I have just finished a very good book on RSI:
It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!
by Suparna Damany & Jack Bellis
ISBN 0-9655109-9-9
http://www.RSIProgram.com/
Less than $25, shipping included.
It basically explains how RSI is a general problem which is the result
of years of typing, and why surgery is most of the time useless because
it treats the symptoms (your hands hurt) and not the cause.
It lists exercises to improve the situation (stretching and
strengthening muscles, nerve gliding, etc) and I really learnt a lot by
reading this book.
Of course, Suparna Damany is a therapist, so the book is somewhat
promoting her method, but it seems that her results are impressive. Plus
the solutions described do not force you to go and see a therapist.
Whether you have problems or not, I think it's interesting to have a
look at it (I can bring it to MIT if somebody wants it).
Since I had problems recently, I also discovered a cool program for
Un*x: xwrits. It monitors your activity and reminds you to have breaks
regularly. I have set it up to have 3-minute breaks every 20 minutes (I
might want to increase the interval, because I have the feeling of being
ineffecient):
xwrits typetime=20 breaktime=3 +mouse +beep +breakclock +clock +idle +top flashtime=:2 after=10 flashtime=:.5
More information at:
http://www.lcdf.org/~eddietwo/xwrits/
Of course, 'apt-get install xwrits' will do the job on Debian systems. :-)
--
Hugo Haas <
[email protected]> -
http://larve.net/people/hugo/
- I know you feel bad about the juice incident, but I'm sure you can
make up for it somehow. - That's it! Somehow! -- Homer Jay