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OK, my wrist is absolutely killing me.

I can't put too much pressur on it and I am having trouble lifting water buckets wihout using my left.

Is there anything I can do to support my wrist? I had a gel wrist rest, but it dodn't seem that helpful to me.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Calla, my hubby had problems with his hands a few years back and he found that "thermoskins" were very good. They are another brace type thing but made of the same sort of material that diving suits are. It was very supportive for the hand.

Has the doctor said it is RSI? I only ask that because Adrian was told thats all his was and it ended up being much worse.

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

You need to look at the whole position of your body, not just your wrists if you suspect RSI. I have had it, and it was caused mainly by my chair being too low, which was forcing my entire body into an unnatural shape, hence the pain and spasm.

I have switched to an office chair with great lumbar support and that allows me to sit tall at my desk. I also use a wacom tablet now, which solves the mouse problem. I was also considering a trackball, which would have helped too.

My mate who is a physio says that the gel wrist rests are actually not too goof for you, and you need to analyse your posture instead. Her tips were, keep your keyboard flat - tilting it causes more problems, and try to keep movements to a minimum when using PC.

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

I think its more my mouse than my keyboard, but i just flattened it anyway.

I er, I'm putting off going to the doctor. I have to go in a few weeks anyway and have a chat about wisdom teeth, so i'll bring it up them.

I'll get myself a brace in the meantime, and try raising the chair. I'm a bad girl and sit on my ankles when i'm typing, so thats just going to throw me right off.

The main problem though, is that the desk is too shallow, and my elbow flops off of it.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

ouchies calla

Never had it although I've always had issues with my left wrist cause of a ganglion ...couldnt do pushups and such unless I did them on the knuckles....

anyway...
till you're able to go to the drs...will streaching every few minutes help any? In flag line we streached out our wrists a lot before a performance. Try palms together and push down...then push towards you ...then push up towards your chin, then flip your hands around and do it with the backs of your hands together. If you can find heat wraps use those otherwise some muscle rub might go deep enough .

And see what you can do about getting better work surface...even if it's just a piece of flat board that you can cover with a cloth for now. Just found a site that has some streaching info [link=near the top down]http://eeshop.unl.edu/rsi.html" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link]...although it's rather long :%).

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The life, the love, You die to heal.
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well, i have a huge ganglion sist (sp?) in both wrists one is a little smaller than a ping pong ball, the other is going away on its own, but its there, but u can see it anymore (thank goodness) but the other one gives me a whole heap of trouble hard to do most anything, i cant play volly ball (not complaining..till im forced to play, then after i hit the ball i have to hold my wrist, shut my eyes and jump up and down screeming till the pain goes away....can play tennis...anything that envolves the wrist..i cant play)

Callatya, I have RSI in the right wrist. I had it now for about 10 years. I use to work all day on computers and lift very heavy boxes (the wrong way), anyway I went to a bone doctor and he said it was very hard to fix, (as they do not believe in RSI) I used a elastic bandage and wrap it firm and keep it warm. This is an on going method for me. Whenever it plays up.
I think the bone doctor didn't believe in RSI cause a lot of people then would claim workers Comp. ***Tiger

Get a brace that is comfortable and you will be willing to wear. I had one once that was similar to an ace bandage kind of, that I really liked...and another that had almost a steal plate that ran from the heal of my hand to my mid to upper forearm, it did the best, but it was hot and made me miserable to wear, so of course I didn't

See you doctor and see what they say is the problem, it could just be overexertion, or something worse, I'm sorry but I'm not familiar with the abbreviation of RSII know mine was caused by a slip and fall on some stone steps years ago now, and it being summer time so I didn't wear the brace that the doctor had put on me to help with the healing of the sprain/strain...

Key point find out what the problem is, and maybe try some Naproxen...it's good at relieving pain and swellinghml

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Calla - are you still a registered student?

If so, you should be able to get a free OT assessment. If not, if it is very bad, would be worth your while paying for a private OT assesment to look at your entire body position whilst using puter. The danger of just using a brace without being assessed is that you will just move the problem elsewhere, and cause injury to joints in other parts of the body.

My friend had a look at my position and from there was able to work out all sorts of adjustments I wouldnt have even thought of. You really need to get some professional advice before considering bracing or any positional alterations
edit - i dunno how it works in Oz, but is a referral to an OT a possibility?

Last edited by tiny_clanger at 21-Jul-2005 15:34

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

I don't have RSI but I do have rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia, so my wrists and hands are flaring up a lot. Most of the time when that happens I don't use a computer because it just isn't worth it but when I do I usually get my electric heating pad out or a cold pack and wrap it around my mouse hand. Then I just use a clipboard on the arm of the desk chir I have and use the mouse on it. If I'm not using a hot or cold pack sometimes I use a tensor bandage and it seems to help. I'm not sure if any of those ideas would work for RSI but they certainly help me out a lot.

Calla - are you still a registered student?

If so, you should be able to get a free OT assessment.

Calla is in Australia. We have a different health system.

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