I've just been in conversation with another GFSAer who has pain in his wrist today. A few years ago I had a big fight with RSIs (Repetitive Strain Injuries) and had to have surgery to release pressure on the carpal tunnel in my left wrist. Which was by no means the end of the matter as I still had pain in my elbows, especially the right, and occasional pain in my right wrist and in the knuckles. The latter may have been 'referred' pain caused by nerve entrapment (anywhere from base of the neck to the wrist, as I found out from doctors and physios). I had an argument with the physio one day in which I swore blind that the knuckles in my left hand were inflamed and swollen. It
felt that way. She offered to bring a micrometer to the next session and measure them to prove that irrespective of what my trapped nerves were telling me there WAS no inflammation.
I work in IT. So does this other GFSAer. If you spend a lot of time with a computer keyboard AND play guitar then this is a bad combination. The mouse and the keyboard can put a lot of wear and tear on your wrists and elbows and even fingers.
So I'll share some of my own learnings here because they may help others.
1) Laptop/notebook machines are the worst. They force your wrists into an unnatural and cramped position.
2) Regular standalone keyboards are better, but not by that much.
3) The mouse kills wrists and elbows.
4) Another problem with a laptop is that you're generally looking down unless you have an external display in use with it. This can put pressure on your neck which, in turn, translates to pressure on the wrists and elbows.
So some of the things I've done are
1) Get good work glasses rather than use the regular glasses I use for driving, watching TV etc. This means that I can get the display at a distance that doesn't promote me hunching up or leaning back to get things in focus (if your eyes are good then this is not an issue for you).
2) Get an ergonomic keyboard. These things make a real difference. The good ones also have a good quality key mechanism that relieves your fingers a little (though they are also noiser). I use the Microsoft Natural 4000 and it's by far the best of the locally available options (and reading I've done suggests that you don't get many better). It's raised at the FRONT, has the split keyboard that curves away and down from the center, has a built in padded wrist rest.
What this does is to put your wrists into a much less stressed, better supported position.
3) Made myself "mouse ambidextrous". About 4 years ago I had chronic pain in my right elbow. This was nerve entrapment. What physios used to call "tennis elbow" and are now starting to call "mouse elbow". I got myself a natural keyboard at the office and taught myself to use the mouse left-handed (took maybe a morning to get used to it). The pain nearly vanished in 3 days. I bought that keyboard out of my own pocket so I could take it with me if I changed jobs (which I did about 18 months later). I now move the mouse from one hand to another about every 2 weeks.
4) Learned to use "hot key" combinations rather than mouse clicks wherever possible (Eg CTRL-C to copy, CTRL-V to paste). This can actually be a faster way of working. Read the help files for the applications your use a lot - they'll give you all the keyboard short cuts.
5) Got serious about stretching. My physio showed me some stretches but suggested I don't pass them on to the whole world as it's a program she devised for me and my particular set of problems. However some seem more generally applicable. A bit of googling may be fruitful here, but it's probably best to get advice from a good physiotherapist.
6) Make sure to get in several short walks away from the desk each day - make a cup of coffee, walk around the office etc. This means my arms and shoulders aren't in one position for hours on end.
There are other things that you can explore. There are supportive pads that you can put under your mouse wrist.
There are ergonomic mouses, though they tend to be for right-handed persons and seem not to be widely available in SA.
A thing that is worth exploring is the SHAPE of the mouse. Some of them are shaped so as to force your fingers into a shallower position - especially when using the wheel - and so there is less flexing of the joints in the fingers.
Anyhoo... I hope this is of some help to people who have to spend a lot of time on the keyboard and want to spend a lot of time on the guitar.
