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

8 points by willthefirst ↗ HN
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?

11 comments

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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.

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

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.
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.

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.