On…. wrist pain

So, for about a year, my right wrist hurt. Not just my wrist. My thumb, my index and middle finger hurt, too. They’d ache and tingle and swell. I had pain in my elbow, sometimes up to my shoulder. But mostly, my wrist hurt.

I wondered if it was from overusing my iPhone, but I’m really not on it THAT much. Frankly, if I could still use one of those ancient Nokias that can’t save more than ten texts at a time, I would. I only text and email from my laptop, and I mostly use Instagram to scroll back look at adorable old photos of my own children. (Yes. I’m very self-involved.) So I figured, it’s not my iPhone.

Then I thought it was carpal tunnel and/or tendonitis from typing too much, but what could I do? I can’t just go and become a fucking shepherd or whatever. The only thing I know how to do is write. (And the only thing I know how to do well is spell.) So I went to my PT, I went to a Chinese medicine doctor, I wore a totally useless wrist splint, I stopped typing in bed (the writer’s secret shame) and only wrote at my desk with a proper monitor and keyboard and mouse. Didn’t make any difference. My wrist hurt. All. The. Time.

Then one day, after like 14 months of this bullshit pain, I thought, it REALLY hurts when I use my mouse. Let’s try something different.

So I bought this.

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And this.

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And YOU GUYS. Pain. Gone. Completely gone. Within about 24 hours. It’s been six weeks, it hasn’t come back.

So this is more of a PSA than an interesting post, I know, but for the three people out there who are experiencing severe wrist pain and can’t figure out why, HEY! Try this. Let me know if it works.

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3 thoughts on “On…. wrist pain

  1. Poppy

    OMG…I am one of the three….I have found my tribe! Have been boring anyone who will listen since my particular odyssey started 6 months ago. I have considered all theories, especially after a particularly enthusiastic vegetable peeling and mashed potato making session on Thanksgiving seemed to compound things and my whole arm swelled up (there’s a lesson there). Alas, have now concluded that the cause is no more exciting than the fact that typing on anything other than a desk (I am most guilty of laptop on sofa) leads to intense pain. My question is, are you a Mac user? Does the padded thing work using one of their keyboards?

    Reply
    1. GemmaBurgess Post author

      WELL. Firstly, I am so sorry, I (truly) feel your pain, also, NEVER help in the kitchen, thirdly, I should have been more specific. Yes, I am a MAC user, and you ALSO need a separate monitor (at eye level, so you don’t have to look down) that attaches to the back of a desk, and a separate keyboard (so you don’t have to hunch your shoulders and claw your hands). I know, it’s a pain in the ass but if you do it, you’ll be pain free really, really quickly. I wrote my first four novels on a laptop either on my bed or on a sofa. Transitioning to a desk was a PAIN for novel five but I knew it had to be done. I have the AOC e2470swhe monitor, it’s on Amazon for about $109, plus the Amazon Basics wired keyboard for about $12. Let me know what happens!! x

      Reply

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