Ergoblog

Yes, Food Allergies Were Causing My RSI Issues

I've started posting to this blog again after a break of a year or more, mostly because there is still lots of interesting stuff going on in the field of ergonomics and health related to repetitive stress injuries and other ailments attributed to the daily modern grind.  I originally stopped posting because my main incentive for starting this blog four+ years ago went away: after several years of suffering from repetitive stress injuries (my hands were my main problem), the pain disappeared.

No, it wasn't magic.  It was a visit to a doctor for other unrelated (or so I thought at the time) problems.  She had me tested for food allergies, and I came up positive for sensitivities to gluten and dairy (and a few lesser ones).  It was hard to give up these foods, which show up in nearly everything, (and I do cheat from time to time) but one of the benefits was that my hand problems gradually diminished.  Today I can spend a full day working at the keyboard (or playing World of Warcraft *furtive guilty look*) with pain.  Eliminating the allergy foods also helped me get rid of my other issues (I was having heartburn at night, insomnia, headaches during the day, and needed an inhaler for asthma).

Interestingly, when I cheat, as I am wont to do now and then (especially for desserts, mmm), I'll often know it as some of my symptoms will flair up. 

So, for those of you suffering from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or other joint issues/RSIs, it's probably worth a trip to the doctor to get tested for food allergies.  It doesn't take much time or cost much (I think I paid about $125 for a blood test that checked for allergies to close to 100 common foods), and it may make a world of difference.

Just Checking in

I guess all the ergonomics news and gadgets on the market have started to sound the same for me, because I haven't been that inspired to post lately.  My hands have been doing fairly well, though I've given up hope that they'll ever be 100% again.  I'm pretty sure if I ever went back to a real job, typing all day, I'd be back where I started pain-wise in no time.  It's interesting what you can do when forced to change how you work though.  I make more working from home and setting my own hours than I ever did working for someone else (I work fewer hours too).  I suppose in that way, this whole RSI thing has been an opportunity.  I'm not sure I wouldn't have been so driven to make the work-from-home thing feasible if not for my sore hands.  Lemons and lemonade, I guess. 

Does Writing Hurt Your Hands too?

It figures that after posting about how my hands were doing pretty well, I'd start having some flare-ups. ;)  Interestingly, it seems to have been from writing rather than typing or mouse-clicking though.  For a couple weeks, I was doing a lot of writing on a project, and my hands began to ache a bit, especially around the knuckles of my right hand (which makes sense, since I write with that hand).  I've backed off and my hands have been feeling better again.  I will probably switch back to the computer and fire up the voice recognition program to finish the project. 

Has anybody else had RSI or Carpal Tunnel issues from writing?  (I'm sure the extensive hours of keyboarding produced my original issues, but I suppose now I'll have to be careful, because it seems that other tiny precise motions with the fingers/hands can aggravate things too). 

I Ordered a TheraCane

I decided to put an Amazon gift certificate to use by ordering a TheraCane (link goes to Amazon where there's a picture if you're curious).  In case you haven't heard of them before, Theracanes are nobby sticks with U-shaped hooks that allow you to massage the muscles in your back.  I know I have trouble with trigger points in my left upper back (thanks to reading The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook, which is one of the two books I recommend all the time for people with RSI, tension headaches, or any other kind of computer/stress-induced aches and pains), but it's a hard place to massage yourself, as you can imagine. 

The TPTW recommends using a tennis ball against a wall, but that always felt awkward to me, so I'm going to see if I can hit the spot with the thera cane.  Most of the time, when I feel tension in my neck and shoulders, I can really feel that spot in my back (kind of in the middle of the trapezius), so I suspect it's causing some of the tension in the other muscles.

The Theracane should be here in a couple days, so I'll report back on how it works.  I'm not sure if it comes with an instruction manual, but I think I know enough from reading the TPTW to hit the spot just right.  We'll see!

Ergonomics Seminars Aimed at the User

I've seen all sorts of workplace ergonomics courses aimed at corporations (with the idea that an individual in the business will be trained and then disseminate the information down to Joe Blow in the cubicle), but I haven't seen too many that just anyone can attend.  Businesses are more worried about productivity than your health (oh, they want you to stay healthy, so you don't take sick days...), so I think we should be the ones taking an interest instead of working with second-hand knowledge that may or may not be particularly helpful by the time it gets passed down to us.  Besides, we tend to ignore it at the time anyway.  When it comes right down to it, we have a hard time caring much about ergonomics until we start getting symptoms (whether it's RSI, sore neck, headaches, or what have you). 

In a couple weeks, Colorado State University is offering a seminar on ergonomics for anyone in the area (free for staff and students).  That doesn't help me up here in Seattle, but it's nice to see more of this kind of thing--education that's aimed at you and me, the people who deal with the pain.  Usually, we're stuck surfing the web for information on repetitive stress injuries.  That's... just great considering surfing the web is probably what got you the problem in the first place.  I for one would love to see more of these kind of classes cropping up locally, where they cover topics like setting up your workstation correctly and taking breaks, doing exercises at your desk, etc.  We could all use this knowledge!

Recommendations for Ergonomic Office EQ

A visitor noted that there are lots of links and posts about ergonomic equipment in this blog, but--aside from a few reviews--not too many recommendations.  He wanted to know what he should buy.  Since I'm just one writer, I can't claim to have tried everything available on the market or even a large portion of what's out there.  However, I decide to make a list of what I'm currently using in case some people find that helpful.  I have done quite a bit of trial and error, especially with keyboards and mice, to find a set-up that works well for me. 

Keyboard: Kinesis Contoured Keyboard from http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/
Mouse: iGesture from the now defunct FingerWorks http://www.fingerworks.com/
Chair: Herman Miller Aeron Chair http://www.hermanmiller.com/
Desk: An L-shaped desk from Office Depot (nothing special here, but avoid desks with keyboard trays/slideouts since they're rarely at the right height) http://www.officedepot.com/
Keyboard Tray: Solution Platform, again from Kinesis.
Voice Recognition Software: Dragon NaturallySpeaking from http://www.nuance.com/
Break Reminder Program: Albion Stop Now from http://www.albionresearch.com/astopnow/

Hope this helps.  Good luck!

Vacation

After much scrimping and saving, I'm heading off to Europe for a three week tour plus a couple extra days in Paris.  I'm looking forward to giving my hands a rest, so I probably won't be hunting for any cyber cafes in order to post to this blog.  Expect the usual RSI and ergonomics news, reviews, rants, etc. to resume at the end of September.

Karate

A couple months ago, I finally finished my Bachelor's degree and suddenly had my evenings back after years of classes (was going the night school route).  I decided to start taking Karate, something I did and enjoyed as a kid.  I was a bit concerned that it would be too much for my hands with my history of RSI. 

So far, it's going ok though.  We usually do a few pushups during the warmup section of the class, but it's never enough to bother my hands.  There was one day where we did punches on a heavy bag that I bowed out of, but other than that most of the kicks and punches are just done at the air, so they have not been a problem (other than the problem we all have of keeping our balance while standing on one leg and kicking).  A couple weeks ago, I got my yellow belt.  (I'm not sure which belt is the one where you start being dangerous to others rather than yourself :P)  So far, so good.

Bicycling after RSI?

As I've mentioned previously (complained, whined, etc.), I've had quite a bit of trouble with RSI over the last couple years.  I've had to give up some of the sports I like (or would have liked to try someday) because the weight-bearing stuff makes my hands sore, sometimes for a couple days after.  The times I've gotten on my old mountain bike, I've regretted it later.  Since I live a mile away from a really great, 20-odd mile trail, it's been kind of a bummer.

Today, however, I was out rollerblading and noticed someone on a road bike who had his weight on his forearms, and then the bike actually had handles out in front of the usual handle bars (the brakes may have been up there, too).  So, he was holding on with his hands, but not putting any weight on them.

This weekend, I'm going to hit the bike shop and see if this is some kind of custom modification or if it is a new option that some bikes are offering.  I'll let you folks know what I find out.

Ergonomic This Ergonomic That

A recent opinion piece takes a look at the word "ergonomic" and how it's become fashionable to tack it onto everything, whether it's ergonomic or not. The writer pokes a bit of fun at the word (and others) that is "never defined, just stuck in there because it's such an attractive word, one that sounds as though the person using it is highly educated, or has special knowledge on the subject. It sounds so exotic, yet almost familiar, that we let it slide by because we feel that even if we don't really know its meaning, we should, but we're a little embarrassed to ask."

On a related note, you might be interested in short article Buyer Beware: Is That "Ergonomic Chair" Really Ergonomic? if you're chair shopping. It discusses common misrepresentations of the word ergonomic and what to actually look for when looking for an office chair.

Kinesis Trip

As I mentioned a couple posts ago, I went to visit the Kinesis Corporation last week to try out a couple of keyboards (I've been meaning to get a new ergonomic keyboard for a while, but since they cost upwards of $300 for the good ones, I wanted to make sure I liked what I got).  I was greeted at the door by someone's Dalmation who was hanging out at the office (he was a little too friendly to be a guard dog).  Shortly after, two-legged beings found me and welcomed me.

I was on the way to meet someone, so I didn't get to stay very long, but everyone was very polite and helpful. It's actually more of an office than a showroom, with the traditional cubicles and whatnot, but they don't mind guests--just email or call ahead and make an appointment.  They have a side that is kind of a play-with-this-stuff area with several chairs, keyboards, and ergonomic mice set up.  The desks are pretty standard office fair, but adjustable keyboard trays allow you to type at just the right height (a keyboard tray is next on my ergonomic shopping list).

I tried the Maxim™ Adjustable Ergonomic Keyboard first.  It seemed like a quality piece of equipment, but I had my eye on the Kinesis Contoured Keyboard from the beginning and gravitated toward that one. I saw a keyboard (the Evolution) that was in two halves that mounted on either side of a chair, but I figured I'd have to buy a whole new chair or do some fancy retrofitting to get mine to do that, so I didn't seriously consider that one.  Also, the mouse is built into that keyboard, and since I really like my iGesture, I wasn't looking to give that up.

So after playing a bit, I verified that the Contoured Keyboard was the one for me.  I really like the way your fingers seem to naturally rest in the concave indentations where the keys are.  I'll post a more thorough review of it later this week, but for now I'll just say it's a better match for me than the Touchstream which I never did quite get the hang of.  I'm already typing at a normal speed with the Contoured, and it's quite easy on the hands. I paid about the same price ($300) for the Contoured as for the Touchstream last year.  There's actually a cheaper version of the Contoured (about $250) if you don't mind a PS2 board. The USB version has a lot of programmable macros and such (I haven't played with these features yet), so it's probably worth the extra money for a programmer.

All in all, it was a good trip.  If you live in the Seattle area and are looking for a place to try out some office ergonomics stuff (keyboards, trays, chairs, mice), think of visiting the Kinesis folks.

Kinesis Ergo

Keyboard Shopping

I've been saying I'm going to get a keyboard to replace my Microsoft Natural Split Keyboard (hate it--makes you raise your wrists, and the keys require too much effort for people with proclivities toward sore hands) and my TouchStream keyboard (never could get used to touch typing on a completely flat keyboard). Well, Monday is the day. (I hope.)

I found out the Kinesis people are right here in the Seattle area, so I made an appointment to visit their shop. Kinesis does all sorts of ergonomic office stuff, and I've been thinking about getting one of their contoured keyboards for a while. As you may already know, ergonomic keyboards (as with anything with the "ergonomic" keyword stuck in front) aren't cheap. This will give me an opportunity to try before I buy. It's too bad more mainstream computer stores don't sell (real) ergonomic keyboards, chairs, and whatnot, because this is one area where it's hard to know if you like it until you've used it.

Anyway, I'll post again in a couple days to let you know how the visit went. Maybe I can play with some of their other toys (ahem, professional office equipment for professional computer users) while I'm there.

My New Gateway 3520GZ Laptop

I bought a new Gateway 3520GZ (catchy name, eh?) laptop last week, and aside from the awkwardness of the touchpad (let's face it, nothing on a laptop can live up to what I've quickly grown accustomed to with the iGesture), I'm really enjoying it.

It wasn't terribly pricey (as far as laptops go), and it's thin and compact--nice for traveling.  It's not so small that the keyboard is difficult to type on, though. Ergonomics-wise, I like the feel of the keys much better than the Microsoft split keyboard I've been using on my desktop computer of late. They respond to a soft touch without feeling mushy. As mentioned, the touchpad isn't brilliant (you can do the tap and double tap for clicking much as with the iGesture, but this isn't nearly as responsive), but I like it more than those pencil-eraser nub mouses that many laptops come with.

The Gateway 3520GZ isn't as powerful as a lot of the higher end laptops on the market, but it's fine for surfing the net and doing Word stuff, which is mostly what I do. The battery lasts about 4 hours, which is pretty decent for laptops. I haven't installed Dragon NaturallySpeaking yet, but I will probably do so soon.  The laptop has 512 MB of memory, so I'm hoping that's enough for the program to run smoothly. (I know at 256, Dragon was a bit slow on my old computer.)  I'll install that in the next week or two and let you know how it runs.

The iGesture Arrived

I received my iGesture pad (it's an alternative to the mouse--no clicking!) exactly a week after ordering it, on Christmas Eve (nice timing). FingerWorks was great about getting it shipped out the same day I ordered it, everything nicely packed. It arrived in good condition with a CD (I didn't need it) for installation. Definitely a good experience with them, and I would recommend both them and their products. I'll do a full review of the iGesture when I have a little more time.

Fingerworks & iGesture

I decided to order myself the Fingerworks iGesture Pad, sort of an alternative mouse. I've been using the TouchStream LP Keyboard (which uses the same technology as the iGesture--no clicking or dragging anything, just a flat surface that responds to touch) for the last year, but as my hands have been getting a little better (thanks at least in part to my work with the Flextend gloves, I believe), I think I'm going to go back to a more traditional keyboard--or at least one with touchable keys.  The Touchstream is a high quality keyboard that does everything it claims to do, but I've just never grown as comfortable with it or as accurate as I'd like. I absolutely love the mouse part of it though--no way could I go back to a regular computer mouse.

So, long story short, I ordered the iGesture and I'm going to use it in conjunction with my split keyboard to see how that goes. I'd eventually like to try one of the Kinesis Contoured Keyboards, but those start at about $300 so that won't be this month.

I ordered the iGesture from FingerWorks (the makers). Usually, the resellers through Amazon.com and various other stores tend to be a bit cheaper than buying directly from FingerWorks (at least, that was my experience when buying the Touchstream), but they were having a special so it was cheaper. About an hour and a half after placing my order with Fingerworks, I got an email saying it had already shipped. Nice! I expect my iGesture to arrive next week. After I've had a few days to play with it, I'll post a review.

Vacation

My faithful readers (all two--gotta love relatives) may have noticed it's been a while since my last post. I've been slurping Pina Coladas on the beaches of Cancun and decided to leave the computer at home. Figured my hands could use the break. I did take my Flextend gloves along though--can't start slacking on that now. They didn't set off any alarms at the airport. Anyway, I'm sure nobody wants to hear about my vacation so now that I've made my excuses, we'll continue to our regularly scheduled ergonomics stuff...

Build a Better Office, and They Will Come

The About section of the Fog Creek Software site mentions one of the things they did when they were starting out was to ensure their programmers had a great place to work. Employers that are looking for productivity from workers should take this as an example. Ergonomics and comfort in the workplace may cost more in the beginning, but they'll pay off in the long run, resulting in workers that are happier and less likely to be plagued by repetitive stress injuries. A giant plasma TV in the lounge can't be bad for morale either...

Dragon NaturallySpeaking, how I love thee...

Ever notice that the one word in the whole document you don't know how to spell is the one word Dragon NaturallySpeaking doesn't recognize?

"Ergonomic" Products, Are They?

Ergonomic has become sort of a buzzword in the marketing industry insofar as chairs and desks, keyboards, mice, and other computer accessories. The trouble is many consumers aren't entirely sure what constitutes "ergonomic" and us are taking the advertisers and sellers at face value. Even those of us who have more than passing familiarity with the subject know that there is a lot of conflicting information out there, and it's not always easy to know who's right.

I dug up this article at Healthy Computing, and believe it's something worth reading through, maybe even printing out, if you're shopping for anything from a chair to a keyboard:

The Truth about Ergonomic Products

Comments on ErgoSolutions May 28, 2004

I received my freebie edition of ErgoSolutions Magazine this week, "The Resource for Leaders in Workplace Ergonomics." I know what you're thinking; what makes me so special that I get free copies of magazines? Well, I filled out a form on the ErgoSolutions subscription page. I'm not sure what their judging criteria is, but they say you can get free copies if you're in the industry. Somebody took pity on me and decided having a quasi-related blog was good enough. (Issues are $4.95 otherwise.)

The magazine actually deals with all sorts of workplace ergonomics, sometimes but not necessarily related to computer stuff. It tends to be on the dry side (let's face it; the word "ergonomics" doesn't inspire people to chortle with barely contained pleasure), but there's usually at least one article I find interesting in any given issue. And the ads are second to none. I'm not sure what exactly "SuperFeet Ergonomic Orthotics" do, but they look cool.

This issue had articles on the following:

Frugal Ergonomics -- Although the column has potential, I wasn't big on this month's topics: sticking a letter opener gadget under a desk to keep people from cutting themselves, and something else about using Velcro instead of Brillo pads (I didn't quite get what he was doing) for removing material.

ErgoBiz Q&A with Jon Simkovitz from Solutions for Humans -- This was an interesting, very readable article. The "try before you buy" program Solutions for Humans offers sounds nice; if you've been looking at ergonomic chairs, workstations, etc. for more than a day, you know they're not cheap. The article also gave a peek at some new products coming out, i.e., the ErgoGENESIS Bodybilt Stretch Seating (looks plush), Contour Design's NoteRiser (it helps laptop users "position the computer for optimal ergonomic integrity, promoting improvements in body posture..."), and some other non-computer related stuff. Hm, I wonder if they'd like to send me some free stuff to review...

Behavior Safety & Ergonomics -- With section titles like "Improving Safety, Increasing Productivity" and "Behavior Engineering: Jumpstarting Safe Behaviors" interspersed with numerous bullet point lists, I felt like I was reading somebody's PowerPoint presentation. This article is definitely aimed at the managerial types.

Selecting Height Adjustable Workstations, pt 2 -- This article was exploring (you'll never guess) height adjustable workstations. This is another one of those "dry" articles. The information seems like it should be interesting, but there's a little too much detail, lots of quantifiable data thrown in like some peer-reviewed scientific journal (you know, the kind that about three people read). I only made it a few paragraphs into the article. Now, if I had been looking to buy ergonomic workstations for my office or some such, it might have been a different story.

That takes care of the major articles.

An interesting parting tidbit...

In the forum section, I learned that computer related injuries should probably be classified as "Mechanical Onset Repetitive Stress Injuries" or MORSI, "because it is the mechanical activity performed on computers while using badly designed tools that is the causal factor of impairment" (Tom Large from www.quillmouse.com). Apparently, this is a little different than simple RSI.

Hope you guys don't mind, but I'm going to continue to refer to it as RSI, mostly because I actually want people to be able to find my site in the search engines... and because I'm too much of a thug to remember an acronym that long. You people will know what I mean, though. Right?

My Ergonomics Blog: First Post

I figure a first introductory post is in order before I start ranting and raving on the various ergonomic toys, RSI books, and voice-recognition software I've experimented with over the last two years. The primary reason I'm starting this blog is because I've had a surprisingly difficult time finding solid information and reviews on some of the ergonomic furniture and peripherals I've considered buying. Now digging up information on Dragon NaturallySpeaking and some of the other voice-recognition software suites isn't too tough--you can actually find reviews on Amazon and whatnot. But reviews can be elusive for some of the more expensive toys (ergonomic workstations, chairs, the fancier keyboards). You can find 80,000 sites selling the thing with the exact same product description, but try to find somebody who's actually bought it, and it's another story.

So...

In the beginning, I expect this blog to be filled mostly with my experiences and reviews of products I've tried along with a smattering of industry news (whatever vaguely interesting tidbits I scrounge off the net), but eventually I hope people will start sending me reviews of ergonomic devices they've tried out, so that I can build an extensive collection of information on what's out there, and what's coming. My e-mail address is listed on the About page. Don't be afraid.. Tell me what you know.