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Best Mobile Computing Options For People With RSI?
gotfork writes "Several years ago I injured my wrists while typing at a poorly set up desk. I am now greatly recovered, and can work at a desktop computer for several hours each day as long as I wear wrist braces. I have avoided using laptops in the past because both TrackPoint-style pointing sticks and touchpads create a lot of strain on my wrists, but I'm ready to give it another shot. Is my best option a stylus-based convertible tablet/laptop (such as the Lenovo X series) or are there any lighter-weight devices that have ergonomic inputs?"
You might already get this a lot, but you should take a good long look at Dasher, a novel form of text input that's suitable either as a short-term or permanent replacement for the keyboard. It can be used with a variety of different input devices, basically anything that points. This includes mice, trackpads, trackballs, styli, nibs, nubs, and even IR eye movement tracking (Dr. Hawking's preferred method).
I'm a keyboard junkie and even I have to admit Dasher is pretty badass. It's like Tetris, only instead of accumulating points you write things.
I've had good success with an Asus e1000H laptop (the smallest I could reasonably comfortably type on for shortish periods) along with a goldtouch folding keyboard (gtp0055, according to the label on the back) and an Evoluent Vertical Mouse 3. For a long time I struggled to get a decent gel-based wrist rest until I gave that up and found that two (clean) business socks with half a cup of rice in each works even better ... the keyboard has a laptop-style travel and comes with slide-off covers to protect it when in your bag. The mouse is a little awkward as it's an odd shape, but otherwise all this stuff goes into a backpack daily ... I'm using these without problems under NetBSD but presumably it would also be fine under Linux or any other flavour of OS - the keyboard also has decals for Mac OSX although I've not tried it on a Mac to see if it works ...
If you already suffer from an injury, I really think you want to avoid any additional risks... Ask an ergonomics expert. Most likely they would recommend a lightweight computer (to avoid shoulder injury on top), with some kind of external mouse. Maybe MS arc mouse as an example
People missing limbs learn to use their feet. The severity of your injury is no different. Get a plastic carpet protector and a large laser mouse set to 500 - 1000 dpi.
exercise. seriously. these will fix you up in about 3 months: http://www.google.com/search?&q=hand+grip
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and this is not advice, but have you tried strengthening exercises?
I have to use a very poorly designed desk for computing (think of like an 70s-80s era penpusher desk - now with computer, keyboard, mouse, dual monitor). This has led to some issues, although, not ever as bad as you have described. Recently a friend lent me a gyroscope toy, thingy. Basically you spin it, it provides some resistance and which will gradually build strength in your arm/hand wrist.
I've found it to be really helpful - now I can type without pain and I can even do pushups again. YMMV.
(cue the oblig wrist action comments:).
Can anyone recommend a good therapist for me.. er.. my schizophrenic network card?
Get a kitchen timer and a laptop and a tablet. Set the timer for 30 minutes and bang away at the desk. When the bell rings, move the laptop to the top of the filing cabinet for 30 minutes. When the bell rings again, take it to the couch. Next time the bell rings, move to the other side of the couch and use the tablet. Then take a meeting and lunch. Start back at the desk again after lunch. Get up now and then. Take a walk. Evenings and weekends, pull some weeds play WII Fit for a half hour, then billiards and table tennis or whatever. Get different motions going on. RSI isn't about excess motion. It's about repetitive motion. Different motions help make it go away.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Where is my -1 "commercial" mod-option?
From my own experience:
1) Low-pressure/frictionless keys/touchscreens can only make so much difference. Just not hitting the thing so damned hard makes a much more significant difference.
2) Don't sleep on your wrists. Seriously, don't put your arm under your pillow while you sleep. This has a deceptively catastrophic impact on the crucial healing period an all-day typist's wrists need during the their hands' sole extended immobility period.
3) Keep your wrists straight while you type. I can't emphasize this enough. Some people say ergonomic keyboards don't help. Some people say they do. Some people say don't rest your wrists on the keyboard. Some people say it hurts not to. The important thing is that you keep your wrists straight so that the tendons have as little friction as possible passing through your carpel tunnels during long typing sessions. If you have really wide shoulders it a split-style ergonomic keyboard might help you to keep your wrists straight. If you are a bit short or a bit tall changing your desk and chair heights can help too.
By the way if you also suffer from neck/back pain your monitor is probably not close enough to head level.
What does it take to have a setup so bad that you get RSI?
Here's a RSI analogy. Imagine that everyone reading this comment takes a match, lights it, and gently sets it on the floor (so that it's still burning). Some people will burn their house down, while others will watch as their match slowly burns out.
The difference is in what the person's floor is made of. Some people's floors are made of tile, while other floors are a bit more flammable (maybe they're covered with a film of cooking oil).
A predisposition for RSI usually isn't recognized until someone's set their body "on fire" (where the trigger is usually stress, poor workstation ergonomics, overuse, laptop keyboard/mouse, etc). The process to putting out the metaphorical fire is different for everyone. Some RSI sufferers benefit from improved workstations and other ergonomic equipment, others benefit from massage or other forms of hands-on therapy, while still others need anti-inflammatory pills or dietary changes or vitamin B6 or any of a thousand other interventions (many of which I've written about here on Slashdot - search my comment history or send me an email. :).
The "kindling" for my RSI condition was set a year before the symptoms emerged, when I knocked myself out and nearly drowned at the lake. The cramping and pain in my hands, forearms, shoulders, neck and spine started in the months after I got a Thinkpad my first semester at teh college. If I hadn't sustained that head injury the year before, I'm certain that the RSI never would have appeared, or at least would have gone away when I stopped using the Thinkpad.
Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
www.teslabox.com
Yes, you have symptoms of RSI.
To the original submitter: When I developed RSI many years ago, the initial conditions were tingling/pain in the tips of my fingers but would wander all over my hands and arms during day and night. Once I started to rest and not do as much typing/mousing, the symptoms would be much more pronounced as my body went over the hump and it could no longer repair the soft tissues. I then found normal keyboards and mice would exacerbate the symptoms since it doesn't leave my wrists in a natural position.
So I purchased a split keyboard from IBM and symmetric track ball, not the funky ones designed for one hand. I hope you realize the purpose of a split keyboard. The track ball permitted me to use either hand to do mousing and it rested in between the split of my keyboard. Through time, the tips of my fingers were not uncomfortable so I could use a track pad as well. It behaved somewhat like a track ball--either hand could operate it.
To this day I cannot use a mouse for more than 15 minutes of constant mousing. And my body is quite sensitive to how long I have been keyboarding/"mousing".
Since everyone is different, you will have to find what works for you. If you have access to physical therapy facilities, they often have lots of devices you can try. That's where I tried something like 5 different types of keyboards and pointing devices and I chose what I use now. I have 5 IBM M15s.
I can understand why you can't use a track pad because initially as your fingertips were sensitive, anything that touches those areas would feel aggravation. You should also be moving your entire arm while typing/mousing otherwise you would be putting excessive strain on your wrists. You should be able to use a track pad now after several years. But if you cannot, your work surface may be too high or you're not moving your entire arm while "tracking." Another thing that greatly helped me recover was to get a chair that have linear tracking arms. They supported my arms without impacting my nerves.
Good luck.
Ever tried methylcobalamin? It worked for me. Doc prescribed me a 500 microgram tablet after meals (note: it's microgram not milligram!).
Basically it's a better absorbed B12 vitamin for the nerves. The pain and tingling are because your nerves are getting squished. So this helps them.
In the long term if you help the nerves heal or at least survive, the rest of your body parts involved should adapt around them (after all many body builders do grow bigger wrists over time, and not all of them get RSI - so it's probably partly due to stuff growing out of sync/proportion than just mere stress and strain).
It's pretty safe, you can ask a neurologist about it. The research was mainly done in Japan, so western docs might overlook them.
The pills I took are made by Eisai (a Japanese company). Look something like these: http://www.salepharmacy.biz/89-268-thickbox/buy-methycobal-mecobalamin-500mcg-30tablets-peripheral-neuropathies.jpg
What does it take to have a setup so bad that you get RSI?
Using only that setup. I've come to realize that RSI injuries are not caused by doing something bad too often but from also not doing other stuff enough. If someone is beginning to feel RSI pain, the answer isn't really to correct posture, it's to spend time exercising the affected area in ways that are different from the activity that's causing the RSI.
My personal realization of this came about 10 years ago. I've always had terrible computer using posture. Everything they tell you not to do, I do. I slouch, my wrists rest below key level...you name it, I do it wrong. So with a job that sits me in front of a computer 8+ hrs a day, I started to get RSI pain. But when a friend introduced me to rock climbing, a funny thing happened. My RSI went away. Completely and, thus far, permanently. And the reason is that climbing forces me to strengthen my wrists and use them in abnormal positions. And it forces you to contort my body and back in similar ways. And all of that prepares me for 5 full days of abuse a week that I give myself in front of a computer.
So anyone with RSI or who sees it coming...if you're asking, "what am I doing wrong?" you're asking the wrong question. Instead, ask yourself "what am I not doing right?"
My MBP gave me little electric shocks whenever I used the trackpad while touching my arm on the seam around the edge of the case. Very good for my health, I'm sure..
which is totally what she said
I want to mention too that some docs jump on RSI as a diagnosis before considering other likely possibilities.. I had RSI-like symptoms and because of all the hype was treated for them by doctors for a few years. It did no good. I finally asked my GP, who was also a dean of medicine with a lot of experience (so very lucky for me), and he said, you read a lot, right? I said yep, and he said "Okay, let me see your elbows." 33% of us have an ulnar nerve that is exposed when our arms are bent. I'm on of those. Reading in bed, propping books up on chair arms, using arm rests--all a no-go of me. Got rid of those habits, and my hands and wrists were fine in a couple of weeks. After years of people telling me about RSI and carpel tunnel and surgery. I know my case is one case and anecdotal.... But you might be in a similar spot. It's worth asking anyway, especially if your current treatments aren't panning out.
Don't do it. Pain is your bodies way of telling you to stop doing something.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
My MBP gave me little electric shocks whenever I used the trackpad while touching my arm on the seam around the edge of the case. Very good for my health, I'm sure..
No, you were just holding it wrong.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"