

Ask HN: Best way to recover and deal with carpal tunnel? - willthefirst

I'm 21 years old, so I was surprised to have been diagnosed with carpal tunnel about a month ago. Thanks to less typing, I am feeling much better. I have an ergonomic keyboard and mouse, and I've done the reading, but does anyone have some advice to help stave off this annoying condition?
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forgetcolor
i deal with both carpal tunnel (diagnosed) and tendonitis. an ergonomic
keyboard is a must (i use a kinesis freestyle). one of the most important
equipment changes for me is to _never_ use an actual mouse, and to never click
a trackpad. instead i use a magic trackpad on my desktop mac, built in
trackpad on my mbp, and a logitech trackpad on my pc desktops. all are
configured with full gesture capability so i can use the tap features instead
of clicking. also, no click-drag. instead i use the double tap to lock
feature.

i also mix it up by using my ipad. for browsing, for short emails, etc. the
ipad requires different muscles so changes the patterns of use (a good thing).

for exercises, i _highly_ recommend this short youtube video:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUyMNyrOHJQ>. i think this was perhaps the
best thing for me. it got me out of the worst of it, and keeps me from
slipping back to my worst.

i wear wrist splints in bed. this might not be for everyone, but my doc
suggested it. a lot of people bend their wrists at night, stressing the
muscles and tendons. i was definitely one who did. it helps.

finally, ice. i use ice packs to cool off the arms when i'm hurting. walgreens
sells a nice inexpensive pack with a built in cover that works really well. i
have 10 of them :)

best of luck.

~~~
willthefirst
interesting about the trackpad, my assumption was that the mouse was the best,
but I've been using the trackpad recently and not using the actual click
feature helps a bunch (click drags are a killer!) Thanks for the complete
response.

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thenomad
I'd strongly recommend the book "It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" - the
title's misleading. I've had RSI on and off for a decade, and it's the best
book on the subject I've found.

Other than that - take breaks. Workrave is excellent free software for Windows
that forces you to take breaks - if I turn it off, I tend to feel the effects
(negative) within a day or so.

Ergonomics, stretches, nerve glides, and a trip to a GOOD physio are also
useful.

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sixQuarks
The 3M Ergonomic Mouse has done wonders for me. It looks and feels weird at
first, but you get used to it pretty quickly.

[http://www.amazon.com/3M-Ergonomic-Optical-Compatible-
EM500G...](http://www.amazon.com/3M-Ergonomic-Optical-Compatible-
EM500GPL/dp/B00008KWWF/)

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jcr
I cannot vouch for the following personally, but I've seen it recommended
numerous times here on HN over the years.

[http://aaroniba.net/articles/tmp/how-i-cured-my-rsi-
pain.htm...](http://aaroniba.net/articles/tmp/how-i-cured-my-rsi-pain.html)

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fagatini
Take the occasional break when playing Diablo 3.

Seriously though, make sure your chair is decent. I replaced mine, which fixed
my posture which meant that I wasn't leaning on the wrong nerves. It helped.

~~~
thoughtpalette
Nice

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1123581321
I fixed mine by using a good keyboard rest and learning to type Dvorak.

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iterationx
These are helpful for me. <http://www.amazon.com/Imak-Computer-Glove-
EACH/dp/B000FEVWU8>

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blazzar
Alternating which hand uses the mouse fixed a lot of my issues. I use it on my
left during the day and right at night. I leave the buttons all set to right
handed use.

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Mz
Lift weights. (Worked for my ex.)

Take gelatin supplements daily. (I did this for two years and basically
stopped being a cripple.)

Best of luck.

