Is RSI something that one is ever completely cured of? I’../2004/07/rsimy_condition.html”>here) Although I still have trouble with my hands, I’ve been able to get back to a close-to-normal work load. Since I work from home, I do spread my tasks out over the entire day (an hour here, do something away from the computer, an hour working–that kind of thing), so that helps. I have a feeling I couldn’t handle eight hours a day hammering at a keyboard in some office for very long. However, this is quite an improvement, since my hands used to hurt so much I could barely drive. I still have hope that they’ll improve further if I try not to push things.
So, what have I done? It’s hard to say that it’s been any one thing, because when you’../2004/11/flextend_week_1.html”>Flextend for about a year (and I still use the gloves from time to time), but it wasn’t the cure-all I’d hoped for (check them out if you haven’t though–it seems to work well for some people).
About a year ago, I replaced my TouchStream keyboard (which I never quite got the hang of) with a Kinesis ergonomic keyboard, which I like and plan to keep. I also replaced my regular mouse with an iGesture (unfortunately FingerWorks, the company that makes this and the TouchStream, have gone out of business), which I also like a lot. For a while I relied heavily on Dragon NaturallySpeaking
Another thing that has changed is that I’ve lost about 25 pounds. I wasn’t exactly a fatty before, but now I’m pretty lean. Although I don’t remember discussing it in this blog before, I seem to remember reading about ties between obesity and RSI. Like I said, I wasn’t obese, but I figure any little bit might help with these kind of things. That much less stress on the body, ya know?
Lastly, the break reminder program. I have it set to go off every 20 minutes I sit at the computer. I’m not always good about obeying it, but I do try to at least get up and stretch a bit a couple times an hour. Our bodies just weren’t built to sit in a chair hacking at a keyboard for hours in a row.
Anyway, I’ll post further updates if anything changes. Good luck to everybody out there who is having trouble.