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What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

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Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#381

Post by avgDev »

hestipod wrote: post #80
arkades wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really don’t know how many hypochondriacs we get. And general anxiety disorder with a focus on healthcare. And totally reasonable people who start attaching every last twinge and twitch to their (real) core symptom, and want an answer that encompasses all of them. And these people seek care. A lot. Literally orders of magnitude more than ordinary people do. You have your one story of (x). I can tell you about a s…

I do. I worked in healthcare and the overwhelming majority of patients are legit. Same with any category where people are cynical and project that cynicism onto the majority. When I became a patient I became a victim of this categorization. I've been labeled immediately as drug seeking or mental or whatever and things have gone ignored or dismissed until I pushed long enough and hard enough for testing etc. I've told…

I had a super serious reaction to an antibiotic. I have been to mayo clinic and somewhere around 60 physicians with different specializations by now.

At least 70% of physicians have left me angry, they were simply wrong. Some would not take all symptoms because it is too much to handle at one time. My experience with western medicine has been pathetic.

Also, when I was younger I had a sports hernia. It is almost like a inguinal hernia except there is no bulge. I struggled for 12 months. 4-5 months in I had a hunch it was a sports hernia from my research. I have seen total of about 6 surgeons and 4-5 doctors for the issue. All told me it is a strain, gave me NSAIDs, suggested I see a therapist. I found a great doctor in California. He performed the surgery and took images. I had completely ripped 3 different muscles in my inguinal area. By the way, the doctors I have seen were BIG name Chicago doctors from Northshore, RUSH.....it was one of the worst experiences of my life and I often feel hatred towards doctors. The shittiest thing is, that initially it was one side but they gave me a go ahead to go back and lift at work, so I ripped the other side. I was too young, broke and dumb to sue at that time, because now I would take them to the cleaners.

I would not be surprised if software engineers do more research than them.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#382

Post by GordonS »

rhinoceraptor wrote: post #276
GordonS wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apologies, I meant "treatment" to mean "treat the condition", as in "make it better". Gabapentin, Pregabalin etc can help with the pain, but not the underlying cause. I haven't come across mexiletine before, but after a quick glance if looks like it's unlikely to be prescribed in the UK (I'm in the UK :). I must have tried dozens of medications over the past 4 years or so, but it seems I have some dodgy genetics, as…

Just curious, have you tried any kind of autoimmune diet? It seems a bit strange to me that RSI never seemed to be a thing before the past few decades.

I don't have RSI, I have SFN (Small Fiber Neuropathy), as very different condition.

At some point after this happened to me, I switched to a low-carb diet (but not because of the SFN, because of a rare auto-immune condition; didn't make any different to the SFN pain, not that I expected it to).

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#383

Post by Aperocky »

steve19 wrote: post #225
pknopf wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I learned to use mouse with my other hand. I was literally forced to one day, out of pain. Took me 2 days to feel normal with it. Nowadays, I juggle back and forth, depending on comfort.

I was in the same situation. It is incredibly frustrating to learn but it just takes time. I kept two mice on each side of the computer for years and alternated between them as required.

Is it really the mice? I don't use a mice, I had the impression that most of the problem was due to typing?

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#384

Post by steve19 »

Aperocky wrote: post #383
steve19 wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was in the same situation. It is incredibly frustrating to learn but it just takes time. I kept two mice on each side of the computer for years and alternated between them as required.

Is it really the mice? I don't use a mice, I had the impression that most of the problem was due to typing?

In my case and for many other people, mice are part of the problem.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#385

Post by kazinator »

In 1990 I had a coding job, working for Neil Squire Society (then called Neil Squire Foundation).

https://www.neilsquire.ca/

One of the input devices I was working with was a sip-puff switch: a breath operated device controlled by tongue movements to create small air pressure or rarefaction.

I was working, among other things, on a sip-and-puff operated text viewer/editor, and a kind of boot screen that would allow people with different disabilities and input device requirements to share the same PC.

We had a driver (then for MS-DOS) which allowed an encoding derived from Morse code to produce any key code that a PC-101 keyboard could produce, right down to the three finger salute.

I wanted to know what this is really like, so I decided to spend time with my hands off the keyboard, learning how to use it. After a while I was able to write code.

The Morse code entry method encodes input symbols in terms of sip (negative pressure corresponding to Morse dash) and puff (positive pressure, Morse dot), which are sampled in relation to a fixed time base.

As you get faster at producing the symbol patterns, you can crank up the clock speed to shorten their duration. Some of the fastest users were able to type 40 wpm, which is faster than "hunt and peck" typists.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#386

Post by mrmuagi »

craigt00 wrote: post #318
bspammer wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm 23 and have been using computers very heavily for the last 10 or so years - probably an average of 6 hours a day. During a particularly intensive day of typing last week I started getting pain in my right hand. I had to resort to hunt-and-peck index finger typing to get the feature I was working on finished. I'm horrified, it feels like I'm way too early in my career for something like this to happen, but I guess…

I started to get pain in my right hand in my mid-20s (early 40s now) when I was spending a full working day programming and then spending most of my time playing fps games on my PC in the evening using KB+M. It progressed to the point that I would get stabbing pains on the top of my hand whenever I right-clicked my mouse. After a few weeks of trying different layouts and avoiding my mouse as much as possible, I found…

I came across something similar, I narrowed it down to Ulnar nerve entrapment which sounds particularly similar.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#389

Post by namanyayg »

froggy wrote: post #351
namanyayg wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't be sure but it feels like a lot of people are discounting exercise here, I don't mean stretches but something more serious. I've been staring at a desktop screen 6h+ daily for 8y+ and started feeling serious rsi symptoms on my right wrist at the old age of 19. I tried bandages and wraps in the beginning, but once I started lifting all pains literally disappeared. Heavy deadlifts (and maybe a press), done with…

I can vouch for deadlifts. Had wrist tendonitis flare-ups first at age 29 while doing lots of coding for a newly launched product. I'm 43 now and haven't had a flare-up in over 6 years (been doing heavy coding since 28yo). I do deadlifts once heavy a week, sometimes will add in an extra light set during the week. If you're starting out with deadlifts, be sure to check out a program like Starting Strength and practice…

I tried those squeeze devices too, but in my opinion they're too weak unless you specifically shell out for the stronger / adjustable ones. Mine were from China and didn't do jack for the rsi pain.

It's deadlifts that whips forearms into shape, and then getting used to various presses seems to make the wrist more adaptable. I started with Phrak's Greyskull LP which is a modification on SS with less volume.

Back, shoulder, and neck pain disappears too.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#390

Post by einpoklum »

foldr wrote: post #378
einpoklum wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not unless you're totally clueless about your own body and about medicine.

Hmm? Lots of ailments do just get better if you leave them alone. That's probably the case for the majority of things that people go to the doctor for. If your knee hurts, you may as well wait a few weeks to see if it gets better before you start running a bunch of tests.

Thanks for caring so much that you would let me spend weeks in pain. I think I'll look for a doctor who actually wants to treat his/her patients' conditions.
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