On…. wrist pain 3 Replies 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. And this. 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.
Poppy March 19, 2018 at 7:26 am 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 ↓
GemmaBurgess Post authorMarch 19, 2018 at 9:27 am 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 ↓