RSI - anyone been diagnosed with it? What have you done about it?

[Tinker]

I am getting repeated pain in my left wrist at the moment and I often get it in my right wrist and shoulder. When I was off work in the summer I had pain in my left arm for about 2 weeks which, I am sure, was down to my arm adjusting to not using the computer at work.

But what can I do about it really? I have to work and there is not much chance of changing to a job not involving pc's. My desk and seating postion was assessed recently at work (as were all staff's) but I think it is my desk that is wrong, not my chair.

RSI must be pretty common amongst mumsnetters . What, realistically, can I do about? It hurts

Thanks

See your GP and get it diagnosed first.

Good point WSM

Anyone? Seriously, has anyone had to really change what they do because of this? Most advice seems to be along the lines of rest etc. but, that's not really practical long-term.

It's worth seeing if you can get an ergonomic keyboard and wristrests on keyboard and mousemat. Watching whether you move your wrists when you type/use the mouse is important - see if you can train yourself to use the computer more fluidly.

Right wrist and shoulder does sound like bad use of the mouse to me - I've certainly found that getting a wrist rest on the mousepad has helped me a lot because I then relax that arm and keep my wrist angle steady - previously I was changing hand angle between keyboard and mouse frequently and holding that arm in tension by having quite a steep hand angle to the mouse (I'm not explaining this very well, am I? I hope you can visualise what I mean).

I'm not 100% certain if I get RSI, or mild arthritis or something else entirely, but other things I found made a difference was to make sure my hands were warm (this sounds awful, but at one point I wore fingerless gloves for a while, and although it looked really pathetic, it really did help for me) and also making sure I drunk my 8 glasses of water a day - being dehydrated always made my joint aches much much worse (to the point now that when I find my fingers aching I start paying attention to my fluid intake immediately).

Not sure if there's any scientific basis to the keep warm and drink lots of water parts, but they've helped here.

Fingerless gloves Georgina ?? Very sexy

Yes, it was not a particularly good look. Saved it for the most vicious airconditioning/bad joint ache days and put up with the comments...

I agree with G - your company should provide you with an ergonomic keyboard - they look a bit strange (mine is bumpy, sort of a wave shape), but has made a huge difference. Need to try it for a while to see the benefits, and get used to typing in a different way.

Rest is hardly an option if you have kids is it? My RSI exacerbated an injury from opening a one of DD's bottles, and for ages every bottle or jar I undid/did up, ditto for stairgates, cot sides, etc was agony. Try and solve as much of the situation at work as you can - its a lot harder at home!

I never tried gloves (although at its worst I had to have reinforced gloves with splints in them) for warmth but found heat lotion helped relieve pain a bit, also dipping into warm water! Great idea about the gloves G!

Thanks everyone. I've come home to do some work here because I have to keep stopping at work to massage my wrists. Thought my posture wasn't to bad, obviously room for improvement. But I think I should go to the doc's first just so I can insist on a few improvemnts. Had a cardigan on with thick woolly cuffs today after you recommendation GeorginaA

Oooo yes I forgot about heat lotion - check with your pharmacy and see what pain relief creams you can get over the counter (although beware, I tried deep heat (I think that's what it's called) once and it smelled absolutely awful - not great for the office!)

I've had RSI for ... 10 years now? It's a lot better now than it was. What helped me most was therapeutic massage (for the tendonitus/tenosynovitus), wearing splints whenever I'm at the computer, stopping playing guitar (RSI is rife among musicians), and 100 mg/day of Vit. B6 for 3 months(proven helpful with carpal tunnel).

Especially valuable: when I'm at computer I try to keep my elbows by my side -- this means the keyboard has to be on my lap. This is 1000% contrary to most the advice you hear about so-called ergonomic positions, but it's obvious to me that the people who come up with these ergonomic guidelines never actually have RSI themselves. The point of keeping keyboard on lap & elbows touching ribs means that the arms are as relaxed as possible. You simply can't achieve relaxed forearms & shoulders without having your elbows touching your ribs & keyboard almost certainly on your lap (unless you have arms like a gorilla, I guess!).

PS; My experience was that GPs were absolutely unsympathetic. "It's a soft tissue injury, what do you expect us to do about it?" I campaigned to get seen by a rheumologist, though, and going that route (took months to get seen) got me splints which have been life-savers (I don't know why). Wrist rests & ergonomic keyboards are useless, put the keyboard in my lap, anyday, instead. But massage was the turning point, I must have gone weekly for over a year.

Agree that make sure your hands & arms are nicely warmed up before doing anything that requires manual dexterity.

Last post on this subject before I wear out my hands (silly girl) --
elbows touching one's side, I decided, not ribs. Anyway, hanging loosely down next to your body, not out in front, is the main thing.

zebra - it makes sense to me to have the keyboard on my lap, which is what I do at home since don't have a desk But in the office, if I position myself 'correctly, it stil hurts my wrists. What you're saying fits in my thinking that it is the desks which are the wrong height. Can't see them re-fitting the whole office though, always easier to offer you a chair as a 'solution'

Can you get a different chair, something that would change your height relative to desks? You might need a foot rest then, though.

I had carpal tunnel syndrome - is that RSI?

No, carpal tunnel is a different, more long term and severe condition Enid. It gives a similar sensation though IME.

I got a wrist rest at my work coz my wrists gets so bad sometimes I have to take painkillers!
But the wrist rest made it worse.

My dp's SIL had to give up work entirely because of it. When I say she HAD to ... I mean she was in pain, couldn't find a cure and her DH was in a position to earn for both of them. She hasn't worked in 10 years. Dunno if she still gets pains, I must ask her.

I had an op and as far as I know they removed the carpal tunnel.

It was bloomin painful while I had it though, my hand looked like a claw.

Meant to say - try acupuncture, its brilliant for skeletal and muscular probs.

I would call carpal tunnel RSI -- because it's still (typically) an injury that arises due to repetitive strain...
I tried acupuncture -- it hurt, and it didn't help! Agree that wrist rests are c**p.

As well as the stuff already mentioned, some tips I was given for my stiff shoulder: -
Check your posture regularly - I tend to hunch over the screen when I'm really concentrating

Put the mouse closer in to your body so that your upper arm stays by your side

Don't iron for more than a few minutes at a time as this is the same movement as using the mouse (I like this one - I pay someone to do mine now)

See an osteopath or similar when it's bad.

Please don't ignore it - I worked with someone whose whole arm swelled up, had huge problems and had to give up his job. He is still very restricted in the type of work he can do.

Hmm, I've always got on well with wrist rests - maybe because I've always gone with the gel-type ones.

Be warned - if you go for keyboard on the lap, make sure that you get a lap mouse pad too (you can get them shaped that fit over your knee) or the continual switching in height between keyboard and mouse will do even more damage than when they were both side-by-side on the desk. Alternatively, spend some time learning all the keyboard shortcuts to minimize mouse use.

AS well as the heat lotion (which did smell a bit like a rubgy changing room.. to quote my not very masculine boss) we used MSM gel (its got all of the ingredients in it that you need to feed, and hence help repair/reduce damage to the cartlige between the bones - plus it doesn't smell). You can get a good one \linkwww.pure-aloe.net/products \here{} need to enter FFF07029 at the prompt.
Personally I didn't mind imagining I was in a rugby changing room instead of being at work

or even here