For around 5+ years I had been getting pains in my right hand. Slowly it grew worse, began to creep up my arm and then it also appeared in my left hand & arm and continued to get worse. I sought advice from doctors, physiotherapists, chiropractors and anyone else who might have something to say on the subject. I ensured my seating was correct as per all the guidlines. I tried all sorts of mice, keyboards, pointing devices, accessories and gizmos.
But it made no difference. The bottom line was I take breaks every 10-minutes-or-so and/or I go do something else instead of sitting in front of a computer most days for 8+hours.
Then one night as I went to bed my arms were quite sore. For some time I had been removing my watch and wedding ring because they were causing me pain as I slept. On this particular night I decided I was too sore to sleep with my arms rasied (and often under the pillow) so I removed the pillow and slept with my arms straight down by my side.
Amazingly the next morning I noticed a big difference!
My hands were no longer sore except when I clenched them. The day before they had felt like they were just about to fall off. It took around a week of sleeping in this way for my hands to feel like they could be “stong enough to be able to hold on if I were hanging from a cliff”.
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…The above was written in January 2004. It is now June 2007 and it still works. Because I now get reflux when lying flat, I’ve had to go back to using a pillow, but generally I keep my arms as close to my side as possible when sleeping.
Sometimes I realise when I wake up that my arms have strayed from my side and I often notice a stiffness in my hands for the rest of the day, but always a sleep with “straight down” arms by my side removes this pain/ discomfort.
Obviously I have no idea if this will ‘cure’ you in the same way, but I’d be very interested to hear if it does or of your own experiences.
Please let me know if you try this and how you get on.
