All this time it was just a matter of ergonomics
I think I've complained a reasonable amount in here about how much my hands hurt. It's been something I've been very worried about since it's become a constant problem a few years ago.
Anyway, after all this time, it turns out it was just a matter of bad ergonomics. I'm in a good family to have ergonomics related health problems as my mom happens to be the ergonomics queen at the hospital she works at. A while back she noticed that I type in a position that makes it so that I use all the little muscles in my hands for typing, as opposed to using the muscles in my entire arm. This was her theory for what was causing the problem. She pointed out the ideal way to type, and I agreed that it's definitely not how I type.
Turns out she's right. A few days ago, I discovered quite by accident that typing in a different position helps substantially. I think part of the problem is that I have weak wrists - actually, they're hypermobile, my whole body is really flexible in one way or another. Anyway, I ended up using a chair that had arm rests that forced my wrists into the proper position for typing. The first time I typed like this, it was a bit awkward, but I noticed that I came out of there hurting less than I thought I would.
Then today I typed again in that position for forty five minutes, usually plenty of time to get my hands hurting. But I realized an hour or so after that my hands weren't hurting at all while I was doing that.
All this time and all I needed was a better computer chair. I wish I knew this six years ago when they were just starting to hurt on a regular basis, I could have saved myself a lot of extra pain. Oh well, better late than never. This is really a huge relief to discover as this was an enormous worry for me. It's also quite good to discover because there was enough of a difference today that I know the damage I've got already isn't permanent. I definitely need a computer break, but I'm going to give myself one in two weeks when I graduate. But now I know that when I go back to typing after that break, it won't be at the expense of my hands.
My current computer chair is comfortable, I didn't realize there was anything wrong with it at all. This is such a massive relief to discover something that could fix this problem for me. I was really starting to worry before discovering this that I'd have to avoid computers altogether forever if I wanted to maintain my hands in decent working condition, which I obviously do.
Anyway, after all this time, it turns out it was just a matter of bad ergonomics. I'm in a good family to have ergonomics related health problems as my mom happens to be the ergonomics queen at the hospital she works at. A while back she noticed that I type in a position that makes it so that I use all the little muscles in my hands for typing, as opposed to using the muscles in my entire arm. This was her theory for what was causing the problem. She pointed out the ideal way to type, and I agreed that it's definitely not how I type.
Turns out she's right. A few days ago, I discovered quite by accident that typing in a different position helps substantially. I think part of the problem is that I have weak wrists - actually, they're hypermobile, my whole body is really flexible in one way or another. Anyway, I ended up using a chair that had arm rests that forced my wrists into the proper position for typing. The first time I typed like this, it was a bit awkward, but I noticed that I came out of there hurting less than I thought I would.
Then today I typed again in that position for forty five minutes, usually plenty of time to get my hands hurting. But I realized an hour or so after that my hands weren't hurting at all while I was doing that.
All this time and all I needed was a better computer chair. I wish I knew this six years ago when they were just starting to hurt on a regular basis, I could have saved myself a lot of extra pain. Oh well, better late than never. This is really a huge relief to discover as this was an enormous worry for me. It's also quite good to discover because there was enough of a difference today that I know the damage I've got already isn't permanent. I definitely need a computer break, but I'm going to give myself one in two weeks when I graduate. But now I know that when I go back to typing after that break, it won't be at the expense of my hands.
My current computer chair is comfortable, I didn't realize there was anything wrong with it at all. This is such a massive relief to discover something that could fix this problem for me. I was really starting to worry before discovering this that I'd have to avoid computers altogether forever if I wanted to maintain my hands in decent working condition, which I obviously do.