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So, today the doctor told me I had carpal tunnel. Grrrr. I can't even take drugs because I'm pregnant so I have to wear this silly wrist brace that makes me type like a snail.
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Sorry to hear that Christine. You might have to look into moving your kayboard up or down to help with the hurting.
Posts: 497 | Registered: Jun 2004
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wait, you're pregnant? I thought that was something you were considering in a year or so! congratulations!
I have dealt with RSI problems for most of my adult life - what has worked for me, and i can go on and on about this but will be brief: stretching out before sitting down at the keyboard, and taking regular stretching breaks; careful attention to ergonomics; regular exercise for strengthening to keep things from going bad; and when things do go bad, a few sessions of deep-tissue massage focused on the problem areas (thoracic outlet for me) fixes things up pretty well.
the moral of the story is: you can do a lot with prevention, and it is worth doing, because these kinds of injuries can be really debilatating.
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Beth, I just went over to Amazon and started to flip through the excerpt. That is some great info; I may have to buy that.
Posts: 1473 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Ouch. Sorry to hear this. I know firsthand (no pun intendend) how awful carpal tunnel / RSI can be. There's some good advice in this topic, so do try to keep it in mind. Protect yourself at all costs.
The good news is that it needn't be permanent. It can be "cured", or at the very least, minimized greatly. This does, however, require quite a bit of adjustment and breaking of learned habits. But it's worth it. It was in my case.
Congratulations on the pregnancy first of all. That's wonderful news.
On the carpal tunnel - my mum had it. She's an artist and there was some concern that it would affect her work. She had a small operation the year before last and last September had a killer exhibition, selling 65% of all her pictures.
There are lots of alternative therapies out there which would certainly see you through the pregnancy - yoga is particularly effective and very good for mother and baby too. As HSO said, look to yourself and your health first. And remember, we're not doctors
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i have my own typing system, i don't look at the keyboard much, but i don't follow the normal typing rules either... it works for me, i've never had any problems, and i spend 90% of my time at a keyboard...
Posts: 477 | Registered: Oct 2004
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I got the ergonomic keyboard six montha ago and it helped the twinges I was starting to get in my wrists go away. The doctor suggested that sometimes women who are borderline will have such a condition flare up during pregnancy but she puzzled over that and said it shouldn't have happened at 6 weeks, it shoulda happened in the last trimester when I'm fat and swollen. Oh well. No one ever asid I followed the rules on stuff like that.
My husband said I should get a devorak keyboard. What do you think? I'm also going to look into a lot of the suggestions you have here. Thanks.
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When I was shadowing at an emergency room, a pregnant woman came in with problems like yours. Among other things, the doctor I was following recommended that she wear her wrist braces while she slept.
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You can use your regular keyboard and switch to a dvorak layout if you want. It's very confusing at first, but within a few weeks you'll be typing at a normal speed again.
I'm not sure how much help it would be with RSI stuff, but it's kind of fun to be able to type like that.
the brace at night thing: a lot of times you end up putting your wrists in awful positions while you're sleeping, without noticing it - the brace helps keep you from doing that.
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My doctor told me the same thing....to wear the brace while I slept. It made it annoying to find a comfortable position but I can report that this morning my arm feels slightly better. I will thererfore keep it on for a few more days.
Posts: 3567 | Registered: May 2003
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As far as keyboards go, the standard keyboard layout was designed to slow typists down because when you type too fast on a typewriter, the keys get stuck together.
The difficulty that slows you down is also a strain that ails. The Devorack keyboard is designed for speed typing and is supposed to reduce/eliminate strain.
At least that's what I've been told.
Now all I have to do is find a place that sells them!!
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you can just use a regular keyboard, I'm telling you!
On windows, go into Control Panel, then Regional Options, then Input Locales tab. If Dvorak isn't listed on the Installed Input Locales section at the top, you can add it.
if you google "dvorak keyboard" you can find a zillion or so keyboards to buy if you want. you can also find various tutorials to teach you the layout.
What I'd like to find is a way to change which key is the Enter key - the current location really strains my little finger on my right hand - I'd like to have a different key, like maybe the right-side alt key, do that function but I haven't found a way to remap it.
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i just move my entire hand to hit the enter key...
of course, as i already said, my typing system isn't fully touch -- and is a bit different from normal... although even i might benefit from dvorak if i tried it sometime...
i have a question though.
that article you linked to said something about "switching hands" is this where you don't leave your hands in the strict touch-typing placement? because that is a part of my own system... either hand can go for any key based upon the word i am typing... it's a very weird system i have, and is based on my own personal usage rather than any academic proven stuff.
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I've never tried a DVORAK keyboard layout. Can old dogs really learn new tricks? I've tried one of those ergonomic keyboards, but got frustrated with it and went back to the ol' QWERTY basic. Now I'm on a laptop and sit with my shoulders hunched.
I'd be happy if I could find ANY keyboard with letters that don't rub off the first few months I use it. I continually have to apply letters painted with fingernail polish on the keys so I can figure out which key to poke with one hand while I'm trying to eat my lunch with the other. I touchtype in between meals.
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huh, I've never had the letters wear off a keyboard! Maybe coat 'em with clear nail polish when you first get the keyboard? i mean, if you're ending up going the nail polish route anyway.
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