How I Cured my RSI Pain (2010) • Hacker News Board

Re: How I Cured my RSI Pain (2010)

#81

Post by cpncrunch » Thu, Jul 25, 2013, 3:45 PM UTC

verisimilidude wrote: post #53

I won't begrudge anyone who finds comfort in this "mindbody" stuff. If your pain is gone, good for you. But I really really hope you folks won't take away the wrong lesson and assume that all RSI is mental. It's not. Overcoming my own physical pain was tough, but I eventually conquered it. Here's what worked for me. * I learned to type Dvorak. Since learning how to type on a C64 at the age of 3, my typing form has al…

But how do you know it was the physical changes you made that cured your RSI? It could just as easily have been the placebo effect. From what I can see, there is no good evidence that RSI is physical at all, and your 'cure' certainly doesn't bolster your case that it is physical. Example: how could good sleep and food possibly help a physical injury in your hand?

I'm wondering why you are so convinced that RSI is physical ("It's not")?

Re: How I Cured my RSI Pain (2010)

#82

Post by verisimilidude » Thu, Jul 25, 2013, 4:45 PM UTC

cpncrunch wrote: post #81

verisimilidude wrote: post #53

I won't begrudge anyone who finds comfort in this "mindbody" stuff. If your pain is gone, good for you. But I really really hope you folks won't take away the wrong lesson and assume that all RSI is mental. It's not. Overcoming my own physical pain was tough, but I eventually conquered it. Here's what worked for me. * I learned to type Dvorak. Since learning how to type on a C64 at the age of 3, my typing form has al…

But how do you know it was the physical changes you made that cured your RSI? It could just as easily have been the placebo effect. From what I can see, there is no good evidence that RSI is physical at all, and your 'cure' certainly doesn't bolster your case that it is physical. Example: how could good sleep and food possibly help a physical injury in your hand? I'm wondering why you are so convinced that RSI is phy…

I am convinced that my RSI was physical. I'm not convinced it's physical for everyone. Which is exactly what I said ("It's not").

There's no question, ZERO, that it's anything but physical in my case. It's worth mentioning (again, by the way) that I have debilitating problems with my right arm following an old injury. Some of us have real physical problems that cause real physical pain. I understand the mechanics of my unique situation well, and took careful, deliberate steps to physically address those limitations.

Finding the right equipment was not something that happened overnight. It was a long process that took at least a year. I could feel, physically, when new approaches were working and when they weren't. I could feel, physically, when introducing certain parts of the setup introduced new problems, etc. For example, while playing with my keyboard and mouse, I started fixing my wrists at the expense of my shoulders and neck, which then called for the leaning discipline, standing desk, and so on and so on.

Otherwise, good sleep and good food help me maintain the focus that's required to keep myself from slipping back into bad habits. One of the worst habits of mine, that's been the toughest to shake, has been stopping myself from leaning into the screen while getting into my work. It's terrible for my neck. Leaning back helps immensely. I can stay on top of this easily when I'm properly energized. I slip when I'm tired or it's getting late.

Re: How I Cured my RSI Pain (2010)

#83

Post by mrexroad » Fri, Aug 02, 2013, 4:48 PM UTC

i was hoping that my rsi pain was either bad ergonomics or just mental, then last week i got the results from a 2nd MRI of my wrist:

- torn TFCC - positive variance of distal ulna as well as an intraosseous cyst

it's going to suck to get this fixed (especially the bone saw + plate + screws part), but the pain is pretty bad these days and the success rate is pretty high for what needs to be done. it's hard to bring myself to the keyboard when it's not absolutely necessary these days.