Two words: sub-contracting.

Talk to clients on the phone, then hire the job out to a friend. Works wonders.

... just kidding. I'm always stretching my wrist/hand/arm... and like you trying to work out. Maybe arm rests on my chair would help... sheesh

Yeah, this sucks. I've had it for several years. I tried physical therapy, which helped a little. Now I just stick to stretching and taking breaks. I've been aggravating it more recently because on the weekends I've been doing a lot of house work - scraping, sanding, painting, etc. - and that is just making the entire arm hurt. My wife wears a wrist brace, and she says that seems to help her. That's my next step.

Are there any designers that DON'T have this??

Rebecca,

i don't know so much about the under-30 set but i've found yoga to really benefit me after years of sitting on my ass hunched over a little gray box. and the forced time-out that accompanies it is probably also greatly beneficial to me too.

Are there any designers that DON'T have this?

I don't. But I handle stress rather well, maybe that's why. Also, I do most of the thing Rebecca is doing (working out, taking breaks) and give my mind a break when it needs it. I found that I can physically recover faster from stress better than mentally, so i don't let it build up. That seems to help any tension in my arms and neck.

I've found having one of those gel wrist rest things help. I often had wrist pain when I was at my old job 4 years ago. Since I've been working at my current job, I haven't had wrist pain directly connected to using the computer.

1) Gel pads for keyboard and mouse

2) learn to use your non-dominant hand for mouse movements when the dominant one gets tired. It takes a while, but you can learn to do this. It helps if you have a one-button mouse, though (ie, if you use a Mac)

I don't have it, but my wife does.

Stretch exercises and stress balls helps some, but may actually harm some.

The injury that occurs is often nerve strain to a particular area in your wrist or hand. And the best way to recover from nerve damage is to either refrain from the action that causes the damage, or restrict your hand from that motion, and allow the damaged area to heal.

Stetching and flexing the area might actually continue to damage the area that's hurt.

The best thing to do is visit a doctor and get a brace for your hand. Depending on what part hurts, there will be a brace that can isolate and restrict movement just in that specific area.

To my knowledge, there are no devices that are injury-proof. If you're susceptible to repetitive stress injury, it's like being susceptible to a particular injury if you're an athlete. It's part of the career, and you'll just have to treat the injury when it reoccurs.

A physical therapist can give you more advice.

Several years back I had shoulder and neck pain that I thought was related to mousing. It wasn't (it was from helping someone move), but the mousing didn't help it... by the end of the day it was serious pain.

When I went back to work, I started using a Kensington Turbo Mouse. Its a trackball. I love it. Couple fingers and a thumb. Arm resting all day. Chording the buttons closes my windows... you can have different key commands for the different buttons. If moving your arm around all day or your wrist hurts, you should check this out. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you settle in, it's sweet.

I think when that starts to happen is when designers consider moving to art directing or writing. I don't have it yet either. But I'm sure it'll come eventually. I actually worry more about typing than the mouse.

Anyone else's eyes being affected? Mine can hurt sometimes, or just get weird...almost like I'm dizzy. And they take much longer to focus on objects after looking at a monitor for awhile.

I also have occassional problems with wrist pain. A brace with one of those metal spoons worn all day for several days in a row and a gel wrist pad provide a lot of relief. Also, rest your hand & arm as much as possible. I learned to drive with my left hand for days like that. Apply ice to help reduce swelling. Taking arthritis pain extended relief pills (time release is the key word there) & ibuprofen (reduces swelling) every 6 hours also helps.

Has anyone every seen a computer workstation that is et up for the operator to stand? I have a lot of back pain that is aggravated by sitting.

I read that human eyes weren't made for focusing constantly on close-up objects. Every 10 minutes or so it's good to focus on something at least 5 feet away to give your eyes a rest.

I'm fortunate in that I've never had a problem with my hands or wrists. Ive read that keeping your wrist straight is the most important thing you can do to prevent injury. I use a chair with adjustable arm rests, which I have level with the top of my desk. This way, i don't move my wrist much at all while I work.

I have hurt my back, though, from not sitting back in my chair (which takes the weight off your spine). Lower back pain is not fun.

I just read Krystal's comment— I worked at a place that had work stations designed for sitting or standing. The problem was that the chairs were so high that you couldnt keep your feet on the floor (bad for your back), and the desks werent high enough that I could keep my wrists level.

I can't decide which aspect of my problem is worst: hand, wrist, forearm, or shoulder. Gel rests make things worse for my hand, and I fear that a trackball would aggravate the forearm problem: all that straining of the fingers to control the ball and stretch to reach the buttons, ow! Anyone using (and liking) a thumb-trackball?

Also, I've heard conflicting things about the straight forearm: now they tell me my arms should be prone. WTF.

Like Dave, I use a trackball. Had the Turbo Mouse for several years, now use the smaller, two-button Orbit, also from Kensington. Seems they discontinued the larger four-button Turbo Mouse a few years back, though a new similar one is coming out soon.

I only use my mouse for games, which creates some wrist tension. Perhaps that's a sign that I should ween myself from online meyhem.

At my last job, I had an Apple hockey-puck mouse, which I loved. I kinked it sideways and held it with btwn thumb and middle finger. Never had any wrist problems.

> I have hurt my back, though, from not sitting back in my chair (which takes the weight off your spine). Lower back pain is not fun.

> The problem was that the chairs were so high that you couldnt keep your feet on the floor (bad for your back)

Stand up stations are most prevalent in assembly and manufacturing facilities, but can work quite well for design stations as well.

Knoll has a German affiliate that makes a task stool for stand up stations. The company is called Wilkhahn-Stitz and I think they have a Dallas factory now. Anyway, here's what the Stitz Stool looks like.

The base is like a rubber sandbag that pivots the stool. You sort of sit on it with your leg planted on the ground for balance. It's ergonomically very comfortable and great for posture and avoiding back strain. The seat is pneumatically cushioned. Simple looking, but very high-tech little stool.

It retails for a bundle (about $350, yikes!) but I was able to find a couple of them for cheap at an office furniture clearance place for about $25 each. No one knows what they are for, so they don't get bought.

Anyone else's eyes being affected?

Yep. And I'm sick about it. I've had excellent vision until about five years ago when I started working more on the computer than sketching or reading to concept. I still make time to rest my eyes but it's not easy when you're busy.

I'm 25 and have the onslaught of major wrist problems from not sitting and typing correctly. My arm will be in severe pain some days, then my wrists, kind of like a horse a piece. If you have a friend that is a masseuse then you’re in luck. Normally they work on your back to relieve the pain in your arm because the muscle runs that far back. A friend of mine, who is a Physical Therapist, showed me this one method, but I don’t know how healthy it is.

Flip your hand so that the underside of your wrist is facing you. Place your thumb (of the opposite hand) approximately an inch or two below your hand. Place your thumb on the center of your wrist and press down (firm, but not too hard) and move up your wrist. It’s pretty painful and gross. You’ll probably feel bumps and hear sounds; what you’re doing is pushing the bone spurs out of the �tunnel’, which is what causes pain in your arm and wrists.

I’m not a doctor, but I use this method for instant relief of pain. Otherwise trackball mouse, wrist brace and a gel wrist rest are all in my arsenal as well.

I too have occasional pain in my arms/extremeties due to repetitive stress. I am about to take the plunge into buying wrist braces to ease the pain and get some anti-glare glasses to ease eyestrain. One thing I do want to try before using braces, though, is this very interesting input device that looks like it would be more useful than a tablet. I still haven't ordered it, but I am going to try it soon. Gestures seem like a much more efficient use of both hands.

iGestures Pad.

It's funny, but ergonomics is a design field that has real, accurate, proven data to back up most practices, yet it seems to be one of the design fields that is consistenly ignored by pretty much everyone (including our lovely president, Bush).

If you're using stock equipment for your computing, throw it all away. Get a good keyboard...ideally a split/angled one. Get a good mouse (a big one to discourage wrist movement), and, ideally, compliment that with a track ball and illustration pad and switch among them.

Get a GOOD desk. That means one you can adjust to your height. Get a GOOD keyboard tray with room for the mouse. Make sure they are adjusted to your height. Get a GOOD monitor (or pair of monitors) again, adjusted to your height (and lighting conditions). Get a GOOD chair, adjusted to your height...(and a GOOD chair has little to do with the chair's features and more to do with how it fits your particular body frame...I've used the Aeron chairs and Eames office chairs...both incredibly uncomfortable for me compared to a $30 used office chair.)

If your office allows, move around. Work in different areas. Sit for a while, stand for a while.

Excercise.

Stretch.

Go outside for a bit.

AND TAKE LUNCH BREAKS. At my first job at a big firm it was habit to sit at your desk through lunch. Still seems to be the norm at many places. Don't do that. Leave. Even if to sit outside for a bit. This helps in so many ways.

I did try a Wacom tablet years ago and didn't have much luck acclimating to it. I think it was because there's no friction on the surface, so it was hard to make very subtle movements. Have they improved?

I prefer the Wacom tablet for tasks that require subtle movements: making clipping paths, cloning, Illustrator work, etc. I just hate how the live area stops three inches from the edge of the actual tablet; I'm constantly getting my cursor stuck at the edge of the live area.

And Darrell, thanks for that bit about taking lunch breaks. It might help matters if I were outdoors instead of, ahem, surfing the web while I eat lunch.

Absolutely. Why waste lunch surfing the web? That's what those 8 hours in the cubicle are for. ;o)

Totally have it, totally aches. Playing drums probably doesn't help!

I don't know WHAT to do. I loathe those gel pads, my Wacom isn't a cure-all and I don't like my mouse too low.

I dunno. S'bad stuff.

-R

My aches aren't severe yet, but I have a wrist guard from a sewing shop (meant for cross-stitchers and quilters, I believe) that helps me to hold my wrist properly when I spend long periods at the computer.

my answer for wrist pain (which tends to dart up my whole arm after a good 6hrs of illustration on the computer) is yoga. yoga yoga yoga heals all. I have a couple of specific poses that I use to try and combat the wrist issues. Here is my favorite:

Do a table top pose (on all fours with hands and feet about 1 foot apart width wise). Hands are face down and forward. Take each hand and twist both out, so fingers are facing opposite directions outward but still flat on the floor. Then twist wrists again so fingers are facing towards your knees. Relax, take a couple breaths, then SLOWLY bring yourself down to a kneeling position. Please be slow about it! & if you work on the computer alot don't even think you will actually get down to kneeling because you probably won't be flexible enough. Just pull yourself down enough (for me its just a wee bit) so you get a nice stretch through your wrists and up your arm fronts. If done on a regular basis, I find it reduces wrist yuckies. Please be gentle!

I, too, have dealt with these issues. I have had arm/shoulder and back pain, but a few things have really helped.

Things that were mentioned that helped me a lot:

- The right furniture (including a tray from Workrite).

- Programmable, non-mouse pointing devices (TurboMouse and Wacom tablet)

- Learning to mouse with my left hand, and thus spreading the burden between the arms

But those things are NOT enough wthout:

- Taking breaks. Getting up and stretching every 15 mins will add years to your career. Here is a great little reminder program that can use your own sounds to remind you: Ring On Time.

- YOGA. Yoga is the thing that stopped that pain from shooting down my leg. Yoga saved my life after years of sitting accumulated into a lower back injury. Yoga also helps release the stress that you don't know is building up in your body while you work and making you prone to injury.

Not mentioned yet, but especially important for the eyes:

- Drinking water whie working

- Stop drinking coffee

Of course, getting away from the computer helps, too!

I have arthritis in my wrists and finger joints and have been finding that an optical mouse with scroll wheel has helped extra computing stresses.

Much of the stress is often from finger manipulation and not actual mousing. Basically if your day-to-day routine has you clicking out hundreds of Photoshop paths or wrestling countless points in Illustrator then you'll likely have more problems. Look for a mouse which has alternate side buttons so you can use your thumb for clicking instead of your index finger.

I have found the problem with prolonged tablet pen use is that I would get a sore calous developing like I used to back in the day of much pencil drawing.

I often wonder why there aren't good large format trackpads available. I would love to just easily slide my fingers around on a 8x8 or 12x12 trackpad. They work so nicely on laptops, why haven't they made more desktop inroads?

mine only flares up every once in a while, but i was taught from day one at thirst to never use a mouse...rick weaned me off of it in about two weeks. i use one of the small wacom intuos pads, which is fine, and has great resolution for painting (if that's your thing). it ran me about a hundred bucks.

another big help is (and i know this is totally cliche, but whatever) an aeron chair. i first used one in '99 and have been hooked ever since...i bought one for my home office. it's a bitch to get adjusted initially—you'll need to fiddle with it for a week or two before it's comfy—but the adjustable lower back tension, reclining restriction, and adjustable armrests really save me. you can probably pick one up for half-price right about now; there are a few places in chicago going outta business who have a stockpile of the things.

i think i heard that my old place, leapnet (312 528 2400, i think), is going to have a fire sale on their furniture soon. bunch of those tolomeo lamps, too.

I got an Aeron chair, and that helped a lot. Changing your sitting position and taking breaks is the only thing you can really do to slow down the RSI.

But then you might still end up like me, with a non-functioning mouse arm. I decided to go back to school for photography so I could do something other than sit in front of a computer all day, but even after 3 years of not working regularly, a 40 hour week on the computer brings back the gimpy arm and painful crunchy shoulder problems.

Only advice I can really offer is to listen to your arm when it hurts - if you need to spend a couple days away from the computer to get things back in line, it's worth it. Also, don't underestimate the value of a chiropractor when trying to fix your posture/sore arm problems. I wish I had gone to one earlier.

I tried switching mice, chairs, desk height, etc. and the only thing that consistently helped moi is getting a professional massage.

Really.

A couple of summers ago when I was in a tremendous amount of shoulder and neck pain I began going twice a week and it took almost a month before I bega to feel better. Now I just need to go on a per diem basis.

Things that worked for me; who knows if it was one in particular, or all in combination:

1. Physical therapy, including stretching and strength building

2. Chiropractic

3. Yoga

4. Cultivating the discipline to get away from the desk every so often

5. The right mouse

Definitely see a doctor (and/or physical therapist and/or chiropractor) who will take your complaints seriously. And be prepared to work on this — perhaps for years, probably for a significant amount of time each day — to get it under control.

Best of luck.

I've never had any real problems with my wrist or arm mousing, but I have noticed a difference with my eyes. A stressful day at work in front of a monitor and I'll have bloodshot eyes and headaches for the rest of the night. When I upgraded recently at home, I splurged for the Apple LCD 20 inch, and that alone has made a ton of difference. I can work at home all day and feel great.

Tablet + Stylus

I started using a graphics tablet around 5 years into my design career and have watched over the years, unharmed (knock, wood), as my contemporaries all seem to develop mouse related muscular problems.

I of course attribute my seeming imunity to my use of a tablet, mapped absolutely to a screen. A small pad will require the least hand movement. I always leave the tip switch to perform a click, set one side of the rocker switch to double-click and the other side to click-lock.

The upshot is you do a lot less hand contortion.

Now lets see my luck lasts.

-Dale

mapped absolutely to a screen

What does that mean? I have my pen set on warp speed; is that bad?

I have been using a Wacom tablet for 12 years and swear by it. I use it for navigation, drawing, everything - can't stand mouse or track pad. My little finger is numb for a minute or so when I wake up, occasionally, after a long day. That's my only problem.

I also use a variety of software, mixing keystrokes, fiddly movements (e.g. clicking on BCPs and their handles) and more broader motions (e.g brushwork in Photoshop, or selecting and moving stuff in Quark.)

Ultimately, that variety, breaking up monomaniacal activity, is, I believe, the key. My laser printer and scanner are located so that I have to stand up and walk to get to them. Another great way to break up the monotony: light contribution to online forums several times a day.

I am slowly developing a bad-ass callus on the bottom of my right wrist, it�s turning a little bit brownish. It�s kind of a self-made gel pad, only stronger and more natural. I�m working on tanning the rest of my hand right now to see if I can cover it a little bit.

Another thing that can help with muscle pain is those Thermacareheat pads. The package says 8 hours, but the heat and the relief will last from 10-12 (at least on the back wraps.) Something about the moist heat for the long period is very soothing. They do make wrist wraps as well. When my back and legs just scream, I wil put on on overnight and into the next day and I always feel better for days afterward.

Thanks for the tip on the standing up stool. :)

I've found relief with acupuncture and chiropractic care. My hand is getting better for the first time in years, even while I continue to put in long hours.

I've been going thru this for ~18 months now, and have read and researched fairly thoroughly. Now, firstly, for those using wrist braces while working YOU ARE PLAYING WITH FIRE - your muscles can/will atrophy and you'll end up in a whole world of pain. Doc's rx'ing braces and anti-inflam's are horribly out-dated.

Joining sorehand is prob a good idea: http://sorehand.org

For some people, goofy ergonomics is the problem, and resolving this resolves the pain.

For the rest, its usually a metabolic problem, and you are going beyond your anaerobic threshold by using a PC all day. Muscles fail from your core/neck/shoulders down, and you feel it in your hands and/or arms and/or neck/back etc. Sometimes strengthening/stretching (see Sharon Butler's stretches) helps here (eg yoga).

But it doesn't help for everyone. So far I've tried 3 physios, work hardening, bowen technique, Alexander technique (which is pretty cool) and osteopathy without success, plus some wacky alternative things (candida) then I finally realised its a metabolic problem (RSI does not occur in a vacuum!) and have been working on my breathing (Buteyko - brilliant) and discovered that I am infact hypothyroid (!) and have been reading a lot of Dr John C Lowe's work, http://www.drlowe.com who's the guru of chronic myofascial pain. If you have chronic myofascial pain you must read up on Lowe. Must. Its too important to miss.

I would have never, ever, ever thought of thyroid or even metabolic probs being young, skinny, and male, but it turns out that, combined with adrenal fatigue, is the root cause of my problems.

So there you go. Email me if you want more info.

My repetitive stress injury started in high school when I would spend my summers working at the now defunct Swissair as a reservation assistant. I'd look at a screen directly in front of me, but my telephone system was to the right of me, sitting a few inches lower then the monitor. Back and forth for hours on end began to wreak havoc on my neck, specifically the axis and atlas (base of the skull).

After years of this along with lots of hockey and weightlifting finally came crashing down about a year ago. I have a herniated disk in my mid back. My neck hurts and my right forearm is in pain. Solution?

1. 2 times a week at a chiropractor

2. 1 time every two weeks at an acupuncturist

3. Ice packs. Stretches morning and night. My workout routine has drastically changed to light lifting and strengthening exercises five times a week.

And everything everyone has mentioned above, the most important being regular breaks. Lunch is lunch, force yourself away from the computer.

I would like to try yoga as people have suggested, apparently it's amazing.

I feel like such a baby taking about injury using a computer. Bleh.

Anyone else's eyes being affected?

Yep. And I'm sick about it. I've had excellent vision until about five years ago when I started working more on the computer than sketching or reading to concept. I still make time to rest my eyes but it's not easy when you're busy.

My eyes have really deteriorated in the past 4 months. Went to the opticians 4 months ago - perfect vision, started gettting headaches 3 weeks ago so went back, visions lost like 1/4 of its close range vision... oh dear! so now i have to wear glasses if I'm at the computer for anything more than reading and replying to emails.

I also have mild RSI, its worst in my left wrist and its getting worse every week... not good!

I think my keyboards also to blame, its one of the crappy "laptop-esquie" mini-keyboards from Packard Bell and its really hard to type for a few hours (3+) before its gets sore.

If im working for a day solid on the computer (doing client work or jsut a bit of personal design work) i often take a painkiller ebfore heading off to bed.

Oh and did i mention im 16 and am starting a 3 year all-day 5 day week from august 27th doing a degree... bugger!

I use a trackerball (Microsoft Optical one - black with the red ball for use with thumb) its excellent and i honestly think its the reason i dont have RSI too badly in my right arm, but i have big hands and i know the rest of the folk who have used my trackerball hate it as its too big.

Evolve.

I had a friend who started to get headaches while designing & his eyes were drying out. His eye doctor told him he was forgetting to blink. He had a sign to remind him on top of his computer. "Blink Damnit."

And while I don't want to come off like a total hippie, I found this tea at the health food store. I'm going to try it out.

Here's a blurb from the side of the box:

Many of us work with a computer on a daily basis. Drawing on Ayurvedic principles, Computer De-Stress Tea is formulated to support the body in adapting to common workplace stress. Kelp is a natural source of iodine and other trace minerals. Eyebright supports general eye health while Oat Straw helps relieve stress.* We combine all of these ingredients in our special tonic to help take the edge off your electronic day. Enjoy and de-stress. Here is asimple hint for computer users: Two to three times daily, wipe your face, eyes and neck with a cold wet washcloth. Follow by washing your hands in cold water."

*This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

--

I have another "special tonic" that takes the edge off my electronic day. It's made from grain, distilled, and I like it with a lime...

i also know of a good tonic... VODKA!

Exercise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guarentee you get your heart rate up and some blood pumping through those sorry ass veins and all your problems will be gone. Or you can be a lazy fool and worry or have surgery or accupuncture or some other bull. It is very simple - move your body.

It is very simple - move your body.

Dude, I'm a triathlete!

Just kidding. I'm a biathlete.