4. Wait for it…

Tick, tick, tick…30 minutes has passed, I began to wonder if they have forgotten about me.  "Johnny", the nurse called out.  Finally!  I threw down the magazine that I had stopped reading 10 minutes ago and hurried to follow the nurse.  She brings me to a room, takes my temperature, and tells me that the doctor will be right with me.  She lied!  Twenty more minutes have passed.  The doctor walks in unapologetically.  Our session ends faster than I can cook cup o’ noodle.

3. Who are you?

Nine a.m. appointment, a little bit early for my taste.  I got into the elevator to head up to the doctor’s office at 8:58am thinking that I had made it!  My doctor came into the elevator right behind me.  "A little late for work, aren’t we?", I thought.  I was going to say good morning or something but he didn’t look like he wanted to socialize, as always.  Even though we got there at the same time, it took a little while before I got to see him (see #4 above).  He got right down to business, flipping thru my files and talking to me like it was my first visit.  I don’t even think he knew I was in the elevator.

2. Your doctor quits on you.

So my doctor referred me to a physiatrist.  A physia…what?  Here are some highlights of a physiatrist, aka rehabilitation physician:

• Experts at diagnosing and treating pain
• Treat the whole person, not just the problem area
• Provide non-surgical treatments
• Work not only on treatment but also prevention

Sounds perfect for treating RSI!  Once again, I was filled with hope and joy.  I went into the physiatrist appointment with high hopes.  But all he did was put [bad joke alert] the "dis" in the "appointment", disappointment, get it?  After the standard reflexes and range of motion tests, he said that there’s nothing he can do for me.  He tells me that if I can’t handle the pain then I should quit my computer job.  And he didn’t do it in a nice way either.  I was going to tell him that he should quit being a doctor, but that is counter-productive, so I let it go.  After pushing on the issue some more, he tells me to take some Iibuprofen or Advil and that I’ll be fine in two weeks.  Wait a minute, didn’t you just tell me that there is no cure, that I am destined to live my life in pain?  Now it has become obvious that he just wants to get rid of me, so I left.

… and the number 1 reason to fire your doctor …

…

…

1. He’s just an a**hole.

I’m not naming any names!  OK, Concentra medical center in downtown San Francisco, Dr. …

Mouse shoulder is pain in your right shoulder from mousing too much.  One of the common causes of mouse shoulder is reaching for the mouse.  If you have a regular keyboard like the one on the right, you’ll notice that almost 1/3 of the length of the keyboard is taken up by the arrow keys and numeric keypad.  With your mouse on the right side, that extra length forces you to have to reach further for the mouse.  That reaching effort adds up to discomfort over time.

Reaching over a regular keyboard (left) and an extreme example (right)

To remedy this problem, you may want to try a short keyboard.  A short keyboard is simply a keyboard without the keypad, like the Goldtouch adjustable keyboard.  If you just can’t live without a keypad, you can purchase that separately, although I wouldn’t pay too much for just that piece.

After you removed the cause of the problem, give your shoulder some time to recover and remember to keep your arm relaxed and closed to your side when mousing.

Resources:
http://www.healthycomputing.com/
http://www.goldtouch.com

The Price Tag

Slap the word “ergonomic” on any product and you can expect to be charged a premium.  People in pain are usually frustrated about their situation and are more willing to pay extra for anything that claims to resolve their problem.

So how much can you expect to pay for this bad boy?  A whopping $995.  The Mercedes-Benz of keyboards, it is not.  Several hundred dollars worth of material and technology?  Don’t think so.  As I see it, there is no justification for this price.  Its border lining unethical.  Anyway, my point is that if a company truly wants to help people, their products should be humanly affordable.

Adaptability

I can imagine that the learning curve on this keyboard is ridiculously steep.  I don’t think this is something your company would cover for you, because you’ll be completely unproductive for a month.

The DataChair

You must be kidding me.

Ergonomics

Let’s talk about the most important functionality of the keyboard; how it can relief you of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) or whatever typing-related injury you have.

It is true that repetition causes fatigue which leads to injury.  This keyboard introduces a “variety” of repetitions.  Instead of just pushing down on keys, you push and pull in all directions.  In theory, variety is good, but it may not be the case here.  With traditional keyboards, the weight of your hands help in the key pushing action.  With the DataHand, your fingers are isolated and do all the work.  To me, that seems more stressful on the fingers.  Ergonomic advisors will generally tell you to use large muscles rather than small muscles, because larger muscles have much much more endurance.  I don’t know how strong your ring and pinky fingers are, but mines are not built for individual labor.  The DataHand may relieve problems in your wrists, but expect pain in your fingers and the back of your hand where the tendons run from back of the wrist to the fingers.

Conclusion

Maybe the video just doesn’t do the product justice.  I admit, I was a little harsh on this product, but primary due to the insane price.  Don’t get me wrong, I would love the opportunity to try it, but I don’t have a spare thousand dollars lying around.  The company seems to be in bit of financial troubles, but I’m not surprised that the DataHand is not selling like hot cakes.  If the keyboard is as good as they claimed to be, I’m sure there are companies lined up to take the patent.  Remember, I have no hands on experience with this keyboard and my analysis (or rant) of the design is based on the video and their product information.  To be fair, here’s a fellow programmer who has actually used the product and liked it: DataHand Review.

OK, so your computer is a lean, mean, working machine, but you are not.  Your body needs frequent short and long breaks in order to release build-up tension from sitting, typing, mousing, and staring at the screen.  Routine tension build-up leads to pain and discomfort.  If you ignore every ergonomic advice but one, this is the one.  It’s a simple and obvious solution for prevention and recovery, but it is often overlooked.  If you know that you need more breaks, but you’re not able to take them consistently, here’s some ways to help.

Let Nature Assist You

This one is easy.  Drink water thru out the day.  Not only is it healthy to keep your body hydrated, it forces you to get up and go to the bathroom on a regular basis.  Those walks to the water cooler are good too.

Let the Computer Help You

Once you get tired of having to pee all the time, you can try installing a break-reminder software.  The software runs in the background and monitors, by counting keystrokes and mouse movement, how long you have been working on the computer.  When you are due for a break, it can blank out the screen and lock up the keyboard/mouse, so you’d have no choice but to take a break (assuming you have it set up that way).  Break-reminder software can get annoying though, especially when it wants you to take a break at the most inconvenient times.  Therefore, it is important that the software is highly configurable so that it could be less of a nuisance to integrate into your day.  You have a choice between what I think is the best free and paid break-reminder programs, Workrave and WorkPace, respectively.

WorkPace vs. Workrave

	WorkPace 3.8 $49 USD http://www.workpace.com	Workrave 1.9 FREE http://www.workrave.com
Micropause Short breaks that occurs every few minutes but lasts only a few seconds.	I take a 9 sec break every 4 minutes (of computer activity).  If I take voluntary breaks, the timer resets back to 4 minutes.  A few seconds before a micropause break, a friendly micropause alert will pop up indicating that I’m due for a break.  The alert does not lock up my keyboard, mouse, or screen.  If I move my mouse anywhere near the alert, it will jump out of my way.  During the micropause break, my keyboard, mouse, and screen are locked (this is configurable to your preference). Micropause Alert Micropause Break	Similar to Workpace. Micropause Alert Micropause Break
Rest Breaks -Longer breaks that occur less frequent.  During rest breaks, you could follow along with the program’s exercises.	The Rest Break works the same way as the Micropause.  I take a 3 minute break every 20 minutes (of computer activity).	Similar to Workpace.
Break Enforcement Configuration	This is the determining factor to how annoying the program can get.  You don’t want the program to force you to break when your supervisor is on the phone asking you for something urgent.  WorkPace has a lot of flexibility in this area.	Workrave does not have as much configurability as WorkPace.  You can set Workrave to allow you to postpone/skip breaks or not.
Exercises	Almost 50 exercises targeting different parts of the body.  What exercises are shown during the rest break is also configurable.  Because the exercises are just drawings with written instructions, I find that I don’t have the interest to follow them.  If it was done in full animation or video, I might be more inclined to follow along.	Only a handful of exercises.  The exercises consist of 3D character models with written instructions.  Although not fully animated, I am more incline to follow along than with WorkPace.
Timer Display	You can have a little window showing you the timers, but I always hide mine, because it is distracting.	Similar to WorkPace.  Workrave can also show timers in the Windows Toolbar.
Daily Limit	Allows you to limit the number of hours of computer use per day.  If you have a doctor’s recommendation, this may be helpful.  But for most people, we can’t just drop everything and go home.	Similar to WorkPace
Weekly Limit	Same concept as Daily Limits except for the whole week.	NA
Typing Speed Limit	Thanks to age of instant messaging, most people can type pretty fast.  This feature gives you a warning you if you’ve been speeding for a while.  Now only if that highway patrol officer would do that…	NA
Work Intensity Indicator	I think this is one of the best feature of the product.  This indicator resides in the system’s tray icon and tells me how intensive I’ve been using the computer.  It’s basically a number from 1 to 9 (lowest to highest intensity).  When I start seeing 8’s and 9’s, I know that I need to take a breather.	NA
Break Compliance Indicator	Similar to the Work Intensity Indicator, the Break Compliance Indicator tells me if I am to taking the breaks that I’m supposed to.	NA
Standby Mode	Tells Workpace to not bother you in the next 15, 30, 60 minutes or for the rest of the day.  This is useful for when you have to get something done.	Workrave allows you to suspend the program indefinitely.  The drawback is that you have to remember to turn it back on.
Desk Mode	Maybe your non-computer work (other work you perform at your desk) is just as intensive.  In this case, you will could choose to be reminded to take breaks even if you are not using the computer.	NA
Network Mode	NA	This is a unique feature for Workrave.  One that takes some technical knowhow to figure out.Sometimes I use both my laptop and desktop right next to each other.  Workrave allows both computers to be networked together, hence reminding me to take breaks as if I was using a single computer.
Statistics	The stats tracks everything from hours of computer usage to key presses per minute.  This could give you some perspective or amusement at how many thousands of times you clicked the mouse a day, but I never really find myself looking at the stats.	Similar stats as to WorkPace, just no pretty charts.
Sound	Different sounds play before various break alerts, but you’ll probably want to turn them off in an office environment.	Similar to WorkPace.
Setup Wizard	The Setup Wizard helps you configure WorkPace.  The setup attempts to determine how injured you are or how much preventive assistance you need. This is useful for first-timers, but after the Setup Wizard, I recommend that you tweak the settings to fit your work style.	NA Workrave comes in one default settings.  Since there’s no one-size-fits-all pattern for breaks, you should adjust the settings to fit you.
Training	Basically a slide show presentation explaining the benefits of taking breaks, the risks of not taking breaks, and how Workpace can help.  I bet their marketing department uses this in promotions.	NA
Documentation	Very extensive users guide, covers every aspect of the program.	No official documentation.  Most of the program is straight forward, but some things need more guidance such as the Network Mode.
OS	Windows	Windows, Linux, other Unix-based OS
Languages	English, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Swedish	English, Dutch, Spanish, Polish, Danish, German, French, Chinese, Russian
Professional Edition	There is a pro edition available and is mainly targeted for companies.  It allows an administrator to monitor employees’ break compliance, as well as enforcing a company-wide WorkPace configuration.	NA

Both products are excellent at doing what its suppose to do, which is to make you take breaks with minimal annoyance.  While WorkPace offers a more comprehensive feature set, don’t forget that Workrave is free.

Take-A-Break Challenge

If you’ve read all the way to this point, you probably have intentions to change the way you work for the better.  To accept my Take-A-Break Challenge, simply install either Workrave (free) or WorkPace (30-day trial) and commit yourself to taking a reasonable amount of breaks.  For the first few days, be sure to adjust the settings until the program works with your day.  Bookmark this article and come back in 2 weeks or so.  Send me a comment and tell me how you feel.  Oh, and don’t forget to drink water.

I’ve been working full-time for 4 years now, Feb was actually my working anniversary month (yay?).  I’ve been dealing with Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) for 4 years and counting.  I began experiencing the very early signs of RSI after just a month of intense of computer work.  At first, there was confusion.  I could not comprehend why I was having aches and pains here and there.  After all, I have been using computers all my life.  All those college hours of Starcraft couldn’t have been any less ergonomical.  Breaks? You can’t take a break in the middle of a 3 vs. 3!  Well, the difference was that I could always stop playing games for a while, but work, work is perpetual.

It was not until 2 years later that I reached the high point of my symptoms.  My shoulders were tingling like an army of marching ants whenever I assume the keyboarding/mousing position.  Finally, I filed for worker’s compensation so that I can get some kind of treatment.  I didn’t take any time off, because I did not want to admit defeat.  As the youngest person on the team and one of the youngest in the entire company at the time, taking disability would not do good for my career.

Instead, I started seeing a worker’s comp-approved (crappy) doctor. The doctor was next to useless, but I needed his referral in order to get physical therapy treatment.  I went thru about 15 sessions of physical therapy involving heating pad, electrical stimulation, soft tissue massage, and prescribed stretches and exercises.  The treatment relieved my tingling shoulders to an acceptable extent, but I was pessimistic of a full recovery.  If I continue to work as before, how can I guarantee that I won’t get into the same mess again?

Over the past 2 years, I have spent much effort in search of “the” solution for RSI.  A solution that would rid me of pain in front of the computer forever.  I have improved my home and work ergonomics by using different kinds of keyboards, mouse, chairs, etc.  I have read books, tried voice recognition, and even took classes in Feldenkrais and Alexander Technique.  All that contributed to my recovery, but none offered “the” solution, because “the” solution was so obvious.  Pain is the body’s way of telling us to stop doing something and my body was telling me to get away from the computer.

But, for as long as I am dependent on the computer to make a living, I have come to realize that I can never achieve 100% recovery from RSI.  However, it is not all gloom and doom.  After all, I am still working at my programming job and I am writing this article and many more articles to come.  My current condition?  I would classify as “managed”; some days are aching and some days are close to pain free.  On top of the things that I’ve already mentioned, I manage by taking breaks during the day, stretching, exercise and playing sports regularly.  Am I satisfied with my current condition?  No, but I am always looking to improve it.  But for now, its just me, myself and RSI.