Just a couple of notes on carpal tunnel syndrome: (tangential to the thread).
Most people tend to keep their hands frozen on the keyboard or mouse. If you find yourself on the Internet, reading for a minute or two, and clicking only once or twice on your mouse-- you may be guilty of this. The important thing here, is to rest your hands in your lap when not actually typing-mouse clicking. This may sound obvious, but it is truly amazing to see how many people are guilty of (for lack of a better term) the "frozen hands syndrome."
Other prevention tips: try to keep your wrist in a neutral position when typing. Keep the keyboard flat, not angled so the back is higher than the front. Using a wrist rest is good, but the commercial varieties are too thin. I sometimes advise rolling up a towel to the right size, putting duct tape on it, and then placing in front keyboard. This makes a nice sized and cheap wrist rest, and will tend keep your hands in neutral. For those with mouse related wrist irritation, shifting the mouse from the right to left-handed and back throughout the day can help lessen the stress to an individual wrist.
If you have carpal tunnel syndrome: sleeping with a wrist brace on at night can be very helpful. Using cold on the wrist after work can help reduce inflammation. Suggestion: get a reusable gel type cold pack to keep in your freezer, and wrap it in a moist towel, then place on the wrist for 10 to 15 minutes as soon as soon as you get home from the office. Repeating a time or two in an evening is not a bad idea either. (Cold is Mother Nature's first anti-inflammatory). And don't use a tight wristband, such as an Ace wrap, around the wrist. This simply adds more pressure over the median nerve on the palm side of the wrist increasing nerve irritation and entrapment-the cause of carpal tunnel syndrome.
If you have numbness and tingling and it is becoming progressively worse, don't wait to seek medical attention. The reason? Carpal tunnel syndrome is much more difficult to treat, if it has lasted for longtime. If you have only had it for a week or two, ergonomic intervention can be quite successful. If carpal tunnel syndrome has existed for months, and is progressive, surgery may be the only eventual solution. (And this, depending on the surgeon only has a 50 percent success rate).
As a side note, I have used a speech recognition software to record most of this message, and pending your situation, it could be worth investigating.
--John |
