Just want to say that this blog post is still working its magic!
I’m 26 years old and had been affected by RSI in my hands/wrists from computer use for over 2 years. I felt my pain go away over the course of reading this blog post. This was a pretty wild experience. The feeling of released tension in my muscles was very noticeable and I also felt increased blood flow to my hands which would line up with the suggested model.
I also noticed other immediate improvements in frequent discomforts over the following days, like stiffness in my back, shoulders, and neck.
It went away pretty much completely for about 3 weeks then came back a little bit. Some things that additionally helped significantly:
Body scanning meditation. I focus on visualizing pushing blood out to parts of my extremities when I breath out, and can usually feel an increase in blood in my hands from doing this—I can feel my heart beat in my hands more clearly. This could be an artifact of increased attention on that area though, but I think it’s not. Trying to focus on releasing tension in my neck is especially effective.
Keeping my hands warm. The model of blood flow being a main causal factor led me to think that keeping my hands warm could be helpful as I have naturally poor circulation. This proved to be extremely helpful.
All in all I think this has reduced my chronic pain in my hands by 80-90%. Before this I invested in all ergonomic setups (which do help significantly) and did PT for 4 months which had a noticeable but only minor effect.
So thank you so much!!! I think this more scientifically-plausible account resonated with me much more than the other stuff I had read.
Just want to say that this blog post is still working its magic!
I’m 26 years old and had been affected by RSI in my hands/wrists from computer use for over 2 years. I felt my pain go away over the course of reading this blog post. This was a pretty wild experience. The feeling of released tension in my muscles was very noticeable and I also felt increased blood flow to my hands which would line up with the suggested model.
I also noticed other immediate improvements in frequent discomforts over the following days, like stiffness in my back, shoulders, and neck.
It went away pretty much completely for about 3 weeks then came back a little bit. Some things that additionally helped significantly:
Body scanning meditation. I focus on visualizing pushing blood out to parts of my extremities when I breath out, and can usually feel an increase in blood in my hands from doing this—I can feel my heart beat in my hands more clearly. This could be an artifact of increased attention on that area though, but I think it’s not. Trying to focus on releasing tension in my neck is especially effective.
Keeping my hands warm. The model of blood flow being a main causal factor led me to think that keeping my hands warm could be helpful as I have naturally poor circulation. This proved to be extremely helpful.
All in all I think this has reduced my chronic pain in my hands by 80-90%. Before this I invested in all ergonomic setups (which do help significantly) and did PT for 4 months which had a noticeable but only minor effect.
So thank you so much!!! I think this more scientifically-plausible account resonated with me much more than the other stuff I had read.