Aieee - My Wrist, Hand, Arm...

[Nimphe Wildwood]

What are some ways to reduce the amount of pain while doing XYZ tradeskills? What works and what doesn't?

Already in pain?
Herbal vs. OTC drugs? Heat vs. cold?

Interested in what others have to say about this issue.

The more we learn about proper tradeskill techinques, the better off and pain-free we all become.

[Lilosh]

Sweet lovin....


Cures all wounds, dontcha know?



-Lilosh

[Tuga]

The very best recomendation I can give is if you are still using a mouse go out and buy a comfortable trackball. Then figure out where to locate it where it's comfortable ( I have mine strapped to the armrest of the chair I use.) You won't believe how much better it is once you find that sweet spot. Now I can tradeskill for better than 6 hours straight without pain if I want to. I've heard of people setting them up on an angle so you don't have to keep the hand rotated flat also. Good luck and good tradeskilling.

[Morani]

I have an extremely low-tech partial solution that I use (help a LOT last night when I made 850 wolf fillets in cream since that equals something like 7200 clicks): a spoon. I keep a spoon with a bend in the top of the handle next to my computer to hold down the control key when skilling up.

The process is simple:
1) Press down the control key.
2) Slip the end of the spoon handle under the key to the inside of the control key so that the curve bends up under the next-door key.
3) Gently let gravity hold the spoon in place. The weight of the spoon will hold the key down.
4) (Optional) you may need to find the balance point with the spoon so it'll stay in place without falling over.

Now you only have to use the mouse to click with. I alternate my hands so I can give them a rest.

Note: you can not open containers while the control key is pressed so you might need to remove the spoon and replace it when switching bags.

1) Press down the control key.
2) Slip the end of the spoon handle under the key to the inside of the control key so that the curve bends up under the next-door key.
3) Gently let gravity hold the spoon in place. The weight of the spoon will hold the key down.
4) (Optional) you may need to find the balance point with the spoon so it'll stay in place without falling over.

While the visual on this is great... I think most people use a penny. Might need to use a dime/nickel/quarter depending on your keyboard....

Or tape, but I've never had tape at my desk, and my pockets almost always have a spare penny.

P.S. I was really hoping you had some awesome balance spoon holding key down and the other end of the spoon pressing you're mouse button type thing going on for a second there.... that would have been impressive.

[Kheera]

Sweet lovin....


Cures all wounds, dontcha know?



-Lilosh

/cheer Lilosh! :mrgreen:

Kheera

[Chenier]

My boyfriend forced me to get a wrist pad for my mouse hand and that helped my right hand/wrist/arm quite a bit.

The other that's important is proper posture and support for your arms (such as on your chair arms, if your computer desk and chair work that way).

Drink plenty of water/fluids (dehydration is terrible for joints) and get up and stretch every once and a while if you're doing a long run.

If joints are swollen and feel hot, then cool is good (like run under cool water for a few minutes, put your hands on top of your head so you get some blood out, etc.). If they're achy and stiff, then warm is good (Tiger balm feels wonderful - I also recommend tea tree oil as it soaks into your deep skin and upper muscles and does good).*

And me - I do Advil Extra Strength Liqui-Caps. =)

(*I am so not a medical care professional, so please someone correct me if I'm wrong here)

[csolar eklipse]

hehehe ......chenier .....someone is actuallly going to get up and strech from playing eq ...lol ..that wont happen ...

[Sotako Yatako]

lets see ya the ctrl key trick is a life saver.
Just a couple pointers with it.
1, Don't hit ESC with it held down, it used to crash you to deasktop not sure with the advent of normal EQW.
2, You won't be able to send any kind of chat whit it held down.
3, you can't open bags butyou can close them

Also if you can't affored a trackball, sence they can cost upto 150 american dollors for one. Look into a optical mouse if you don't have one all ready. Max you mouse pointer movement rate in game, and learn how to move the coursor from one of the screen to the other with just your fingers.

A good armrest is a must.

Also if at any point you well any kind of pain in your wrist elbow or arm, stop clicking after that combine and flex you arm for a min or two and move all the joints you can in the arm, pop the fingers, wrist and elbow if need be. Basicly streach your arm, and hand every hour or so. It saves alot of pain in the end.

[Chenier]

hehehe ......chenier .....someone is actuallly going to get up and strech from playing eq ...lol ..that wont happen ...

oh...well, I stretch.

[Nimphe Wildwood]

Nice informative info guys/gals. Keep it coming

[Kehvrynne]

/e sets up a booth and starts selling tickets to see Chenier's next stretch

C'mon - only 5 plat a head. It's a deal at twice the price!

[Lilosh]

/em hands Khev 5 plat, and hides his rubber-band ammo.

/em waits till Chenier is in mid stretch, readies....aims... and FIRES!

DIRECT HIT ON THE TUMMY!

/em chuckles, and runs away


-Lilosh

[Dunthor Warsmith]

I personally go for comfortable mouse (Logitech Trackman Marble series has been my favorite. The vanilla Trackman Marble, my fav, is no longer produced, so I've been stocking up from EBay, but I've used the modern incarnation at jobs and such (really easy to get a boss to get you a new mouse when you talk about becoming injured :P), and its pretty good as well. Wired cost $40-50US, wireless $10 more. Older ones generally go for similar prices on EBay).
Also comfortable desk & chair. Experiment - do you need a wrist rest? Do you need a chuck of desk in front of the mouse to allow for a straight arm? What is your elbow resting on, and is that a painful pressure point? How does the height of the chair arm compare to the desk, how does that make you hold your arm, and how does that impact the way it feels? How is your arm situated during long runs, and is that helpful or harmful? What is the desk edge like, sharp edge, rounded edge, raised edge, and is that changing how you hold your arm to deal with it?

Just some of my own mental checklist ... goodluck on finding something that works for you.

[Morani]

Since we're talking about how to avoid repetitive stress injuries, another useful thing is to vary how/where you rest your arm, wrist and hand. Find 3-4 comfortable positions and alternate between them. Each time you change the angle, you alter the stress on the complex system that makes up you hand. By altering it, you "spread the stress around" and make different parts work harder and others relax more. In addition to stretching, squeeze a ball (or something) in your hand a few times.

Also, here's something I do when I'm working on someone with who has carpal tunnel; pressure. When I'm working on a wrist that is inflamed I wrap both my hands around it and squeeze hard (start out gentle and work up the pressure so you don't hurt the person). I then hold on for a few minutes and let up for a few. Rinse and repeat. The pressure relieves the pain for a while and forces the area to relax. If you are doing this to yourself, experiment with a book and a couple of rolled towels to find a comfortable way to press down on the book with your other arm.

Someone once stressed the importance of stretching and “warming-up” BEFORE you do some extended activity like typing (or tradeskilling) and likened it to sports. Paraphrasing: “You would never consider getting up in the morning, throwing some shoes on and going out to run a marathon without stretching and warming up first, so why should it be different when you are going to TYPE a marathon?”