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Ask HN: Has anyone cured their RSI/carpal tunnel without an ergonomic keyboard?

2 points by thankfullyfired ↗ HN
I've been battling wrist pain from typing for the past year. I've used just about every commonly recommended ergonomic keyboard that's ever recommended on the internet, in addition to a variety of mechanical keyboards. The ergonomic ones either temporarily alleviated pain and then it returned, OR the pain got even worse. I currently use a Filco Majestouch 2 TKL with MX Brown switches and it seems to be okay for the most part but get occasional wrist pain.

I do hand/forearm/shoulder/neck stretches daily. Again, they temporarily make me feel better but some days I get sharp wrist pain and my forearms feel like they're on fire. Given that I get pain for almost every keyboard, I'm guessing the problem has more to do with my posture and desk ergonomics. I'm not sure what to do at this point besides seeing a doctor or chiro.

7 comments

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bsenftner
I've had success with B complex vitamins in combination with 3-4x full body cardio workouts per week and chiropractor visits.

The B Complex aids in the reduction of inflammation of the nerve sheaves, the primary cause of carpal tunnel, while the cardio workouts flush your lymphatic system as well as maintain general good health.

Research on B Complex and carpal tunnel: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3603108/

thankfullyfired
Thank you. I run 3x/week and lift weights 2x/week. Can't say its been helping, but maybe I need to work out even more. I'll definitely look into the B Complex. Out of curiosity, what does the chiropractor do during your session? I have my first appointment in a few weeks.
bsenftner
I code a lot, often in focus for 4-6 hours at a time, and that causes back strain between my shoulder blades, an area a past chiropractor called the "mouse muscle" because it is the single muscle near the spine that holds the weight of your arm when manipulating a mouse and keyboard. Plus, due to neck strain from staring at screens, I typically need a neck adjustment to relieve base of neck stiffness.

Also, when you work out, do you protect your wrists? I make sure to use barbells with angle grips or vertical grips so my wrists are not bearing the weight; If to lift a weight my wrists are vertical, and not horizontal, the strain of the weight is bared by wrist bones and not tendons and muscles.

I also take a Lysine+b6 supplement, which seems to help recovery from strenuous workouts where the muscles may have been over stressed. Lysine is a protein used my connective tissue, like skin, cartilage, and tendons. I have no idea if the supplement is realistically a good idea, but it seems to help my recoveries. It's also related to stress management, and I manage a lot of stress.

yuppie_scum
How is your seating posture? Biggest factor for me.
dmfdmf
Search HN, there have been a number of threads on this topic with lots of discussion.

Also, consider that it may be pycho-somatic. No, that doesn't mean you are crazy or the pain is not real it just means your subc mind has zeroed in on your wrists to express conflict (my take). The best book in this area is by John Sarno, Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection. You can ignore his Freudian rage theory (he wasn't a psychologist) but learn his techniques and you may have success as many people have using his advice, myself included. I completely cured my "RSI" in about a month and can type for hours now without problems.

0x10c0fe11ce
What did the trick for me was a decent chair, a trackpad with tap to click enabled, and most importantly I worked a bit on my triceps.