Comments on: Computational thinkers make good body hackers

By: alex

alex — Tue, 20 May 2008 23:18:10 +0000

One thing you might want to try (which has helped close friend a lot!) is to rewire your mouse or buy a mouse with foot buttons. I know clicking mice has hurt me a lot in the past – never enough to move to the feet though.

By: Michelle Kearns

Michelle Kearns — Mon, 19 May 2008 00:59:22 +0000

Hello. Noticed your post on Twitter & am writing in because this book changed everything for me a decade ago now. I highly recommend it and Dr. Pascarelli, who I think may have retired. Perhaps there’s a way to track down someone applying his strategies — a combination of physical therapy, technique changes & ergonomic chair, screen, desk setup.

Here’s the write up & link as I just found it on Amazon: Repetitive Strain Injury: A Computer User’s Guide (Paperback)
by Emil Pascarelli (Author), Deborah Quilter (Author) “In 1981, when IBM proudly unveiled its first personal computer, America fell in love with it in a way reminiscent of an 18-year-old’s infatuation with…” (more)

http://www.amazon.com/Repetitive-Strain-Injury-Computer-Users/dp/0471595330

By: BC

BC — Sat, 17 May 2008 03:04:25 +0000

I agree the inhabitant is the best at diagnosing. After about 6 miserable months of very weak grip, and tingling in my hands. I’ve been almost symptom free for 10 years now.

I’ve found that tense muscles in my neck and shoulder area will pull the nerves and cause weakness in my wrists and hands, and along with some tingling in the thumb area. I got to the point where I could barely turn the key to unlock my car. I found that if I keep properly hydrated, and muscles loose, these symptoms will lessen and finally go away. Proper hydration is the key. Your muscles will NOT loosen up until you are properly hydrated. Cut down on the caffeine, alcohol, and vitamins for a bit, stretch this area a lot, and get plenty of neck and shoulder messages for a while. Keep the blood flowing to this area with hot showers and heating pads. When you get rid of the knots and tension especially between your neck and your shoulders, your symptoms will go away… assuming you caught this before there is nerve damage down in your wrists. I only have occasional bouts of slight weakness in my hands, and I head them off before they get bad. Hope this helps.

I found hitting golf balls is a good way to keep the related muscles active and stretched. Do this after you’ve loosened up a bit… impossible before that.

By: Jon Udell

Jon Udell — Fri, 16 May 2008 03:47:24 +0000

> One thing you can try is to use left-hand mouse

As a matter of fact, I switch mousing from hand to hand every 3 to 6 months. Being as bilateral as possible has turned out to be a key strategy for me, and not just with mousing, but all kinds of things: swimming, snow-shoveling, etc.

By: Jon Udell

Jon Udell — Fri, 16 May 2008 03:45:29 +0000

> http://www.officeorganix.com/kenisis1.htm

Yeah. But the chair-mounted split keyboard is a whole different thing. It changes your posture, takes all the weight and stress off your arms and shoulders. If/when mine breaks I will miss it sorely and will be desperate to replace it.

By: Shital Shah

Shital Shah — Fri, 16 May 2008 03:39:40 +0000

One thing you can try is to use left-hand mouse. Few years back I noticed that I was using mouse for clicks/double clicks way more than keyboard and switching hands helped significantly. It would take 2-3 days of practice but once you get it you will never go back.

By: Len Jacobs

Len Jacobs — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:20:27 +0000

Have you seen this keyboard: http://www.officeorganix.com/kenisis1.htm

It is not quite what you were looking for but has been a real boon for RSI issues. And the company sells quite a few other really useful tools.

By: Martin

Martin — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:05:33 +0000

I wrote the screed below to Zach when he complained of carpal tunnel (http://weblog.infoworld.com/openresource/archives/2007/06/carpal_tunnel_s.html). He talked about ergonomics, wrist splints, ice, and ibuprofin.
———————————

Yes, CTS really sucks. Other things that help are significant doses of B6, chiropractic adjustment of the wrists, and accupuncture.

If you are taking ibuprofen or another NSAID, keep it up steadily to reduce the inflammation. For OTC ibuprofen, that’s 2 pills 4 times a day, or up to 2x more (usually as a prescription dose) if your doctor approves. You’ll need to do it for at least 2 weeks for full effect. Consider taking a PPI (proton pump inhibitor) like Prilosec to avoid ulcers from the ibuprofen. If your ears start ringing, cut back the dose.

That said, the best possible therapy would be to lay off the computer, Treo, and guitar completely for about 3 weeks. Beach time?

(This advice comes to you from someone who hasn’t really had a vacation for 20 years.)

By: Saul Caganoff

Saul Caganoff — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:00:20 +0000

Conversely a surprising (frightening) number of health workers do not seem to exhibit good computational thinking. I suspect that memorization is a good selector for medical practice and that somehow memorization doesn’t work well with computational thinking. After all if you can remember the result every time, there is not much need to understand the derivation from first principles. At least that’s my excuse for having a terrible memory.