Dealing with wrist pain/carpal tunnel

[hotmetal]

A few things I do: 

1.  I see a chiropractor 2x a month, have for years. There's also a massage therapist at my chiropractors office and every now and then I substitute a deep tissue massage. No, my health plan doesn't pay for it. I don't care. I have no carpal problems and I've been keyboarding in graphic arts production for 30 years (we didn't originally have mice. We used muskrats instead.)

2.  With these new-fangled mac mousies I've found I can mouse all over on a big sheet of white plastic I taped to my desktop. If my arm feels stressed from mousing around in one spot (like after an hour of cloning in bleed in Photoshop), I move the mouse over a foot.

My co-workers all have these tilt-back executive chairs with arms. Not the ergonomic ones. Arms will kill you. Years ago I found an old typist chair in the trash by the loading dock, bashed it until it went a couple inches higher and tossed-away the arms. Added benefit:  when I come back from a vacation, the chair is still at my workstation. No one else wants it!

[pspdfppdfxhd]

for what it's worth, I reply...

A year or so after getting into this mouse game, I realized my wrist was gonna be shot VERY soon the way I was working so I changed the way I worked the mouse with my hand.

See attached photo:

 

Anyway, so I'm pushing my palm up against the edge of the desk and letting my fingers do the movement. My wrist is not touching the destk........but I DO have long fingers.

For what it's worth, someone out there may benefit from this message and save their carpal problem.

[jezza]

My wrist has started to ache after a long day at work and I've read this thread as new posts come in. But now it appears it may have nothing or little to do with mousing around...

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/daily/2006/01/31-carpal.html

[gnubler]

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/daily/2006/01/31-carpal.html

I have to disagree with that article. My sore wrist is not from typing, but from holding and clicking a mouse for hours every day. There's nothing else I do with my right hand that would cause the muscle fatigue. I especially notice it when I'm doing detailed Photoshop work. I'm on the edge of buying a tablet - I checked eBay for a cheapo used one but didn't take the plunge. I don't want to spend a lot on something I just want to try out - it might not work for me. Anyone have an older used tablet they'd want to sell me for under 50 bux? Continental US only.

Oh, and thanks for all the ideas suggested in this thread!

[jezza]

I'm with you gnubler, I've been drawing a street plan all day and I'm agony

[born2print]

what about preventative measures,
ergonomic work area and stretching before and during prolonged exposure to wrist fatiguing/repetitive motion.
Seems to keep the wolves from my door.

Also used a Wacom tablet back when handling more images, before the clients took over more of it.

[jezza]

I took regular breaks and plenty of stretching exercises etc. Still aching now. A wrist support is coming

[born2print]

What kind of support, like a gel or beanbag?

[jezza]

Going for gel, what do you think?

[born2print]

I used those (bean version) before and they're not annoying. I hated the cheap padded bar they tried to give us first, useless. The nice thing about a small beanbag type support is it's easily adjusted and moved... sort of morphs on the fly as you move and change contact pressure. Also no someone who ices her wrist on breaks (has a nice shaped and strapped ice pack here at work) but I can't vouch for that. Seems like chasing the symptoms.

[mc hristel]

I got this second hand from a chiropractor...

Hold your arm straight out with your palm up and stretch your little and ring finger down(back) gently and hold for a few seconds. Repeat with your ring and middle finger, then middle and index finger.  Lastly stretch your thumb.  You will feel the stretch in your tendons right where you need it.  I can feel the stretch all the way up my arm.

-MC

[jezza]

Instant relief  Marvelous  Thanks so much

[Ear]

That's a great stretch. I do a fair amount of massage when I'm not at the computer and it's all a pain in the hands/wrists/elbows. However, the only way to keep pain from keeping you down is with gross muscle movements which is the opposite of what we do all day. Stretching is great, but you have to put your body under a load if you want it to last a long time. Lifting doesn't always have to include weights, and my best cross training exercises don't! I know as soon as I stop working out my body lets me know and things start to lock up and give out.

[Chilbear]

I exercise every day but they are all 10 oz curls. Oh well can't work out every muscle everyday.

[born2print]

Oh well can't work out every muscle everyday.

<----snicker