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

[Morgan Jones <morgan@morganjones.org>]

Bhaskar et al,

I have ulnar neuropathy/cubital tunnel and have for ~5 years.  As I understand it you want to be under the care of a surgeon as he/she is the expert on anatomy.  And if you have nerve issues the consequences can be very serious.  I saw Dr. Sweet (http://www.handcenters.com/index.php/our-physicians/dr-6.html) at the Jefferson Hand Center.  Surgery was looking all but certain but I did a few months of physical therapy and recovered nearly 100% (it’s rare for nerves to fully recover I believe), much of which involved fixing my posture, adjusting my chair/desk/monitor/mouse and a corrective keyboard and learning to sleep with my arms straight (I previous bent my elbows when I slept).

I also learned to do and still do nerve glides which were and still are a life saver:
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/2d/b6/fe/2db6fe7d411bd5af46e80b1efce0dfce.jpg
The second: sit in an armless chair, hang your hands straight down at your side, palms forward.  Spin your palm 180 degrees.  Repeat 5 times.

I also can’t recommend this enough:http://www.amazon.com/Its-Carpal-Tunnel-Syndrome-Professionals/dp/0965510999
The basic thesis is that most need surgery because of bad habits and if you don’t adjust the habits the problem will re-occur.  And further if you adjust the bad habits before you have surgery you end up not needing surgery.

Like Rich I ended up with a Steelcase Leap which for me was an absolute necessity.  I ordered mine without arms FWIW as i find I lean on arms and it screws up my posture.   All of my monitors sit on 8+ inches of books to get them at eye level and my desks are lowered so when my elbows are 90 degrees my hands hang comfortably above the keys.  I also now have a Kinesis Freestyle at all my desks.  I can’t stress enough how important a good physical therapist was to help me fix posture issues--I had a lot.

http://www.ergonomics-info.com/posture-at-a-computer.html
Everyone finds different things comfortable but the above is a good starting place.  I really had to experiment to find the right position for the Steelcase Leap in particular.  I’ve since tried less expensive chairs and not much else works for me.  

The Humanscale freedom  chair is also worth looking at.  I bought from the Human Solution but in the future would find a local showroom.  Steelcase had a promotion at the time where they would have paid return shipping if the chair hadn’t worked for me.

I use one of these with an additional 1/2 inch of foam stuck to the bottom to support my mouse hand.  Some like support in front of their keyboard, I do not:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?gclid=CN71tN-fr8ACFScV7Aod0HAAFg&Item=N82E16826993032&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Mouse+Pads+%26+Accessories-_-N82E16826993032&ef_id=U@FzkAAAAAGW28B9:20140825202512:s

good luck,

-morgan



On Aug 24, 2014, at 9:35 PM, K.S. Bhaskar <bhaskar@bhaskars.com> wrote:

> Some members of this list likely have had issues with repetitive stress injuries / carpal tunnel syndrome.  How would one go about finding a doctor for RSI / CTS (family practitioner / occupational specialist / pain management specialist: I'm not sure who exactly treats such conditions non-surgically; once surgery is determined to be the right course of action, I presume an orthopedist is the right specialization).  Any recommendations on how to find a doctor good at treating such conditions, or recommendations of specific doctors (especially in the western suburbs) greatly appreciated.  Thank you very much.
> 
> Regards
> -- Bhaskar
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