I spend pretty much all day behind a pc since I'm an automation engineer,I game quite a lot in spare time and my girlfriend is in South-Korea(lots of messaging back and forth)
Lately I've been having pains in my hands/upper arms from overuse and at this rate I might get in trouble, already quit gaming for a big part to let my hands rest a bit. Any of you(the community/logan&crew) have any advice? Since I figured most of you spend a lot of time behind the screen like me some might have experience with this kind of issue.
eat a lot of calcium and sleep a lot(how your body repairs bones). cracking knuckles helps release pressure but dont stop there. stretch them in every way you can to lengthen the ligaments and tendons to increase flexibility. i also take pain meds but i have arthritis.
Do you do regular workouts? If not it is something to try. No need to overdo it, half an hour a couple of times a week helps me a lot. And yes, proper stretching every day is very good thing.
As a preventative measure... make sure your setup is done with ergonomics in mind (if it's not already). i.e. the keyboard should be tilted slightly away from you, arms in a slightly open angle when typing, correct seat height, etc. All of that will help to relieve stress on your joints and muscles which will allow you to continue typing, etc. for longer with less impact on your body.
Baoding balls helped me a while back when I was feeling numbness and occasional pain in my hands. The muscles in my hands were stiff which lead to all sorts of problems over time. I used such "therapy balls" several times a week for about two years in order to make my hands more articulate and strenghten the smaller muscles, which can be understimulated even in a strong hand.
When stretching remember the forearms as well. Tendons that affect hand movement are connected higher up near the elbow.
When it comes to computer ergonomy I would from personal experience recommend avoiding the common hard surfaced wrist rests. What I prefer is a deep desk where you can place soft cushions to get support for your forearms rather than the wrist. Or use a very soft wrist rest when there is not enough space avaiable for anything else.
I'm sure stretching is a great thing as others have mentioned. Perhaps take a look at some of the hand stretches and exercises that guitarists use before practicing or performing. Here's a good video:
I began having similar issues and completely changed my environment and routine. In addition to the hand exercises, I switched my keyboard layout from QWERTY to Dvorak, and I began using an ergonomic keyboard, a vertical mouse, and a standing desk. Since I made all of the changes at the same time, I can't say which was the most effective, but combined, they completely eliminated the issues. If you are less rushed, you could start with the easy and inexpensive ones (hand exercises, mouse, etc.) and move up to the more difficult changes if necessary.
If I had to speculate, I would guess that changing to a standing desk tailored to my body was quite helpful. Simply by creating the right posture and angle for my arms seemed to greatly relieve a lot of the stress being put on my muscles and joints. There are plenty of helpful tutorials around the internet, and although commercial standing desks can get extremely expensive, you can DIY one for very little money, or attach a stand to the desk that you already use.
Different solutions seem to be effective for different people, so experiment.
Carpal Tunnel... be very very careful and ensure you see a specialist to get it evaluated.
I work in a computational phenotype lab, and spending hours on a keyboard has given me some nasty CT problem, and at their worst they make me whimper. Do not take it lightly, and see a physiologist and get some professional advice.
Also, I have been told by one of the leading biomedical engineers at my lab (who also happens to be an Oscar winner, not that it is relevant) to use mechanical, clicky, keyboards. They provide tactile feedback, and thus help normalizing the stress on muscle memory factors. I use a Ducky Shine II with Cherry MX blue, and it really REALLY helps ease up the syndrome.
One thing that EVERY scientist I have spoken to have advised me against, is those shitty "ergonomic" keyboards. There's scientific evidence that shows they do more harm than good.
Thanks for all the advice for my job I mainly have to use a laptop since I have to travel quite a bit(writing from a hotelroom at the moment) I'm defniatly goin to do the exercises but some things like standing desk aren't really practical since the main office is an open space and when I'm travelling I can't drag around a standing desk Concidering to take my mechanical keyboard from home with me to work if I'm at the main office since I think the laptop keyboard might have a significant part to play in this
Maybe you could send her voice recordings or just call her more to help reduce typing? If limited data or speed is an issue you could get some speech-to-text software then send it however you do. And yeah, if you are using a chiclet keyboard that has alot to do with it. Also, if you are using the trackpad, quit it. I didn't have my mouse for a weekend while I was out of town and my hand hurt soooooo bad by Sunday afternoon.
You are describing carpel tunnel syndrome and it's not something you want to mess around with.
It will get worse faster and faster if you don't take drastic action. This kind of syndrome is inflammation of the tendons in the wrists and forearms. The more you push through the pain, the worse it gets until you can't move you hands and you're at the hospital getting some VERY expensive surgery done. (true story)
( if English is the primary language you type ) I would like to second the suggestion to switch to DVORAK. It'll take a week or two to get the muscle memory for the new way to type words. But, trust me, once you "crest the hill" it's so much better and you'll never want to go back. Dvorak has completely solved my past issues of wrist pain. I'm able to type full speed all day with relaxed palms. I don't need to lift them up which radically reduced my physical stress.
talking to my pc/Phone the whole time is honestly way too troublesome and I type about 40% english,20%dutch,20%french,20%korean so no idea if dvorak would help me I'm trying to take some more breaks from work but when I'm in the field its pretty much impossible(bunch of people staring at me waiting till I'm done 95% of the time)
I was going to say stress and then I read your previous post, your probably tensing up while your typing/working and or being pressured to complete. I suggest something to take the edge off and help you relax while your working, a shot of rum, breathing exercises / workouts and not just for your hands or prescription might help(last resort).
Personally I would talk with your boss about keeping a bottle of something under your desk (not literally and obviously hush hush) :D taking a half/quarter shot with mix before you start and after lunch, no joke. try it at home.
If drinking isn't an option then slow controlled exercise is the next best thing.
You could always go silicon valley style and take micro doses of LSD... lol
