pain

[drummingman]

do any of you guys get pain for using your computer? i do.it sucks.
i already have bad tendinitis in both wrists but using the keyboard and mouse sometimes makes my fingers go numb and causes other types of pain in my wrists and hands.its a real bummer for me because i like to get online and talk with my friends from other states and do research on things i like,such as martial arts.
if you do get pain what do you do for it,besides not using your computer for awhile?

 

[Jade Tigress]

It's most likely Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. A couple things you can do, make sure your keyboard is at a height that leaves your wrists straight while you type, and if you don't already have a wrist rest on your keyboard, get one. Also get a trackball mouse for your computer.

If it becomes very severe you may need surgery. Talk to your doc about other treatments. Good luck. CTS sucks.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Jade's advice is very good. A wrist rest is an excellent way to relieve that pain. I know several people who have used wrist braces in the past as well and they worked fine for keeping the wrists straight and not allowing to much pressure.

 

[HKphooey]

For your workplace your employer is required to provide you with the proper ergonomic equipment. Just need to ask in most cases. As JT stated, the track ball mouse works wonders. I also use a gel keyboard pad for my wrists. I am on a computer 8-12 hours a day (sometimes more). Set breaks every few hours to excercise yoru wrists.

 

[Jade Tigress]

Mod Note

Thread moved to Health Tips for the Martial Artist.

Pamela Piszczek
MT Moderator

 

[SFC JeffJ]

Lots of good things said here already. I'd also suggest stretching your wrists before and after a long session on the computer.

Jeff

 

[CoryKS]

These are all good tips. Another thing I would suggest is to learn all the hot keys you can to minimize the time spent using the mouse. This will not only help your wrist by keeping you off the mouse, but it will reduce the time spent switching from mouse to keyboard.

 

[drummingman]

can you explane what hot keys are coryKS?

 

[CoryKS]

can you explane what hot keys are coryKS?

Hot keys are key sequences that provide a shortcut to often-performed tasks. For example: instead of using the mouse to click on the Refresh button of your browser, you can press F5. (This is IE-specific, the key may be different in Mozilla).

Other handy keys (assuming a Windows environment; your mileage may vary):
Alt-tab will let you select between active windows.
Alt-F opens the File dropdown in the active window. In fact, any menu item can be opened by hitting Alt plus the underlined letter. In an open menu, typing the underlined letter will select that command.
Ctl-C copies text
Ctl-X cuts text
Ctl-V pastes text
Shift-End highlights text to the end of the line.
Shift-Home highlights text to the beginning of the line.
PgUp/PgDwn to scroll.

There are many more common ones, and most applications have specific key-combinations. They can be hard to remember and tricky to use at first, but they're very handy when you get the hang of it. I can do most tasks without the mouse. The one place where this is not very useful is when selecting a link from an html page. Then it's best to use a mouse, or you'll end up tabbing through every link on the page.

 

[drummingman]

thanks man!

 

[rutherford]

Allow me to suggest wrist rotations. Getting the mobility back in my wrists and keeping my wrist joints healthy and awash in lubricant have been essential in abating my own pain, primarily caused by extended computer use as well as too much time holding a videogame controller. And possibly repeated damage from punching things without proper bracing.

For wrist rotations, I like to make a fist and move that fist in a circle while holding my forearm steady. I like to do between 3 to 10 circles in each direction.

And, I do this anywhere from a couple to many times a day depending on my activity level. The key is to think of this as a release of tension and not an activity to build strength. If you do it until you're tired, your actually increasing the tension in your wrist.