I'm glad to be at a point where I realise that it's only that - for about two years I thought i began to hate coding and any computer related work. Looking back i now realise that was me rationalizing my forearm pain.
I have a difficult time accepting that this will be like this forever. I'm optimistic that there's a way to significantly reduce the pain, without surgery.
What is your experience?
As others have said, ergonomics are a big deal. Check out some videos on correct piano posture; it's similar to the typing problem. Basically you want everything at near right angles. For me (mainly neck issues, not wrist), I put my Macbook on the desk, adjusted the chair height so my forearms were horizontal, and put an external monitor on a tall pedestal so that I could look straight out instead of having to bend my neck down all the time to look at the laptop screen. I don't use the laptop screen at all (it's blanked out).
You can also try to make your arms stronger. Have you tried those exercises where you roll a stick with something heavy attached to it through a rope? I bet there are a million other better exercises too.
On a last note, in the past I felt significant wrist pain due to bad punching technique when practicing Muay Thai. I was bending my wrist while doing punches, especially uppers. Fixing that made the problem go away in a few days. So yeah your problem could be coming from outside.
See Cornell's ergonomics lab guide: https://ergo.human.cornell.edu/AHTutorials/typingposture.htm...
- I used that Microsoft ergonomic keyboard that was ubiquitous, the name of which I can't remember, for years, but eventually the floaty keys bugged me. I have a recently-acquired ZSA Moonlander mk I [1] now, which I'm finally mounting the learning curve of. This helps //a lot//, along with:
- Proper desk/surface height. I chronically let either my forearms rest on the edge of the desk, or my wrists sit on the keyboard/laptop, and this has a measurable effect on my wrist and hand strain. It's been difficult to adopt the muscle tone for letting my hands 'float' over the keyboard after so many years, but not having that strain on my muscles/nerves from the constant pressure on my forearms makes a huge difference; likewise, not having my wrists resting on the desk/wrist pad lets my fingers travel more naturally.
- I do a lot of stretching and exercising to help strengthen my wrists and I check, a lot, that their natural position is one of alignment with between my hands and forearms. Minimizing left-and-right pivoting especially has helped a lot; most of my strain from laptop keyboards tends to be when I carelessly let pinkies dictate how my hand moves when I need to hit Return, or whatever. I still need to zero in on the best desk hit to facilitate this, but being conscious of it is a start.
- A coworker recommended an RPM Power Powerball[2]; I haven't used it extensively, but it is //immediately// a pretty clear and major wrist workout, so I can very much see how it would have a positive impact. Anecdotally, he said all of his forearm and wrist issues subside when he's good about using it for ten or fifteen minutes a day.
1. https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/ 2. https://rpmpower.com/product/nsd-powerball-autostart-pro-fus...
I'm considering ordering a new laptop, and am very sad to think that i won't be able to use its laptop/portable functionality, since more than 30 mins without a special keyboard results in pain.
The other thing I didn't think to mention is that I've used a variety of wrist and arm braces to varying effects -- the one I like best offers mild wrist support and also stabilizes the thumb joint, which was giving me trouble. However, if I get a lot of ulnar neuropathy bothering my pinkie and ring finger, I've an immobilizing elbow brace to sleep in which tends to help as well.
Anecdotally, that thumb joint (I think it's the CNC joint or something like that) gets very unhappy with me when I text on my phone too much, so it's not just computer usage that causes problems!
Definitely start with the ergonomics of your workspace.
This solved my issues:
1. Use trackball instead of a mouse - Logitech M570 is amazing.
2. Use wrist support or a really slim keyboard like the Apple Magic keyboard. Your wrists should not be bent.
3. Use keyboard without numerical keys at the right. Reaching too much to the right to use the mouse was also causing me the issues.
Also don't forget about ergonomics of your desk, chair, and display.
- Vertical mouse (I got the Logitech one)
- Smaller keyboard so i don't have to spread too much around the desk
- Chair with arm-rest so my elbows are always on the same level as the desk
- I keep a hand grip strengthener to exercise while sitting at the desk
- Communicated with my team that sometimes I'll be in pain and would prefer a call rather than typing long messages on slack
Topical CBD compliments it well if needed. I didn't like the dulling effect on my leg after it had healed to a certain point.
The most useful stretch/exercise I do is pushing my hands together, palms flat against each other, in front of my sternum with my fingers pointing up, out, and down for ~30 seconds in each position, once or twice a day.
Which forearm? The one you mouse with? If so, spend $20 today and get a vertical mouse. It was a game changer for me.
