Beyond the Wrist: Debugging RSI

Summary

Beyond the Wrist: Debugging RSI # This is a personal essay about a period of major suffering from chronic pain I went through, and how I acquired the knowledge and skill to eventually lift me out of it. A fire burning # I am about to give up. My eyes are bleary after four days of staring at numpy arrays. I want to smash my keyboard and throw it out into the snow, but I have promised myself that I will fix this bug by the end of the week. Besides a dull headache, I feel the usual ache in my wrists. This time, though, my forearms are also hurting. A dull heat rises from my wrists to the soft muscle below my elbow. Another half hour of coding, the pain in my wrists becomes sharper. So I stop for the day, knowing that my wrists will be back to normal enough to fix this problem tomorrow. Or so I think. As a grad student in CS, I code a lot, so make sure to have good postural and ergonomic hygiene. I use a Microsoft Sculpt keyboard, hotkeys to minimize mouse use. My wrists are neutral and my screen is at head height. It more or less keeps various aches at bay. The next morning, wrists sore, I begin to type, and within fifteen minutes, the dull heat in my forearms becomes hot. My fingers become stiff; my typing slows to a crawl. My hands feel like they have been submerged in snow – cold, inflexible, useless. In the doctor’s office, I explain the situation: Me (suppressing panic, explaining the situation): What’s going on? Doctor: You have tendonitis or a repetitive strain injury — the tendons in your hand are inflamed from overuse. Me: You’re saying my hand is damaged from me typing too much? But I’m actually typing less than I was last semester. Doctor (shrugging): To be honest, we don’t really know what’s going on. But you should see a physiotherapist. It’s up to you, but here’s a referral slip. The physiotherapist tells me my muscles are imbalanced — some auxiliary muscles need strengthening. She gives me wrist exercises. I am confused. Last semester I was spending twic...