It's the middle of tax season, and I am almost done with another 12 hour day. It is like most any other day, except that I am having sharp shooting pains in my forearm, and my fingers are tingling. My arm also feels very weak and it is difficult to move. I adapt as best I can to get through the rest of the day. I am not sure how I will make it through the next day, or for that matter, the rest of tax season, I have RSI or Repetitive Strain Injury

If you spend long hours at your computer you are probably familiar with Repetitive Strain Injuries. You may have called it by another name, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Tendinitis, or my favorite, Cumulative Trauma Disorder. Whatever you call it, Repetitive Strain Injuries are the result of doing the same motion over and over, to the point where you strain or stress your muscles, nerves, and tendons. My twelve hour days at the computer were definitely the cause of my RSI. Overuse of computers is a common cause, but any motion repeated over and over can cause an repetitive strain injury.

The next day I visited my doctor and found that my symptoms were typical RSI symptoms. Pain and weakness in the arms, hands or wrist, without any obvious physical problems. All my diagnostic tests also came back normal.

Because repetitive strain injuries have subjective symptoms that cannot be confirmed with standard diagnostic tests, some physicians may feel that RSI is a stress induced psychosomatic disorder. In other words, the person with RSI is over reacting to a small amount of discomfort. I can attest that at least in my case, this was not true. I was having an extreme amount of pain and it was directly related to the amount of time that I spent working on my computer.

My doctor prescribed splints for both wrists, pain medication, ice and rest. This is a common treatment plan and is good for treating the immediate symptoms of RSI, However, with this treatment I knew that as soon as I went back to working on the computer, the pain and weakness were likely to come back. Not working was not an option for me. I like working on my computer and did not want to go on disability payments. I wanted a long-term solution to my RSI.

Proper ergonomics is helpful in preventing repetitive strain injuries. As the picture shows, by using proper posture and positioning of devices, strain on various body parts can be minimized. I found that while paying attention to my posture and such was somewhat helpful, it was not very practical for me on a day to day basis. It was too easy to forget to keep my shoulders back and wrists in a neutral position. I was even more surprised to find that aids such as wrist rests actually made my symptoms worse. When I used a wrist rest my wrists actually bent up, instead of being in a neutral position. This aggravated my RSI rather than helping it.

I also was concerned about the use of wrist splints. While they did keep my wrists in a good position, they were hard to type in, and I worried about losing strength in my hands. While I was using the splints, I spent time every day on wrist strengthening excersises so I would not lose what little muscle strength I did have.

I spent a couple years fighting RSI.  I did not want to give up my work, so I used the splints, pain meds and ice to keep going.  However the pain and the weakness kept getting worse, and I was worried that the time would come when I would not be able to work.

The solution to my repetitive strain injury came from a very unlikely source. My uncle, who had worked in the computer industry almost from the first day there was a computer industry told me to "put my hands in my lap."

What? How could that help? Well it turns out that in the course of the day there are hundreds of times when your hands are not actually doing anything. Your hand may be resting on your mouse, or waiting at the keyboard, but it is not actually doing anything. You are waiting for a page to load, thinking about what to write next, or in my case, listening to the client talk, waiting for the information to put into the computer.  If you put your hands in your lap every time you are not actively typing or mousing, you will literally give your shoulders, arms and wrists, hundreds of mini breaks during the day.  During these little mini breaks your joints, muscles and tendons are able to relax.

For me, the simple act of putting my hands in my lap has been a minor miracle. I can type at the computer all day long, and have little or no pain.  If I do find myself having pain, it is usually because I am not remembering to put my hands in lap. The best part is, at the end of a long day doing taxes, I can give my clients the attention they deserve, instead of focusing on my pain.