It's not carpal tunnel syndrome!
by Suparna Damany · first published 2001
12mentions
10recommended by
11HN commenters
2008–2023first – last mentioned
91% recommend9% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Readers with repetitive strain injury say it explains the whole system behind wrist and hand pain, covering posture, tight muscles and tissue, not just the wrist, and find its exercises helpful for computer workers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…postural problems in the upper back and neck from sitting statically in front of the computer for long hours. Google "thorassic outlet syndrome". I highly recommend you check out the following books: "It's not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome", http://www.amazon.com/Carpal-Syndrome-Therapy-Computer-Profe... "Trigger point therapy workbook", http://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Point-Therapy-Workbook-Self-Tr... I give these books a lot of credit…
on “Ask HN: Wrist Pain” ↗4. Not all RSI is carpal tunnel. It's funny, but the RSI book a friend recommended to me is titled "It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!": http://www.amazon.com/Carpal-Syndrome-Therapy-Computer-Profe... Contrary to the title, the book doesn't rule out the possibility of carpal tunnel, but it correctly points out that carpal tunnel only…
on “Ask HN: Avoiding carpal tunnel / repetitive stress injuries” ↗…probably isn't); those are helpful too. e: Also the Sarno book this guy recommends has always struck me as pseudo-scientific nonsense. I like Pascarelli and Quilter's Repetitive Strain Injury and Damany's It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome! e2: Also if your first impulse is to go buy a wrist brace that is completely wrong.
on “How I stopped the RSI pain that almost destroyed my programming career” ↗…disability." I hope he got a chance to fully recover. I too had debilitating RSI, leading to needing wrist braces and typing with a pencil lodged in my left hand and a few achy fingers on my right. The book "It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!: RSI Theory and Therapy for Computer Professionals" [1] really opened my eyes on how to treat it. I didn't start weight training, but did spend at least 20 minutes a day on trigger point therapy between…
on “Famous Programers with Repetitive Strain Injury (2022)” ↗…let your arms hang down for 10 seconds or so every 5-10 minutes. Take longer breaks regularly, and stretch your wrists, arms and shoulders. Google 'RSI wrist stretches' (or exercises), etc. The book "It's not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome! RSI Theory & Therapy for Computer Professionals" is highly praised, but I haven't read it personally. I've found that a trackball is much easier on my wrist when I'm forced to do any mousing. The Microsoft…
on “You got the programming fatigue?” ↗Go and read "It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome". It made a lot of sense to me. http://cow.org/r/?603b (Disclosure: that's got an affiliate link in it.) Lots of people get misdiagnosed, have surgery, and end up right back where they started. The…
on “Ask HN: Wrist Pain” ↗I'd strongly recommend the book "It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" - the title's misleading. I've had RSI on and off for a decade, and it's the best book on the subject I've found. Other than that - take breaks. Workrave is excellent free software for Windows that…
on “Ask HN: Best way to recover and deal with carpal tunnel?” ↗Right there with you on the keyboard shopping; it's an expensive potential mistake to make. I'm reading a very helpful book (It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) that is showing me the root causes of my RSIs, and the keyboard is only part of what for me is a pretty ugly picture that's developed over several years. If you go to the author's blog - rsirescue.blogspot.com…
on “Ask HN: Does anybody rent ergo keyboards?” ↗Have you read "It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome"? Even if it is Carpal Tunnel in your case, "It's Not..." is a superb book on RSIs and RSI-like conditions: well worth picking up.
on “Ask HN: Carpal Tunnel Recommendations?” ↗…tissue locking you into certain postures, vertebral misalignment. I bet there’s more info on reddit and places like that now, but one book that used to be good for modeling the whole system was called “It’s not carpal tunnel syndrome”. Also look up trigger point therapy. During pandemic you may be more on your own so be aware of self-massage tools like Theracane. Posture work may also help, and walking / general cardio fitness.
on “Deep neck flexor exercises – Back and neck” ↗…from RSI in my hands and also am not able to be a vocalist anymore. I've been suffering from this for three-plus years now and I just wanted to let you know that you're not alone. I bought this book 'it's not carpal tunnel syndrome' and some of the exercises have been helping. Take care.
on “A Writer Lost His Singing Voice, Then Discovered the 'Gymnastics' of Speech” ↗…about yoga, I just need a kick in the pants to get started. So, there's my personal story. As far as advice, I don't have much since I haven't actually found something that works well for me. I read "It's NOT Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" which was an short, interesting read, but ultimately didn't help me with my particular problem. It does have good general advice, a section with stretching exercises and nerve glides, etc.
on “Common Programmer Health Problems” ↗