden due to the psychosomatic approach I would let people know about it no matter how many downvotes I get.

Re: Ask HN: How have you cured your RSI?

#39

Post by whitepoplar »

ElijahLynn wrote: post #36
whitepoplar wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've looked into TMS and read all of Sarno's books. I believe in it. I believe it's real. I believe all the stories and 5-star reviews. I want this to be the answer, but sadly it hasn't worked for me. :(

For what it is worth, I didn't get that far with Sarno's books either, and I read three of them. It turns out I needed much more specific direction and the work that Alan Gordon (TMS Wiki courses), Dr. Schubiner (Unlearn your pain) and Curable have been gold for me in the specificity that I needed. It took years for me (neck, upper back & lower back) and finally with significant therapy, journaling, and Curable I hav…

Wow, this gives me hope! I'm willing to try anything at this point, and will probably give TMS theory another shot as I fit the prototypical TMS patient description to a T. Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: How have you cured your RSI?

#40

Post by sterlind »

I use ring splints, including buddy splints between my pinkie and middle fingers and MCP splints with a chain to keep my thumbs from dislocating. For carpal tunnel issues I wear a rigid wrist brace, and I also tape my wrists with body tape.

My issues are due to ligament laxity though which is not common unless you lose the genetic lottery.

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