Health risks for bloggers: carpal tunnel syndrome

For several weeks, I've been recovering from carpal tunnel syndrome. I should have seen it coming! At the office, I'm on the computer constantly. Each patient visit now requires clicking and typing to access progress notes, med lists, and labs. Each phone message is conveyed by e-mail. All prescriptions are done online now, and that's even more typing and clicking. I'm also writing notes as my patients are speaking. After a full day of this, I would go home and blog. And blog... (Only a fraction of my wrists' work escapes my editorial hatchet.)

But it wasn't just intensive mouse use that knocked me out of the game. It was incorrect mouse use. My set-up was all wrong. My keyboard was too high. My wrist was bent. And as for rest periods...er, what rest periods?

Still, I didn't notice symptoms until I hosted Grand Rounds in July. (That's a lot of linking!)

What does CTS feel like? Here's MayoClinic.com:

Carpal tunnel syndrome typically starts gradually, with a vague aching in your wrist that can extend to your hand or forearm. Other common signs and symptoms include:

* Tingling or numbness in your fingers or hand, especially your thumb, index, middle or ring fingers, but not your little finger. This sensation often occurs while driving a vehicle or holding a phone or a newspaper, or upon awakening. Many people "shake out" their hands to relieve their symptoms.
* Pain radiating or extending from your wrist up your arm to your shoulder or down into your palm or fingers, especially after forceful or repetitive use. This usually occurs on the front (palm) side of your forearm.
* A sense of weakness in your hands, and a tendency to drop objects.
* A constant loss of feeling in some fingers. This can occur if the condition is advanced.

More here, here, and here. Here are some prevention tips. (And here's something that will make it worse. If you've ever hosted a carnival, you might feel some deja-vu here.) Many other activities can cause symptoms.

Thanks to all for the kind get-well wishes! My wrist is feeling much better now, and I think I can blog.

But I've had to change a few things. I'm dictating more at work. I've had an ergonomic evaluation of my office. My computer and keyboard have been repositioned, and I'm using a trackball mouse. I switch hands frequently when clicking. I try not to type for extended periods. And on the home front, I've declared a moratorium on knitting mittens, sketching faces from the pages of the New York Times, and painting portraits of my garden.

Is podcasting in my future? Hmmm...