[SUMMARY]: RSI/CTS injuries

[Peter King]

I posted queries about repetitive stress injury / carpal tunnel syndrome
(RSI/CTS) to user groups in Columbus OH and Toronto ON, and received many
replies both on-list and off-list. Here are the results.

[1] There was deep skepticism about the need for surgery as a remedy, and
    some question about its value as well. Certainly surgery is at best a
    last resort -- but not a very good one. In any event, it's a serious
    enough matter to get more than one medical opinion.

[2] There was widespread consensus that RSI/CTS complaints of the sort I'd
    described are skeletomuscular in origin. Again, widespread agreement
    that the single most likely cause has to do with posture in the first
    instance, and poor hand positioning (for typing) in the next instance.

[3] The best cure -- at least, as soon as the immediate pain passes -- is to
    improve one's posture (usually by exercise and re-examining chairs and
    desk height and so on), and to adopt specific arm/wrist exercises as well.
    Several people mentioned yoga as an effective practice that would help.
    Naturally, proper touch-typing style is a necessity. Redesigning workspace
    to have the keyboard at the proper height (wrists straight and usually not
    resting on anything) was also a necessity.

[4] The best place to get advice about these matters is either a physical
    therapist specializing in arm injuries, or, better, a sports medicine 
    clinic. For the latter, well, they see injuries involving tendons and
    ligaments all the time, and have a practical and direct way of dealing
    with them. One respondent was a pianist and mentioned warmup exercises
    learned for piano playing that help, too.

[5] There is no quick fix or quick cure; the problem itself indicates a long
    pattern of bodily misuse, and it will take months of exercise therapy to
    begin to undo the damage.

[6] Some people suggested changes in equipment: "ergonomic" devices of all
    kinds, though there was no consensus. The most frequently mentioned ideas
    were for knee-tilter (backless) desk chairs, which more or less force good
    posture; so-called "natural" keyboards, with Microsoft and Logitech the most
    commonly-mentioned brands; and stationary "inverted trackball" mice to cure
    "mouse elbow" problems. For the most part these were taken as adjuncts of 
    the exercises and remedies described in [3]-[5], not alternatives to them.

The most surprising thing to me was the amount of agreement about the sources and
the remedies for RSI/CTS, not something I had expected from reading the medical
literature on the subject.

Thank you, one and all. The volume of intelligent, well-informed, helpful, and 
sympathetic replies was a delight to see, and a comfort as well. A pleasure to
be (electronically) associated with such people. Thanks!

-- 
Peter King			 	peter.king-H217xnMUJC0sA/PxXw9srA at public.gmane.org
Department of Philosophy
215 Huron Street
The University of Toronto		    (416)-978-3788 ofc
Toronto, ON  M5S 1A1
       CANADA

http://individual.utoronto.ca/pking/

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