1. Wear an arm brace: mandatory at night, and if possible during work (as you get better you can just wear them at night)
A. don't buy those "sock" like items, they can make your wrist worse
B. heavy vibration (ex: a push lawnmower) can aggravate carpal tunnel
2. Use a micro break program (ex: http://www.workrave.org/ )
A. lots of mini breaks are more effective then infrequent long breaks
B. set it to one 30sec break every 5mins, or if symptoms are severe, every 3mins
C. disable the "Rest Break" via the checkbox in the options
D. uncheck the "Show Postpone/Skip buttons" in your microbreak options to prevent yourself from skipping them
E. when the microbreak fires, using the mouse/keyboard will cause the break to pause, during this time let your arms hang from your chair
3. Take an anti inflammatory to reduce the carpal tunnel swelling
A. preferably use Ibuprofen, but Aspirin & Aleve or ok, but absolutely do not take Tylenol
4. Get an ergonomic keyboard, it reduces wrist stress by 30%
A. A standard ergo keyboard http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000642RX
B. if you dislike the ergo "split" you can get a semi ergo without the split http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009ZBRS0
C. after you get use to ergo, you will actually notice that a non-ergo feels very crippling (this is a good reason not to use them)
5. Switch to Dvorak keyboard layout, it reduces wrist stress by 45%
A. QWERTY keyboards are NOT the most efficient way to type, Dvorak is a remapping
B. To enable Dvorak keyboard mapping...
Control Panel > Regional > Layouts > Details > Add > check the 1st checkbox > choose "United States - Dvorak"
C. Free online Dvorak trainer: http://gigliwood.com/abcd/ D. Dvorak stickers for your keyboard (I prefer the large red ones, but they don't work on black keys)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003CJJIZO/
6. Take vitamin B complex to prevent & repair any nerve damage
A. Bananas are a good source, preferably 2 a day
B. If taking supplements, take something that exceeds 100% RDA, you should see values around 2500%
B. heavy vibration (ex: a push lawnmower) can aggravate carpal tunnel
2. Use a micro break program (ex: http://www.workrave.org/ )
A. lots of mini breaks are more effective then infrequent long breaks
B. set it to one 30sec break every 5mins, or if symptoms are severe, every 3mins
C. disable the "Rest Break" via the checkbox in the options
D. uncheck the "Show Postpone/Skip buttons" in your microbreak options to prevent yourself from skipping them
E. when the microbreak fires, using the mouse/keyboard will cause the break to pause, during this time let your arms hang from your chair
3. Take an anti inflammatory to reduce the carpal tunnel swelling
A. preferably use Ibuprofen, but Aspirin & Aleve or ok, but absolutely do not take Tylenol
4. Get an ergonomic keyboard, it reduces wrist stress by 30%
A. A standard ergo keyboard http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000642RX
B. if you dislike the ergo "split" you can get a semi ergo without the split http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009ZBRS0
C. after you get use to ergo, you will actually notice that a non-ergo feels very crippling (this is a good reason not to use them)
5. Switch to Dvorak keyboard layout, it reduces wrist stress by 45%
A. QWERTY keyboards are NOT the most efficient way to type, Dvorak is a remapping
B. To enable Dvorak keyboard mapping...
Control Panel > Regional > Layouts > Details > Add > check the 1st checkbox > choose "United States - Dvorak"
C. Free online Dvorak trainer: http://gigliwood.com/abcd/ D. Dvorak stickers for your keyboard (I prefer the large red ones, but they don't work on black keys)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003CJJIZO/
6. Take vitamin B complex to prevent & repair any nerve damage
A. Bananas are a good source, preferably 2 a day
B. If taking supplements, take something that exceeds 100% RDA, you should see values around 2500%
POSTED ON TUESDAY, MAY 09, 2006 10:23 PM BY travisowens
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