Cause and effect!

[prog]

(Tyiping this with left hand only.)

Bless all of you, and especially cnoocy for coming down hardest on forbidding me to type or mouse with my ouchy hand until I talk to a doctor. I have spent the last six hours playing xbox games, then board games, then Wii Fit. Arm still feels weird, but the pain is already mostly gone! Not gulping pain pills any more. I suspect a causal relationship.

Arm is less numb per se than sunburned-feeling. Kind of interesting.

Tomorrow, asking recepetionist at docs office where I should go for fast advice. One sick day is OK but i really cant stay off the keyboard for very long. A little antsy already. As you may have ascertained.

Comments

[jadelennox]

"sunburn" could indicate either a pinched nerve or tendinitis, depending on how you're defining "sunburn".

With luck, it will be something simple like tendinitis which you can easily treat with rest. In fact, that's probably what it is. Whether or not your doctor is helpful is an entirely separate question, but still.

That being said, I need to call your attention to your statement "one sick day is okay but I can't stay off the keyboard for very long." It's that kind of attitude that leads to somebody having to stay off the keyboard FOR 10 YEARS.

In other words, listen to your doctor and listen to your body. If the right thing to do is stay off the keyboard for, say, a month, then that will cause you some financial distress. But it will cause you a hell of a lot less financial distress than being unable to type from now until 2020. Think about that. Think about how old you will be 10 years from now. Think about how young you were 10 years ago. Think about all the characters you've typed in all of the computer games you've played in the last 10 years. Think about all the ones I haven't.

Listen to your doctor and listen to your body.

me too

[taskboy3000.livejournal.com]

I have to echo Jadelennox here. From my causal view, you're an ergonomic disaster. It's amazing you've escaped RSI for this long. Our friend Caroline at O'Reilly had a serious RSI issue in here shoulders that virtually disabled her.

[mrmorse.livejournal.com]

Can I suggest that if you're looking at an arm injury related to computer use, playing XBox games may not be such a hot idea? Video game controllers are hard on your hands. They may be differently hard, but if you have a problem caused by typing or mousing, using a video game controller could be aggravating it.

[karlvonl.livejournal.com]

Different activities affect your muscles/nerves/posture/etc. in different ways. My RSI issue that started 3 years ago was caused and exacerbated solely by mouse use, but I could play PS2 games without issue. If the activity is not causing additional pain, and especially if the pain is lessening even while doing it, then it's probably OK.