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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Unrelated to Typing?
hug_the_penguin writes "Betanews is reporting about a Harvard medical school report that suggests Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is unrelated to typing at all. Suggested causes may be genetic disposition, body weight, fractured bones or even pregnancy." From the article: "Now, don't go out typing to your heart's content. Researchers still warned that improper computer use could cause different types of repetitive stress injuries, of which carpal tunnel is incorrectly described as one."
I've always questioned the logic behind it. I placed it as an assumed contributor because it's something that people do in a fixed manner with their hands. I have been an avid computer user for the last 16 years and can say that I have no signs of carpal tunnel. In fact, I've heard of very few cases of it in people around me in the same field who spend upwards of 8-10 hours a day on the computer. I have seen it, however, in people who have a disposition towards weak bones, etc. You know, the guys you won't play football with at the company picnic because they break SOMETHING every year... Xserv
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Exactly, but what people should not take away from this article is that improper use of the keyboard still can be a contributing factor to carpal tunnel along with other RSIs. As a matter of a fact, my forearms feel more stress from working with the mouse than the keyboard - probably because I've trained in piano for years and thus actually keep my hands pretty properly placed above the keyboard.
That said, programming for 7+ years has definately taken its toll on my arms/wrists/hands. Carpal tunnel or other RSIs, proper typing is a must.
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I'm right handed, and the carpal tunnel in my left hand is MUCH less than the right hand, and I notice that it hurts much worse when I've been mousing a lot, rather than when I've been typing a lot. I know that a lot of writing with a pen or pencil will cause a big flareup, too.
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I find that, for me at least, stress is the biggest factor. Whenever things aren't going well at work, I get wrist pains. But I've done hobby coding for years at home without any problems.
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I have seen people who "know how to type", as opposed to just knowing where the keys are from years of experience. The horrible contortions I see the human hand perform in order to always stay near the home keys is sickening.
Maybe I just have large hands, but I can't stand keeping them in that cramped and static position. My hands move as much as my fingers when I type. Just resting my hands on the home keys places them in an uncomfortable clubbed-paw shape which I can easily imagine causes severe damage to whatever organs rest within.
That's my theory, anyway.
(*of course I wish I could think fast enough that typing faster would really matter that much. I suppose I could get that sentence out faster if I knew how, but the majority of my day is spent thinking about what to write when I eventually write it.)
Typing about typing is fun to type. Type type type type type type type...
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After years of using the computer extensively with work, and especially with after hours gaming, MMORPGs and FPS in general, I can tell my right hand has changed and become weaker over time. Not sure if thats the beginning signals for CTS, but I know it wasnt from typing.
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Over this last summer, the ridiculous amount of typing I was doing caused by ring finger and pinky to go numb. Thinking it was Carpal Tunnel, I went to the doctor, who confirmed to me that Carpal Tunnel is not usually caused by typing.
What she did tell me, however, was that I likely had Ulnar Tunnel Syndrome. Though this is also not caused by typing, it was the resting of my elbow on the desk which applied pressure on the Ulnar Nerve, causing numbness and pain.
Couple this with my career as a professional trombonist, and I had trouble.
The moral of the story is simple - it is not so much how much you type (or perform), it is the position of your hand and arm whilst doing it. Keeping a natural, "open" posture is ultimately the best way to prevent these problems.
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Personally I found that using the touch pad rather than mouse alleviates 80% of the pain, but that is different for each person.
sPh
I have switched over to a trackball for this very reason. I find it much easier on my wrist. Because the trackball is always in the same spot, it's much easier to keep it in the right spot, so that i'm not reaching for it, or have it in some other awkward position.
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I've been using computers frequently since 1992. Mostly keyboard work. Usually for more than six or seven hours at a time. Every day.
And my hands feel fine.
I've been an IT professional for 10 years and my hands were fine until I bought Unreal tournament 2004 and got addicted to it and played for several hours each day, every day for almost a year. Now I'm having lots of problems with my mouse-hand fingers, knuckle joints, wrist and most recently my right elbow hurts like hell down inside the joint. I have stopped gaming cold turkey for two weeks now, and my wrist and fingers are starting to heal, but my elbow seems to be getting worse. Each morning it is very stiff inside the elbow joint and feels like somebody jabbed a big long needle into it the first time I move it. Ibuprofen helps the pain, but I think I should probably go see a doctor because it feels like that cartilage layer that keeps the raw bones from rubbing together in my elbow has a hole worn thru it.
A few years ago I had very painful carpal tunnel,and bought an ergonomic keyboard. It helped. After a while the CT returned, and I bought a trackball. It really helped. A few months ago my CT struck again and I was forced to use a wrist brace. The benefit of the wrist brace is that it stops you from bending your wrist, and driving it into your working surface. It helped.
During all this time I have been going to the gym and doing weights, but recently ( 6 weeks ago ) I started a new program which focuses on full body exercises, and in particular gives your forearms a good workout. I still get the occassional twinge in my wrist, but I havent had to use the wrist brace for 4 weeks. I strongly suspect that a lot of RSI damage is caused by weak muscles which lack the strength and endurance to maintain an ergonomic position for long periods of time.
Interesting that you should say that (shame you probably won't see this reply too) because when I started getting wrist pain I also put it down to poor muscle tone in the lower arm and started working out. I started by simply using a grip strengthener which really helped and then moved onto more of a full obdy work out. My wrist pain was relieved in about 6 weeks and has never come back (well it did when I stopped exercising for a while but went again almost as soon as I started up again).
I wonder if it was just that I was doing exercise and any old streching / workout would help or if it specifically had something to do with building strength in the lower arm.
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Emacs Pinky is real. The seeping generalization that RSI is not due to typing is incorrect.
If you don't use Emacs, just watch someone who does: his poor left pinky will be continually moving, depressing control keys. After doing that hours a day for months/years, he'll typically get RSI.
To get around this, it is common for Emacs users to map "Caps Lock" to a control key, so that the poor pinky doesn't have to continually press down in such an unnatural way (it will just have to move a key to the left and go down). But one you've ruined it, you can still get Emacs Pinky.
A simple way to check the hypothesis would be to just see how many vi users have "Emacs pinky" symptoms. I've never known a vi user with Emacs pinky. Given that "Emacs pinky" has been spontaneously identified and named, I think it is real, or at least worth spending effor to dismiss if you want to argue RSI is not due to typing.
http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_law/when_to_
I used to have RSI to the point where if I lifted my hands above my head, my smaller digits would instantly become numb. Right now it is mostly (99%) self-healed and gone. Read below for my solution.
:)
RSI is caused by stress, lack of sleep, and poor diet (lack of sleep is itself also stress). If you try to type faster than is comfortable, and unconsciously pound on the keyboard, you will get it. You are even more likely to get it if you work in a very stressful environment. However, if you type without hurry and only apply enough effort to activate the key and no more, then you won't get it.
If you have RSI, stop typing faster than is comfortable. Don't reach for your ultimate typing speed. Stop pounding the keyboard -- apply only enough force to activate the key. Eat decent food and sleep 8 hours a day. It would also help to use a wrist exercise equipment, such as a physiotherapy ball/gel, or even some sports grip equipment (often a spring with two handles), to strenghten up your wrist by exercise, but do not overdo it. If you stretch your wrists -- do it gently and do not overstretch (this is important!). And watch your RSI go away.
An important point is not to reintroduce stress through stressful stretching and exercise. So when stretching, don't go crazy and don't push it hard -- go easy on your hands and relax.
You may slip back into the old pounding the keyboard spazmatically routine, so you have to be careful not to regress into a bad habit once you get rid of it.
Had carpal tunnel for a while. Then as soon as switched to MS natural keyboard, the pain went away. Figured it was the angle of my hands vs the forearm... with a natural keyboard, it's flat, there's no angle, while with a standard kb, wrists are always laid back at an angle, especially if your elbows are on your desk.
So thanks Microsoft... your products can literally cure diseases!
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