I was over in Spain last month and it is always great getting a good solid break from the computer. But I know that’s all it is; a break. It’s very easy to think that a week or two might be enough for your damaged nerves and muscles to start repairing and rebuilding themselves but it’s not. The break is great - but don’t expect anything more - it’s just a break. When you get back to your computer, you will be right back where you left off, with the same old aches and pains - and maybe even worse if you’ve also taken a break from your exercise routine.
I’ve read about this in various books too, people have actually gone on sick leave and holed themselves in bed for the duration, thinking this will be some sort of cure, whereas not using those nerves and muscles is the worst thing you can do.
So keep it in mind,; unless we’re talking about a very prolonged period is only a brief reprise, enjoy your break, maybe even use the extra time to strengthen your body - just don’t expect any miracles when you’re back from the hols.
These guys are making a (very low budget) documentary about computer game addiction and the harmful effects it can have, both emotionally and physically. I wasn’t too interested in people’s game addiction stories to be honest - but if you skip straight to 6 minutes, 30 seconds, it’s interesting to hear an expert (plastic surgeon - Daniel Golshani) talking about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Too many people think RSI and CTS are the same thing. When they’re not. CTS is a very specific injury, whereas Repetitive Strain Injury or Occupational Overuse Syndrome are umbrella terms for a whole host of injuries caused by repetitive and strained use of interfaces/tools/instruments. Which reminds me I ve been meaning to write a review of the book “It’s not carpal tunnel syndrome!” for a while now.
Update. There are a lots of interesting replies, links and blogposts with more videos on their main page. I’m going to go through them all when I’ve time. Interesting to see that half the guys from the lighting team of Toy Story 2 got such bad RSI that they couldn’t wash their hair. I rarely see other people describe symptoms that I share but that’s one of them.
When I got the Wristwand in the post I thought I’d been had. Saw the end off a sweeping brush and you’ve got the Wristwand. But in fairness it does have to be the exact width (ok we’re still in sawn-off sweeping brush territory) - it is wrapped in nice foam on either end.
It does give your wrists a good stretch though. You just hold either end and raise your arms over your head while twisting at the wrists. Exercises can be easy to forget, so at the very least things like this act as a good prop; a reminder. Even if they’re not the miracle cure some of the pr would have you believe. And the WristWand is less than a tenner, so no big deal.
I ordered a new powerball today. One with a counter. If anyone out there wants my old one just leave a comment to claim it. Preferable location for me to post to is Ireland. The only difference between the new powerball and my old one is that the new one has a counter.
Launchy is a smart little open source application for launching any application at a few keystrokes. Here’s how it works.
Launch launchy by typing alt + space ( Which is very convenient, as they are right beside each other)
Type the first few letters of whatever you want to launch and hit enter
It’s that easy. It saves quite a few mouseclicks and trying to find a program in your start menu. An it’s quite smart in helping you find what youre looking for eg. typing Fire will launch Firefox as will typing Fox, in fact F will probably work if you have no other programs beginning with F.
Once you get used to it, you can use more advanced commands but let’s not complicate things right now!
I haven’t posted here in ages for a few reasons. (1) I’ve pretty much already passed overal my knowledge on beatingrsi (2) I had been looking for a new job for a while and didn’t really want to draw attention to this being my blog.
Anyway - I’m a big fan of macros, automation, keyboard shortcuts and any software that makes computing less work, which ultimately means less strain on your body. So I’ll probably write more about that end of things from here on. This is a repost from my main blog:
You know computers are supposed to make your working life easier not harder right? But it can be easy to forget that sometimes, and some people will downright deny it! We’ve all had moments where we wanted to drop a PC out of a high story building but in general day-to-day work, if your computer is making your life harder, there’s a good chance you’re just not using the right tools. Or you’re not using a fraction of their potential. And that potential is to make your life much easier.
For every repetitive task you do, you could probably be using a dedicated application, an automated function or a macro. Some tasks are so suitable to this, that you can click a button and just watch your computer working away for a minute, doing a task that previously took you 15 minutes by hand. 15 long minutes of grunting and swearing and banging the keyboard.
Macros
One of the greatest labour-saving devices in computing is the macro. A simple definition of a macro is the ability to record your keyboard and/or mouse actions, so you can ‘replay’ the actions rather than manually redoing them each time.
I first got into the whole macro thing when I started a job as a technical writer where we were using Word to write our documents; scripts for content developers and voice over artists. All the text had to be in very particular formats, labels, layouts and colour-codes. People spent an unbelievable amount of time on the formatting rather than the actual writing. Word Styles (which looked different on every computer were driving people crazy). They spent a fortune getting some guys to build a dedicated application but that was just as bad. An unfortunate but all too frequent case of programmers with no user interface skills building a useability nightmare. So I dug a bit into Word’s automation and customization and it ended up as the perfect solution.
People slag off Microsoft products - but the level of customization you can do in Word makes it an amazing piece of user centred software. You can record your own macros, then create keyboard shortcuts or buttons to trigger the macros and you can add whole toolbars containing the buttons, or use menus to add new commands. You can also delve a bit deeper with vbscript to add loops and if statements to your macros, almost building applications within the application.
I started off recording simple macros for myself that would make text red bold, green italic etc. Then I would map that to a keyboard shortcut. Then I started adding more complex functionality. I started sharing these with the team and soon enough I took on the role of completely redesigning all the templates, and processes used throughout the whole production team, making use of every level of automation available. I got really carried away with the macros then, using them to build whole tables of information.
The main template ended up with a whole toolbar of buttons, a customized insert menu, and lots of other functionality available through keyboard shortcuts.
Below is a brief video example: At the click of a button, a whole table is split up, formatted and populated. Common phrases are added from the insert menu. That’s just one type of table, we had about 5 different types, all added with one click. At the end of the process, another macro re-formatted the whole script to spit out xml for the developers and a vo script for the voice over artist.
This is an advanced version of the amount of work you can save yourself doing if you use Word a lot and find yourself doing any task again and again.
I didn’t intend to write this as a tutorial, more as a nudge in the right direction, but let’s have a quick go. We’ll create a copyright type sign off.
Step1. Record the macro
In Word, go to Tools > Macro > Record New Macro > Type sig then hit Enter
Go to Insert > Symbol > click the Copyright symbol > Click Insert then Close
Type a space, then your name, then another space
Go to Insert > Date and Time > Click OK > hit enter to go onto next line
Click the square stop button on the macro toolbar
Step2. Make a button
Go to Tools > Customize > Commands tab
Scroll down on the left column and click Macros
Your sig macro will be on the right, click-and-drag it to your toolbar (beside the bold button for example)
Now right-click this button (don’t close the Customize dialog box) and select Default Style
Then right-click it again and select Change Button Image and select the pencil icon (You can also right-click and edit these icons and make your own)
Close the dialog box.
Step3: test it out
Click the pencil icon
Click it again!
Cool hoh!?
You can record any kind of macro you want. Very detailed ones. Though beware you can’t just click all over the screen, you have to use your keyboard to highlight text and navigate around text. Find and replace type macros can be very useful too. I have a few macros that I use now to take a word document and clean it up for the web, so it replaces foreign characters and symbols with the proper Unicode / html.
When I was leaving the job where I built all the macros, I was handed a thoughtful customized gift that is one of my proudest possessions: a Macro Man superhero t-shirt! It even has the buttons on the back!
Breaking out of Word
Right so. Word Macros. Great craic altogether. Used wisely they will save you a lot of work. Invest a bit and you get a lot - but what about outside of Word? Now you need an independent macro recorder. I’ve tried a few over the years but recently found one I really like, autohotkey, a free, open source application. Downloadable from http://www.autohotkey.com/
Autohotkey, lets you record mouse clicks and keyboard actions. That simple. You can use it in a number of ways. It’s one of those programs where the more you invest in, the more you get back. I found, I really needed it a few times recently. It was a total lifesaver. If you find yourself cursing a really badly designed user interface, something like autohotkey can make all the difference.
I was working on a job recently where I was migrating from one web based resource centre to another. I had to add loads of images. Three versions of the same image every time. The UI and UX design was terrible. I had to browse through a load of folders every single time I needed to add an image, it took about 5 minutes and 50 clicks to add every image! After recording a few macros in autohotkey, I could just sit there with my arms folded and watch autohotkey do all the work. It’s great to watch!
Below is a video capture of another resource library that I used regularly, and went to the same location regularly. I often had to login and browse through lots of folders ever time, clicking those tiny plus symbols (which should be banned from all user interfaces!). The video below isn’t impressive in itself but bear in mind that I just pressed a button, sat back and watched until the folder with the images I wanted was open.
Autohotkey comes with a recorder but you usually have to edit the script a bit as well. It doesn’t record intervals between actions, so you have to add a lot of pauses, or sleeps. It’s very easy script to edit though. Here’s one example:
Send, {ALTDOWN}{ALTUP}fd
sleep, 2500
Send, {ENTER}
What this does is press ALT F D on my keyboard, waits 2½ seconds, and then hits Enter. When I’m using Photoshop, I run this script with a keyboard shortcut and it goes to ‘save the image for the web’. Something that you do a LOT, yet takes longer than it should; a good simple example of using Autohotkey.
Another example is when I’m editing PHP that has to be previewed on a live server. That’s a lot of clicking for every edit. Now I just press a button, and Autohotkey saves the file (in dreamweaver), uploads it, waits a tiny bit, then switches to Firefox and hits refresh. So much easier. And I had it set up in now time.
You can also use Autohotkey to autofinish phrases that you type a lot. For example when I type JBA, autohotkey types my name and address and when I type btw, autohotkey types by the way for me. Again you can see that investing a bit of time here, could save a huge amount of time in the future. Word has an inbuilt version of this too, called autocomplete but obviously autohotkey works throughout all applications, so you can use it for webmail, twitter, excel… whatever.
A launcher
The final part in automating your work easily is to have a dedicated launcher for your macros. You can launch Autohotkey macros as you would any other file; by adding a desktop shortcut, or adding an icon to your taskbar, or using a keyboard shortcut but the snazziest method of all is to buy a dedicated programmable keypad. This really ties everything in together nicely. After much research I got an X-keys desktop. It’s got 20 programmable keys. Setting it up couldn’t be easier, it’s got a great interface, you just click a switch on the hardware and the buttons appear onscreen, then you can drag your shortcuts onto the keys and flick the switch again. It’s also got its own Macro software that’s also really easy to use but I mostly use Autohotkey.
X-Keys comes pre-programmed with regular functions like cut, copy, paste and undo, which I’d recommend keeping. It also has shortcuts to launch applications like your browser or email but I think this is a terrible waste of hotkeys. Any application that you open and leave open for most of the day is a waste of a key.
You can save different presets with the x-keys software, so you can have a whole keypad of different shortcuts just for Photoshop, or you can load another full of html code, and another for general use. But as they keys are labelled with stickers, if you change the presets a lot, you have to remember or write down the combinations. I haven’t properly labelled them yet as I’m still changing them a lot. One idea I find useful is to have one key mapped to an autohotkey script called ‘latest’, which will launch whatever macro you’re currently using a lot.
It was very hard to find somewhere I could buy this from Ireland. I eventually got it from Keytools. You can’t use the web form to buy directly from Ireland but you can ask them to fax or email you a form.
I was also going to write about various applications for very specific jobs but this post is already big enough, but just to point you in the right direction, there are applications for everything these days. If you find yourself resizing windows to specific dimensions a lot, then google ‘windows resizer’, if you find yourself taking lots of screen grabs and emailing them to people then download an application to do it for you. Or just have a look around download.com or tucows or lifehacker for some inspiration.
So - I’ll say it again: invest a little and you will get a lot back, stop banging your head against your computer screen, give it a big hug instead!
I’ve used almost every kind of mouse, or alternative mouse out there. I’ve used a large touchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a graphical tablet. I have a finger mouse, and a thumb ball. I may expand on these items in another post but the only ones I have used for any length of time are the touchpad (Cirque easy cat) and a Wacom graphics tablet. I never use the Cirque touchpad anymore. It feels horrible to use now because I overused it for months. I still use the graphics tablet on and off quite often. Not just for graphical work but as a mouse. It’s good to swap around as much as possible. Holding a pen for eight hours a day is no more natural than holding a mouse. So I swap around input devices as much as possible to get my hand out of the same position. And obviously the graphcis tablet is more suited to certain work.
At the moment my main mouse is an Evoluent vertical mouse. I’ve wanted a vertical mouse for a while now. It makes perfect sense. A handshake position is a much more neutral position for your arm/hand to be in. Look at your arm in a handshake position, then twist it into the position for holding a regular mouse and watch all your nerves and muscles twist across your arm near the elbow. Doing that for a whole day is not good. I originally wanted a zero tension mouse but had major trouble buying one from Ireland (like many ergonomic products) and eventually gave up on it.
I don’t actually find the vertical mouse that odd; it’s just like a regular mouse on its side. I had a sigh of relief when I first started using it. It does feel more natural. Of course there are quirks to get used to, as with most alternative mice. You can’t pick it up and move it as easily as a regular mouse which isn’t a big deal, but more importantly, you have to be very careful that you get the angle of your arm right by adjusting your chair height (or desk). Otherwise you force your wrist into an unnatural angle. Other than that it’s exactly like a regular mouse. I highly recommend one. Along with everything else I’ve been doing lately, the horrible pains have mostly gone from my biceps. I still have stiffness and aches and pains but the agonising muscle pains have subsided.
The Evoluent Vertical mouse also has a third button pre-programmed to double-click which is invaluable. I really miss it when I’m using another mouse/computer. I know a third button is not unique to this device but it’s still worth mentioning.
I only discovered this keyboard while writing my general keyboards post. I always thought a split keyboard without a numerical pad would be fairly ideal, so you have much less distance to reach to one side for your mouse. And I also think adjust-ability is our best friend. The Goldtouch has both of these covered. It can be flattened right down to a flat keyboard or split and tented up to the degree that suits you. You can just open the lever type lock adjust the height and angle and re-lock it. This is great because I find that a different setup suits different activities better. If I’m using Photoshop, I’d be mousing with my right hand and hitting lots of shortcuts with my left. A flat keyboard feels much better for this. Whereas if I’m doing lots of writing, I want it pitched right up like a tent.
The keys are also nice and light. I still can’t believe how loud and heavy the Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard is. I have that at home now (though I try not to use the computer at home too much these days).
Cons
It’s not perfect. Somethings gotta give when making a compact keyboard. The hardest difference to adapt to that I found was that the delete key was moved to the left. Doing Ctrl alt and delete is an awkward move, as is regular deleting just because your right hand automatically veers to the right. And shift and enter and keys like that aren’t as easy to find. with your fingers. But I’ve been getting very used to all that after a few weeks.
Bye bye keypad
I also miss my keypad (not as much as I am glad it is gone however). I used with Mousekeys a lot. Mostly for hitting the number 5 when I needed to click the mouse in multiple succession. (If you don’t know about Mousekeys, see my post on Windows Accessibility options). However I plan to buy a separate keypad to make up for this. The main point is that having an unmovable keypad takes up extra desk space making you stretch over to one side for your mouse. Whereas you can put a seperate keypad whereever you want.
Summary
I’m very happy with it. And I’ve experimented with a lot of keyboards. I think it’s probably the best one out there for us folk. I can’t stress how important adjust-ability is for beating RSI. And I’ve definitely started getting better recently. But I also have a new vertical mouse (review to come). And I’ve been very diligent with my daily routine and everything else, so it’s a combination of many things.
I’ve been working on a daily routine page recently. The only time I truly beat my RSI was when I fully took on board everything I ever read and every exercise my physio showed me and got up at 6am every morning and went through a half-hour routine. And in the evening I’d do another half an hour. Unfortunately I didn’t realise just how important it was to keep up the routine after I got better - so I’m trying to catch up again now. With two kids, it’s a bit harder this time around I’m just about managing 15 minutes most mornings. But the most important thing is to a little every day and try and get into a routine.
Just say no! I never thought using painkillers for RSI was a good idea. And I’ve since read of others with a similar opinion, which isn’t very surprising. Some books mention anti-inflammatory drugs and nerve relaxants. But I’ve never used anything like that. Pain exists for a reason. It’s your body’s way of telling you to stop damaging it. I don’t think it’s a good idea to hide that pain. However, mild relief can be soothing.
Arm bath
Now and then I arrive home with very sore arms and I’ve discovered some very nice relief recently. I’ve used our baby bath to have an arm bath. Both heat and cold can provide pain relief and first I tried very cold water. It worked but it wasn’t very pleasant. A hot water arm bath is very nice though and works a treat on aching arms. Unfortunately, I don’t actually have a full size bath in my size - but even if I did this is a bit quicker than a full bath. You might not have a baby bath - but a big basin might do the trick. Note: The Arm Bath is the main tip here - this was originally just going to be a post called ‘arm baths’.
Pain relief sprays
There are a lot of pain relief sprays on the market. I tried one a few years ago and it’s fairly horrible stuff. The one I used worked on the principle of using heat for pain relief. My memory of it is spraying some horrible chemical on your arm which starts burning straight away. Then you spend the next ten minutes desperately trying to wash it off. Then a few days later you try and spray on a bit less but just end of running around the house with your arms on fire again.
Ice packs
Here’s a tip from Dr Pascareli’s book: Fill some styrofoam cups with water and freeze them. Then wrap one in a towel and hold it against the painful area. On a bad day I’ve been known to just grab something out of the freezer - frozen peas… ice cream… but I don’t use these cold packs very often. I’m not a fan of cold things. I’d almost get more relief from eating the ice cream.
Heat packs
I’ve also used Thermacare heat pads before as well. I could take them or leave them, and they’re not exactly cheap, so I left them. I found them “OK”, they provided a bit of relief but nothing major for me. I’ll take an arm bath any day. I’ve a friend with a long history of chronic pain who used to get a lot of pain relief from a microwave-heated wrap for his neck.
Mind Control!
I’ll report back on this when I’ve read it properly. I have a copy of The Mind / Body prescription book. Many reviewers said it cured their RSI. Of course I’m skeptical of anything like this. Great if it works for other people but alternative treatments tend not to work for me, and that includes acupuncture. I’ve also been quite annoyed by what I’ve read so far. 90% of the book deals with different conditions that produce chronic pain. So (A) you’ve got that one of those conditions and know a hell of a lot more than the two pages in that book and (B) you haven’t got all the other conditions listed and could care less. There seem to be very few pages dedicated to the actual technique.
Summary
Most of these pain relief methods are more about coming home at the end of the day and trying to put your pain to bed and enjoy the rest of the day. (At least until you have to do your exercise!) Whereas while you’re working, you should concentrate on Ergonomics, posture , proper equipment and breaks to avoid pain.
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At the moment my main mouse is an 
