RE: Occupational hazard - carpal tunnel

Subject: RE: Occupational hazard - carpal tunnel
From: "OTTO,KAREN (A-Spokane,ex1)" <karen_otto -at- agilent -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 12:01:28 -0700

In addition to the many excellent suggestions already posted:

- I use different devices for mousing: wireless mouse at work, hotkeys,
glidepad on my laptop, and a minitrac trackball
(http://shop.store.yahoo.com/ibselec/mintracmous.html)
The minitrac is about the size of an egg. It is perfectly proportioned to
fit into my hand in its relaxed state. My index finger controls the first
button, and my thumb rolls the ball. Buttons 2 and 3 are on top.
The minitrac took the same amount of getting used to that I took when I used
a trackball. It has the added advantage of being able to be held, so I hold
my hand in a comfortable position at about my belly-button. My hand is
relaxed, my arm is relaxed, it's only my thumb doing the work.

- I talked to my harp teacher, asking how musicians deal with CTS. They
actually deal with it very badly, but my teacher brought up a good point,
which is that for harp, every action has a reaction. When I reach in to
pluck a string, I get the best sound when I followthrough on the pluck by
pulling my hand back completely, letting my fingers return to the natural
position described above. Turns out, that's also the best way for the
muscles to be treated.

So I went back to my computer keyboard, relaxed, and started typing. With
each keystroke, though, I let my wrists be relaxed and move a little. Each
key is like a string on my harp. Although the words on the screen are not as
rewarding as the sound of a harp, I give my wrists and fingers some
followthrough motions, which keep them agile.

If you want to go way deep into the concept of the followthrough, look at
the Feldenkrais method http://www.feldenkrais.com/aboutfm.html.

Karen Otto
karen_otto -at- agilent -dot- com

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check it out! Get some cool freebies when you buy RoboHelp! You'll receive
SnagIt screen capture software and a 10% discount voucher for RoboHelp
Consulting. This special offers expires March 29, 2002.
www.ehelp.com/techwr

Have you looked at the new content on TECHWR-L lately?
See http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ and check it out.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.


Previous by Author: RE: Tech writers and severance packages
Next by Author: Jobs in Germany
Previous by Thread: RE: Occupational hazard - carpal tunnel
Next by Thread: RE: Occupational hazard - carpal tunnel


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads