Do you have finger/wrist pain? How do you deal with that? [closed]

Question

Perhaps I shouldn't be asking this but as a programmer I don't see a better place than where programmers meet. After more than a decade of programming almost everyday, my fingers hurt really bad after a few hours of typing. Do you have these issues? I tried different keyboards - while they help the wrists, they don't do anything about the repeatative strain on the fingers.

Answer 1

I've been there...

And based on your symptoms I think that you are very close to your fingers becomming unusable. You could be a matter of days away. Really. (I've been there.)

Fortunately, you can get past this. The earlier you start the better.

The key points are:

1. See a doctor
2. Get yourself a Kinesis Keyboard
3. Trigger point massage
4. Voice-recognition software
5. Change your mouse

For my full answer on this, see my reply on StackOverflow: How do you beat RSI?.

Overall, I would start right away on the trigger point massage. This will start working immediately, believe it or not. Basically, massage yourself between your elbows and wrists using a massage tool. (Or golf ball or the like, if you don't have a massager.) You can order massage tools online.

It sounds like you have a generalized RSI, and not likely carpal tunnel, but definitely see a doctor to find out.

Order a Kinesis Keyboard. These are remappable, so you could consider switching to a Dvorak layout. I did, and it was worth it, but I was self-employed. It will take 2-3 weeks to get back up to 40 wpm, and working at a sub 40 wpm pace will be VERY tough. Consider taking 2+ weeks off for this, heck you could use more to be honest. Hopefully work will understand.

Consider changing your mouse. (With RSI, I find a trackball mouse to be best.)

Consider voice recognition software such as what's built into Windows 7 (it's very good).

But you'll get the biggest results, by far, from the trigger point massage. And you can start this right away, while reading this, while watching TV, etc...

Answer 2

1. Learn and use proper ergonomics
   • Avoid the scroll wheel on the mouse
   • Learn proper typing technique and consider switching to the Dvorak layout
2. Learn some wrist and finger exercises. (Which ones will depend on your specific issues. You should probably see a doctor.)
3. Frequent typing breaks and stretching
4. Find a proper keyboard and mouse for your issues. (There are some good suggestions in the answers here already.)

Answer 3

If it is this bad, you should probably see a doctor.

Have you tried a Kinesis keyboard?

This particular model is specifically designed to take into account the fact that your fingers have different lengths, so it may help you.

Personally, I have had no finger pain so far, but I have had tendinitis in my right wrist. Despite massive amounts of ibuprofen and switching to using a left-handed vertical mouse, it still took about 6 months for the pain to go away. I was thinking of getting a Kinesis keyboard then, but I decided that it was way too expensive.

By the way, there is such a thing as an ibuprofen creme. I have not seen it sold in the US, but it is available in Europe.

Answer 4

Other than seeking suitable professional help for RSI treatment, I would suggest two simple things:

1. Stretch your wrists
2. Drink water

Drinking water regularly helps with all sorts of things physical, and is unlikely to harm you unless you drink too much too fast.

Take typing breaks regularly and take the opportunity to stretch your wrists by extending your fingers backwards, with the other hand pulling your finger tips. Make sure you only extend them to the point just before you get pain. If it is painful you have gone too far. I find that by stretching regularly throughout the day I do not get any wrist pain. The days that I forget to stretch, I occasionally get wrist pain.

arm     wrist
==========\   palm (inside)
           \
hand (top) |   fingers
           |
    <--    | + (fingers from the other hand pulling this hand)

To be more complete there are many Aikido wrist stretches that help, but these are too complex to explain here and I personally find that the basic stretch above is sufficient the vast majority of the time.

Answer 5

I know this isn't as easy of an option, but really, I haven't had any pain since I switched to the Dvorak layout about 4 years ago. I'm double jointed, so my middle knuckles (especially on my ring and pinky fingers) get locked up easily and it hurts. Dvorak hasn't really helped my speed, that I can tell (I used to be about 65 wpm on qwerty, now I'm about 95 on dvorak but that's only recently, the first few years I wasn't much faster) but in terms of pain it made all the difference.

Answer 6

I inherited a predisposition to severe RSI (thanks, Mom), so I started having serious hand, wrist, and finger pain in my early teens. Now, at 28, I'm pain-free. Here's how I did it:

1. I started taking very high doses of vitamin B6. (See your doctor for what the appropriate dosage is.) I don't know why it helps, but it saved my mother from bilateral (both wrists) carpal tunnel surgery.

2. I got rid of all ball point, roller ball, gel, and other pens in favor of fountain pens. The fountain pen requires much less (read: almost no) pressure to write with, and makes writing less stressful on the hands.

3. I learned proper handwriting. The writing most schools teach today was actually designed to reduce the number of ligatures needed in movable type printing presses. I learned Getty-Dubay cursive italic which is easier, faster, clearer, and doesn't hurt because it was designed for being hand written.

4. I got a decent keyboard. I've found myself switching back and forth between an ergonomic layout and buckling spring keys -- I'm yet to find a keyboard that has both. Either one would reduce stress on your hands, so just choose what feels best.

5. I set up my office in a way that lets me change position throughout the day. I got a countertop-height work table and a drafting stool. I go back and forth between sitting on my stool, working standing up, and kind of half-sitting with my feet on the bottom rung of the stool instead of the middle.

6. I switched my keyboard layout to a modified Dvorak (Dvorak with the Caps Lock key set to act as an additional Control key to avoid twisting during my Emacs commands).

Please keep in mind that mine is an extreme case. Most people could probably implement just a couple of the changes above and feel much better.

Answer 7

I recently saw a mouse review that looked like it may be potentially helpful here:

The mouse, on a pedestal: Ars reviews the Whirl Mini Laser Mouse

Answer 8

I've found a trackball such as the Logitech M570 is very beneficial for my wrist, since my arm/wrist don't have to move at all.

Answer 9

There was a period when I had some finger pain as part of the bigger problem of crappy ergonomics and arm pains. Here's my post on the matter: Have you ever experienced RSI? How did it happen, and what was your response to it?

One thing that really helped me was placing the hand under hot running water. This is my own heuristic, that is in part backed up by my experience with physiotherapy, but it's safe to try so you should give it a shot. There are multiple physiotherapy treatments that involve heating up the injured area. For fingers there's a treatment that essentially does what I described, only instead of water they use some oily substance and you dip your hand in and then cover it in blankets.

Use a fat stream of water (not a shower head) and hold your hand downwards when you insert it into the stream. The speed of the running water and its "weight" has a massaging quality that together with the hot temperature increases blood flow. I found that it does wonders for short term relief and can help prevent long term problems when you combine it with proper ergonomics and do not overwork yourself. Experiment with the angle, stream, and height to find what's best for you.

As for your headaches, they may be the result of either need for stronger glasses, sitting too far, using bad font, or upper back/neck strain. If it's the latter, you need to definitely fix the way you sit.

Answer 10

Per my doctors' handouts...

1. Set keyboards, mice, and monitors at the ergonomically correct heights.
2. Take a 1-2 min break from using HID (Human Interface Devices: keyboards, mice, etc) every 10-15 minutes.
3. take a 5-10 min break every hour, where you are not using the hands.
4. opt for more ergonomic HIDs. (which you've already done)
5. if pain persists, or numbness in the digits is occurring, consult a doctor

The pain usually is caused by tendonitis in the tendons working the fingers. The numbness by the tendons of the wrist swelling, and pressing into the nerves running through the carpal tunnel. It's common to all high-dexterity-involved activities, including musical instruments, typing and computer use, modelmaking, sorting, even tennis, knitting and crochet.

The extreme option is a Carpal Tunnel Release surgery. The ligament that crosses the base of the palm is what causes the tendons to press into and impinge the nerves. That pass-through is called the Carpal Tunnel; the release is literally a removal of some or all of that ligament; it prevents the numbness and tingling, and loss of digit control, with repeated exertion. It will NOT prevent tendon pain nor swelling, only the nerve impingement associated with it, and it's resultant numbness and tingling. The downside of a release is that the hands become much more subject to palm-impact numbness. (I've had both wrists done. I speak from experience.)

Answer 11

The question that Mike cites (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/203303/how-do-you-beat-rsi/537418#537418) has pretty much all the answers you could possibly want.

I've used ergnonic keyboards for the last 15 years, and that generally suffices. More recently I've become aware that my seating position really makes a difference too. With the same keyboard at home and at work, I notice that I get 'RSI-type' symptoms a lot faster at home, because I just have a normal chair and the keyboard/desk is too high.

Not too long ago, Amazon did an offer on Goldtouch keyboards - I got myself one for work and have never looked back.

(I'm not the only one...)

I do sometimes still get 'twinges', but these are usually because of overdoing mouse-work. In this case I generally just switch the mouse to the other hand for a day, and it gets better.

Answer 12

I find that if my hands are cold it gets worse, so I wear fingerless gloves to type. If it is more severe talk to a doctor!