

Ask HN: Surgery for RSI injuries? Running out of options... - kowrdly

Over the last year or so, I've had increasing discomfort with my hands, arms and shoulders when typing. I'm getting worried as I now almost dread being at my workstation given it leads to physical discomfort, sometimes almost immediately after starting work. This doesn't bode well for professional development as a software developer.<p>I've tried a number of changes to my setup so far, but I'm still experiencing pain. Here's what I've so far:<p>- Avoid working on laptop as much as possible in favor of desktop setup with monitor, keyboard, etc.<p>- Purchased Kinesis Advantage keyboard (my third keyboard change this year)<p>- Switched to Evoluent vertical mouse. While this helped, I've also added an Apple Magic Pad as the mouse still results in hand/wrist discomfort<p>- Installed a keyboard tray on my desk to keep the keyboard near my lap as well as avoid resting my arms on my desktop surface<p>- Purchased carpal tunnel wrist braces. I try to wear these at night when sleeping. Still not sure if these are doing much for me though<p>At the moment my symptoms consist of:<p>- Very stiff, sore thumbs. The worst is my mouse hand. Just hitting space/enter on the Kinesis can become painful by the end of the day<p>- Tender/burning/numb finger tips on both hands. Mostly the middle, ring and pinky finger in each hand.<p>- Sore right shoulder (mouse hand). I've recently removed the arm wrests on my chair entirely to avoid lifting my arms at all<p>I feel like I'm running out of options.  I'm considering going to talk with a surgeon as I'm getting nervous since this doesn't seem sustainable in the long term and I'm worried I'll be unable to work in a few years.<p>I'd really appreciate any recommendations from others who hopefully were in a similar situation and found a solution.<p>Thanks
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dmfdmf
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_E._Sarno>

There is a lot to say on this but I don't have the time. Two things are
important; to say that RSI is psychosomatic does not mean its not real or
"just in your head". And I reject Dr. Sarno's "repressed rage" theory and
think that RSI can just be a positive feedback loop between the perception and
creation of pain. In your description of your symptoms notice how focussed you
are on your body and your perception of pain, I think that is the trap.

In any event, his methods will work regardless of whether you accept his
explanation of the cause. He's got a couple of books out that explain how it
works so no expensive treatments. There are websites of people who have
successfully recover from RSI and chronic back pain using his techniques.

~~~
mr_donk
tl;dr - this sounds nuts, but it worked for me

I did this... got one of his books (they're on kindle, ibooks and audible) and
read it. i had rsi that increasingly got worse over a 3 year period until i
couldn't drive, tried pretty much every non-surgical thing i could find
(multiple doctors, creams, physio, ART, acupuncture, TENS, stretches,
exercises, posture examined by ergonomist, different keyboards, switching
mouse hands, trackpads, footpedals, foot mouse (wouldn't you know it, my knee
started getting rsi), vitamins, supplements, break software with increasingly
frequent breaks, switched to dvorak, wacom tablet for handwriting/mouse
replacement), and things were still trending worse. it was hard to hold my new
daughter for more than a couple minutes, and i was trying to figure out what
work i could do that wouldn't involve a computer.

i can still remember running across sarno's book online on a random google
search for rsi treatments, the way people remember where they were when they
heard about the challenger explosion or 9/11. within a week of reading sarno's
newest book (name escapes me now, but it is offputtingly new-age sounding), i
had next to no pain, after a month, i'd say i was healed. it's now been 10
months, and i don't even think about my arms anymore, or follow any sort of
treatment regimen. i'm literally back to normal. if someone had told me this
was possible a year ago, i wouldn't have believed them, i thought i was going
to be babying my arms and counting my keystrokes for the rest of my life. in
fact, my physiotherapist told me in no uncertain terms that i'd be dealing
with this for the rest of my life.

sarno's theory in a non-medical nutshell: there's nothing wrong with your
arms, the pain is caused by limited blood flow to your arms/wrists/fingers.
the lack of blood flow is caused by your unconscious. why is your unconscious
doing this? to distract you from dealing with painful emotions. why your arms
and not your back or something else? your subconscious isn't dumb, and knows
what will seem plausible to you. how do you fix it? by understanding that it's
happening (not, as you might expect me to say at this point, by dealing with
your emotions/stresses through therapy). the last part is what most people
seem to get hung up on, and most of sarno's book is trying to convince you
that this isn't a crackpot theory.

here's the caveat, which is explicitly discussed in the books as well. sarno
thinks most rsi (and other chronic pain) is caused by what he calls tms, but
it's possible there is something physically/mechanically wrong with you, so
you should see a doctor first to discount this. in my case, i'd already seen
several and had conflicting diagnoses and recommended treatments that got me
nowhere, so i dove right into the sarno treatment.

here's a couple links that you can read about it in more detail, but
seriously, buy the book or get it from [http://aaroniba.net/articles/tmp/how-
i-cured-my-rsi-pain.htm...](http://aaroniba.net/articles/tmp/how-i-cured-my-
rsi-pain.html)
[http://tmswiki.wetpaint.com/page/Repetitive+Strain+Injuries+...](http://tmswiki.wetpaint.com/page/Repetitive+Strain+Injuries+-+RSI)
<http://podolsky.everybody.org/rsi/>

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michael_dorfman
Have you spoken to a physical therapist?

There's quite a bit of space on the spectrum between "trying things on your
own" and "surgery".

