Re: [PLUG] [OT] Finding a good doctor for RSI / CTS

Hi Bhaskar,

Recently, I went to a regular doctor in PA for a foot problem, and asked her to refer me to a physical therapist which she did. Her first instinct was to refer me to an orthopedist, but as I was not interested in surgery, she was willing to refer me straight to PT.

In past years, I've had pretty bad cubital tunnel syndrome. It used to feel like I hit my funny bone and I'd lose feeling in my outer two fingers on both hands. It was debilitating to the point where pain was almost constant, I'd drop things, and keys and doors became a major challenge. The root cause of my problem was probably lack of activity and bad ergonomics, but the "cure" was physical therapy.

When pain was severe, I used to ice my elbows (that helped a lot). I ran xwrits (http://www.lcdf.org/xwrits/) to remind myself to get up and do PT exercises. I made sure I had the right chair and posture and followed the physical therapists instructures religiously. I could recommend my physical therapist, but he is in southwestern CT.

For me I have to have a chair that tilts forward (like Rich, I have a Steelcase), or put a towel or cushion under me to angle myself the right way. The top of the monitor needs to be around eye level and not too far away, and the keyboard sits in my lap for best results (which keep my arms around 90 degrees). I have one of these so I don't need use an un-ergo mouse: http://lh4.ggpht.com/_DSCgTU6qhpw/TIryavF_y9I/AAAAAAAAA6U/Zbk8tuBFg9A/s800/KeyboardFront.jpg. Steelcase chairs if you are interested are several hundred dollars but can be found for about $50 at used office furniture stores.

With whatever mix I did, it worked for me and I am back to 100% and can work all day (and then some) without pain. I still have to watch my posture though. I wish you a speedy recovery!

Best of luck!

Rohit

On Sun, Aug 24, 2014 at 10:55 PM, Rich Freeman <r-plug@thefreemanclan.net> wrote:

On Sun, Aug 24, 2014 at 9:57 PM, jeff <jeffv@op.net> wrote:
>
> On a related note, the ideal way to work is to set things up ergonomically.
> Some RSI comes from hyper extending the wrist. Ideally your elbows should be
> bent at a 90 degree angle. Your hands should be on top of the keyboard, with
> no flexing or reaching up or down with your wrists.

Allowing the topic to drift just a touch further, I was recently
having some pain from sitting for prolonged periods of time in a
fairly old and cheap chair (no idea where it originally came from, but
probably Staples or such).

I ended up investing in a Steelcase Leap, and while it was pretty
pricey I can't say I regret the decision. If I had to do it over the
only thing I might consider is trying harder to find one used (they're
still pricey used - it is built like a tank). Maybe I'd have tried to
get one with a headrest as well.

Everything about it about as good as it gets as far as ergonomics are
concerned. There are a few other chairs in that quality tier, but not
much.

After sitting on one I figured I'd check out Officemax and Ikea, and
it didn't take me more than about 5 seconds to spot the obvious
quality difference.

If you work with computers for a living, you should probably value
your chair/desk/etc as much as any mechanic would value a good set of
tools. Chances are that will become painfully obvious to everybody
around mid-career. :)

Just another data point...

--
Rich

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