Ask HN: Excessive coding has left my right wrist and fingers twitching
My right fingers feel numb and stressed, my right wrist also twitches and makes my finger moves all on its own, it hurts to type now, what can I do to mitigate and handle this situation. I hope I don’t have some nerve damage, a moment of rest from typing actually makes it bearable for a bit, then once I start using it the whole stuff becomes unbearable again.
19 comments
I used to have wrist pain and elbow pain. Here's some of the things I did that worked for me:
1. I stopped using a laptop keyboard and switched to a regular one. I just put my Apple keyboard on top of the laptop keyboard. Worked fine. Although I might give the Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard a try in the future.
2. I also noticed that I pressed the keys too hard(sometimes the tips of my fingers would hurt), so I try to type more gently.
3. I switched from my Magic Mouse to a Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Mouse. For me taller/vertical mice are more comfortable to use.
4. I added a foam wrist rest pad in front of my keyboard. One of these http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51wmYdfwdpL.jpg. Have a look at what your wrist are leaning against when you type and you can decide if you might need this or not.
5. More breaks. There are Pomodoro apps and extensions that can take care of automating this. For example, 25 minutes work, 5 minutes break.
6. Type less. I've seen a large number of people on YouTube type every letter when they code. Snippets, auto-complete can save you a lot of typing. You should only type a variable name entirely only once. After that, auto-complete.
7. I left the most important part for the end. Start working out. I don't go to the gym, but I have a modular dumbbell at home which I use. Start small, with the basics. You really don't want to injure yourself.
1. I stopped using a laptop keyboard and switched to a regular one. I just put my Apple keyboard on top of the laptop keyboard. Worked fine. Although I might give the Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard a try in the future.
2. I also noticed that I pressed the keys too hard(sometimes the tips of my fingers would hurt), so I try to type more gently.
3. I switched from my Magic Mouse to a Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Mouse. For me taller/vertical mice are more comfortable to use.
4. I added a foam wrist rest pad in front of my keyboard. One of these http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51wmYdfwdpL.jpg. Have a look at what your wrist are leaning against when you type and you can decide if you might need this or not.
5. More breaks. There are Pomodoro apps and extensions that can take care of automating this. For example, 25 minutes work, 5 minutes break.
6. Type less. I've seen a large number of people on YouTube type every letter when they code. Snippets, auto-complete can save you a lot of typing. You should only type a variable name entirely only once. After that, auto-complete.
7. I left the most important part for the end. Start working out. I don't go to the gym, but I have a modular dumbbell at home which I use. Start small, with the basics. You really don't want to injure yourself.
1. Consult a specialist.
2. Frequently switch up your devices and how you use them - mouse in non-dominant hand, working standing vs sitting if possible, whenever you can use a touchscreen for the sake of variety, get a pen tablet to use instead of a mouse.
3. Look up wrist stretches for RSI and develop the habit of taking breaks and doing these stretches routinely.
4. Look up correct wrist positions for using a mouse and keyboard and make sure that you aren't completely wrecking your wrists when you have to use them.
5. Consult a specialist.
2. Frequently switch up your devices and how you use them - mouse in non-dominant hand, working standing vs sitting if possible, whenever you can use a touchscreen for the sake of variety, get a pen tablet to use instead of a mouse.
3. Look up wrist stretches for RSI and develop the habit of taking breaks and doing these stretches routinely.
4. Look up correct wrist positions for using a mouse and keyboard and make sure that you aren't completely wrecking your wrists when you have to use them.
5. Consult a specialist.
Note: I think I haven't experienced the level of severity you're experiencing but have experienced wrist/finger pains often with excess use of keyboard.
1. Try this exercise: stretch straight both of your arms in front of you, make a fist with each and then move both first clockwise and then anti-clockwise, about20 times each. I've used this exercise when I've had pain in my wrists. Do it once daily (in morning) if it's helpful.
2. Immediately you need to take a break of couple or so days at least without any keyboard activity and give rest to your wrists. Along with exercises like above.
3. Use an external full-length keyboard. Place it on your thighs while working so the wrist rest on a soft area. Alternatively, you can put something soft on the table but your legs are available everywhere you go. Stop using laptop built-in keyboard.
1. Try this exercise: stretch straight both of your arms in front of you, make a fist with each and then move both first clockwise and then anti-clockwise, about20 times each. I've used this exercise when I've had pain in my wrists. Do it once daily (in morning) if it's helpful.
2. Immediately you need to take a break of couple or so days at least without any keyboard activity and give rest to your wrists. Along with exercises like above.
3. Use an external full-length keyboard. Place it on your thighs while working so the wrist rest on a soft area. Alternatively, you can put something soft on the table but your legs are available everywhere you go. Stop using laptop built-in keyboard.
Are you doing any regular strength training?
I got RSI since I was 12 no joke. On and off until I was 30 something. I was doing physio, stretching, and tons of NSAIDS (bad news for my tummy over the long run). Not until I started doing pushups and squats and swinging around a kettle bell (very carefully) did I finally get a rest on the regular pain.
It's a journey. Lots of technical aspects. Since your a coder I hope you might cotton to it. Best of luck! You don't need to be in pain.
I got RSI since I was 12 no joke. On and off until I was 30 something. I was doing physio, stretching, and tons of NSAIDS (bad news for my tummy over the long run). Not until I started doing pushups and squats and swinging around a kettle bell (very carefully) did I finally get a rest on the regular pain.
It's a journey. Lots of technical aspects. Since your a coder I hope you might cotton to it. Best of luck! You don't need to be in pain.
Pushups help me a lot. Even only 25 one-three times a day make a difference!
I had similar a number of years ago. Did 2 things:
1) left handed mouse. Found I needed to switch the buttons for my brain to work with it. Took a few days to get used to it. Now I can switch back and forth without effort.
2) Wrist support. My wrists were hurting too. So I used a bowling wrist support and that reduced the total motion at the wrist level.
1) left handed mouse. Found I needed to switch the buttons for my brain to work with it. Took a few days to get used to it. Now I can switch back and forth without effort.
2) Wrist support. My wrists were hurting too. So I used a bowling wrist support and that reduced the total motion at the wrist level.
The advice in this thread is wonderful. An additional note: try and always wear long sleeves while typing. For me, this keeps my hands and wrists warmer promoting blood flow in my fingers. This may work for you.
1. Posture.
plug a monitor and real keyboard into your laptop, get a real chair and desk. Correct your posture.
2. Stop
Just stop for a few days and let things heal.
3. Don't ask the internet for health advice
Talk to a doctor or physio before taking my advice
plug a monitor and real keyboard into your laptop, get a real chair and desk. Correct your posture.
2. Stop
Just stop for a few days and let things heal.
3. Don't ask the internet for health advice
Talk to a doctor or physio before taking my advice
How frequently and duration did you spent on coding? On which programming language?
In addition, standing and coding could help to relief your other part of your body.
In addition, standing and coding could help to relief your other part of your body.
I code everyday for about 5 or so hours. I used to code 8 hours plus daily like a year ago.
Will try standing next time I am coding. Thanks
Will try standing next time I am coding. Thanks
definitely try physical therapy
also possibly dietary changes, taking frequent breaks, might need to take a temporary vacation, then when you come back make sure to keep up with the physical therapy.
And some rubber or soft clothes support for your joints. On the other hands, I have consume some anti-ageing like NAD+ stuff to improve my health and protect my eye visions.
Find the source of pressure on your median nerve, and mitigate it. Numbness and tingling are not good.
The easiest solution that works for me is lifting heavy weight.
This is the cure. OP needs to squat/press/deadlift more than his body weight and I bet his pains end.
What keyboard are you primarily using to code?
Normal laptop keyboards.
One suggestion I would have then is to absolutely stop using typical laptop keyboards for any long-duration coding sessions. They're truly horrific on ergonomics, they're plainly bad for hands and wrists.
Among ergonomic keyboards, my observation is that everyone finds a different comfort level with each. The key is to experiment a bit and find one that works well for you. I've been using variations of Microsoft's bulky ergo keyboards (presently called "Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000") for as long as I can remember and they've worked well for me. Other people don't get the same results though. They're bulky, like battleships; I'm in it for the comfort, the aesthetics don't matter in this case. In the last 15-20 years that I can recall using them, I've had zero wrist or finger problems from typing; approximately averaging five to six hours per day, every day. They're entirely ill-suited for mobility though.
One other thing. Everyone has their own preferences on this, I've found it works well for me though - I never free-float my arms / elbows while coding or typing in general. I always support my elbows via armrests on my chairs, taking a large amount of strain off the hands & wrists. I rest the padded lower area the hands (just above the wrist) on the keyboard's soft'ish padded area, which is just below the spacebar (any resting pressure goes to that padded area of the hand, not on the fingers or wrists; it keeps pressure off of the wrist nerves). As I type I also basically have very little wrist movement, which I think is important. Once the point of contact on my lower hands are resting on the keyboard pad (ready to type position), the hands are locked in more or less and wrist motion is kept to a minimum.
Among ergonomic keyboards, my observation is that everyone finds a different comfort level with each. The key is to experiment a bit and find one that works well for you. I've been using variations of Microsoft's bulky ergo keyboards (presently called "Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000") for as long as I can remember and they've worked well for me. Other people don't get the same results though. They're bulky, like battleships; I'm in it for the comfort, the aesthetics don't matter in this case. In the last 15-20 years that I can recall using them, I've had zero wrist or finger problems from typing; approximately averaging five to six hours per day, every day. They're entirely ill-suited for mobility though.
One other thing. Everyone has their own preferences on this, I've found it works well for me though - I never free-float my arms / elbows while coding or typing in general. I always support my elbows via armrests on my chairs, taking a large amount of strain off the hands & wrists. I rest the padded lower area the hands (just above the wrist) on the keyboard's soft'ish padded area, which is just below the spacebar (any resting pressure goes to that padded area of the hand, not on the fingers or wrists; it keeps pressure off of the wrist nerves). As I type I also basically have very little wrist movement, which I think is important. Once the point of contact on my lower hands are resting on the keyboard pad (ready to type position), the hands are locked in more or less and wrist motion is kept to a minimum.
> They're entirely ill-suited for mobility though.
I am a happy owner of a Microsoft Sculpt keyboard and mouse, and it is quite mobile. It has a built-in wrist rest as well.
I am a happy owner of a Microsoft Sculpt keyboard and mouse, and it is quite mobile. It has a built-in wrist rest as well.