In case you hadn’t noticed, this site is on hiatus for medical reasons.
The pain in my wrists has not gone away. Actually, it got worse. Now that I’m keeping away from keyboards and mice as much as possible, the situation is a bit better.
My bet is that I have some form of RSI – I say it’s pretty mild, as I can still type, but my employer says serious, as the prospect of sick leave is looming up if nothing is done. For those of you in the US particularly, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is just one of the forms RSI can take, and I’m pretty sure I don’t have CTS.
Why do I have this? Nobody knows for sure, for the moment. Probably a combination of bad posture and long-time overuse of my body to make it do things it isn’t supposed to be doing (playing with mice and keyboards). Probably my nerves and tendons protesting pretty loudly. I have an appointment with a neurologist in a couple of weeks. We’ll see what he says.
I’ve ordered a whole bunch of ergonomical equipment at work, and I’m keeping an eye on my posture in front of the computer, as well as inserting a little bit of light excercise into my life. I’m waiting for my speech recognition program any day now.
If you have even mild pains in your elbows and wrists while or after using the computer (especially your “mouse wrist”), please don’t wait until it hurts “enough” to take it seriously and see a doctor. I had mild pains in my wrists and elbows for ages before they became so acute I just had to stop typing (over a few weeks’ time). The RSI mailing list is a great source of information.