RSI notes

2 June 2023

In early 2023 I started to get pain in my left shoulder. I took painkillers and carried on working, and although the painkillers helped a bit, the pain didn’t go away. Instead, it got worse.

After a few weeks it got to the point where I couldn’t get through a day without taking painkillers. I couldn’t type for more than a few minutes. I couldn’t really work.

I saw a massage therapist, an acupuncturist, an osteopath and finally a chiropractor. The chiropractor made the biggest difference, and eventually got me back to health.

Before the pain started, I thought I was doing pretty well with my work arrangements. I already used a sit-stand desk to vary my position; I used an expensive ergonomic chair; I regularly switched my mouse between left and right hands. But those things weren’t enough. I was sitting too still, for too long, too often. Typing was too painful. Driving was affected too.

I’ve now made a few changes:

using a vertical mouse in my right hand
using Better Touch Tool to set up an alternative to the macOS “Command+Tab” app switching shortcut, which I’m convinced was a contributing factor. Now I use a click on the middle button on the vertical mouse to trigger the switcher
changing my chair
taking up regular swimming (at least twice a week)
lifting weights (at least three times a week)
regular movement breaks while working; I’m trying to get into the habit of moving at every hour and half hour

I also took a holiday, and just Didn’t Work Or Drive for almost a week. That helped a lot too.

It’s been months, but now I’m basically back to normal and delighted at the feeling of not-being-in-constant-pain.

Putting these notes here for the next person who gets this. If that’s you, my advice is to try and do the things I did later, earlier. If possible, stop working for a while. If possible, see a chiropractor. If possible, start doing some exercise - swimming is particularly effective for shoulders and arms.

OK, lecture over. Back to your typing.