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How I stopped the RSI pain that almost destroyed my programming career

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Re: How I stopped the RSI pain that almost destroyed my programming career

#141

Post by [deleted] »

e40 wrote: post #80
overcast wrote: post #62

This article is totally missing the basics. Exercise. I promise it will make ALL the difference. Get yourself a pull-up bar, and if you're feeling extra fancy, a dip bar. Push-ups, pull-ups, dips, and sit-ups. Every day. You'll be a coding machine. At the VERY least, push-ups. Every hour or two, take a break, knock off ten push-ups, walk around a bit, get some water, get back to work. I'll do this right at the office…

I agree that exercise and sleep are keys, but I do believe chronically cold hands is a serious problem that needed to be remedied.

[deleted]

Re: How I stopped the RSI pain that almost destroyed my programming career

#142

Post by chipuni »

Personal anecdote:

I had crippling pain along my left side. I saw several doctors about it; they prescribed drugs that helped the immediate pain but didn't solve the underlying problem.

Then I read on https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0072780/ that wearing a wrist brace AT NIGHT helps overcome carpal-tunnel. A good wrist brace cost me about $20; I've worn it every night since, and the carpal tunnel has gone away for me.

Re: How I stopped the RSI pain that almost destroyed my programming career

#143

Post by ktRolster »

BeetleB wrote: post #94
overcast wrote: post #62

This article is totally missing the basics. Exercise. I promise it will make ALL the difference. Get yourself a pull-up bar, and if you're feeling extra fancy, a dip bar. Push-ups, pull-ups, dips, and sit-ups. Every day. You'll be a coding machine. At the VERY least, push-ups. Every hour or two, take a break, knock off ten push-ups, walk around a bit, get some water, get back to work. I'll do this right at the office…

>This article is totally missing the basics. Exercise. I promise it will make ALL the difference. After I had my tennis elbow due to overwork at the computer, and many months in PT, I learned my lesson: Go work out regularly. It's worked out great. Better health metrics, stronger muscles, etc. And then I had ergo pains again. And again. So I unlearned my lesson. Exercise does great things for me. Solving my ergo rela…

Exercise is the perfect cure if the problem is lack of exercise.

In this guy's case, he tried exercise. Various types. He biked to work. It still didn't fix things.

His problem was cold. There's probably not much else that could fix that.

Re: How I stopped the RSI pain that almost destroyed my programming career

#144

Post by snovv_crash »

omtinez wrote: post #125
r_smart wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last year I got into lifting for the first time ever (I'm 35). I got on a program, just doing a couple of heavy compound lifts three days a week, and the change for me has been night and day. It doesn't take much time to learn how to do it correctly, and it's a lot more fun than running. All those aches and pains have gone away. Seriously, I can't recommend enough getting into lifting.

Actually, I had a similar experience. For that reason, I decided to work on a side project precisely to encourage people to get started lifting weights and lose the fear of going to the gym: https://ezworkout.org

Looks awesome, but something really weird is happening with the scrolling on Android Firefox.

Re: How I stopped the RSI pain that almost destroyed my programming career

#145

Post by andrewvc »

ktRolster wrote: post #143
BeetleB wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>This article is totally missing the basics. Exercise. I promise it will make ALL the difference. After I had my tennis elbow due to overwork at the computer, and many months in PT, I learned my lesson: Go work out regularly. It's worked out great. Better health metrics, stronger muscles, etc. And then I had ergo pains again. And again. So I unlearned my lesson. Exercise does great things for me. Solving my ergo rela…

Exercise is the perfect cure if the problem is lack of exercise. In this guy's case, he tried exercise. Various types. He biked to work. It still didn't fix things. His problem was cold. There's probably not much else that could fix that.

FWIW I found biking terribly aggravating for RSI. It really is not an ergonomic position. I'd recommend nearly anything other than biking. Swimming, weight lifting, basketball, etc. Anything where you aren't still sitting.

Re: How I stopped the RSI pain that almost destroyed my programming career

#146

Post by tyrust »

cholantesh wrote: post #135
tyrust wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you doing at a squat rack for an hour?

I personally do squats, OHP, and pullups in there, and have seen people bench and deadlift in a rack as well. Easy to fill an hour in a rack.

Sounds like a poor use of a shared resource since the only one of those exercises that requires a squat rack is a squat. I guess it's fine if there's no one else at your gym.

Re: How I stopped the RSI pain that almost destroyed my programming career

#147

Post by duaneb »

overcast wrote: post #62

This article is totally missing the basics. Exercise. I promise it will make ALL the difference. Get yourself a pull-up bar, and if you're feeling extra fancy, a dip bar. Push-ups, pull-ups, dips, and sit-ups. Every day. You'll be a coding machine. At the VERY least, push-ups. Every hour or two, take a break, knock off ten push-ups, walk around a bit, get some water, get back to work. I'll do this right at the office…

So—to be clear—you're implying your physical health is entirely unrelated to the emotional health.

If that's not correct, I can't follow why you just discarded the entire article.

Re: How I stopped the RSI pain that almost destroyed my programming career

#148

Post by jboles »

cholantesh wrote: post #135
tyrust wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you doing at a squat rack for an hour?

I personally do squats, OHP, and pullups in there, and have seen people bench and deadlift in a rack as well. Easy to fill an hour in a rack.

Not so much a poor use of a shared resource as a required use of a poorly equipped gym.

Re: How I stopped the RSI pain that almost destroyed my programming career

#149

Post by Benjamin_Dobell »

I'm sure tensing up due to cold doesn't help. However, for me an ergonomic setup (in particular mouse and keyboard) has done wonders. Pain isn't 100% gone all the time, but it's not crippling agony where I can no longer make a fist.

The other thing that makes a huge difference to me is sleep. Days I don't sleep long /well my wrist and fingers hurt more. I don't know if this is due to giving the body more time to repair or feeling more relaxed (less tense) throughout the day.

Re: How I stopped the RSI pain that almost destroyed my programming career

#150

Post by edwhitesell »

I started having indicators of Carpal Tunnel about 10 years ago. I had heard good things about certain wrist supports while typing, but I'm a Systems/Network guy; so I frequently do other things than just sitting at my desk. Wearing a wrist guard was very inconvienent.

So, I started wearing one at night while I slept. It took a couple of months, but I've never had problems since.

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