[ILUG] Any advice for RSI?

[Mark Dennehy]

I had the same problem about twelve years ago after typing on a sun4 plank
of a keyboard for a few months. In my case I was fortunate - I changed
keyboards, the problem went away and never returned. I switched over to the
Kinesis keyboard rather than the microsoft natural (I tried that one to no
effect, in fact I found it harder to use). I wrote it all up (warts and
all):

http://stochasticgeometry.wordpress.com/2009/01/16/gunk/

Hope it helps...

On Sat, Jan 2, 2010 at 12:07 AM, Brendan Kehoe <brendan at zen.org> wrote:

> Hi Rory,
>
> I too was diagnosed with RSI now about 15 years ago.  Big helps: go to a
> professional who can diagnose this properly (get a referral); learn the
> Dvorak keyboard layout---you'll type for longer with drastically less
> pain, even if it takes a few weeks to get back to the speed you like;
> force yourself with a whip to take regular typing breaks (while
> frustrating, finding yourself unable to work only halfway thru the day,
> and seeing long-term effects, are much harder); put the screen directly
> in front of you, no angles; never rest your wrists or arms on anything,
> ever, particularly while actively moving for the keyboard or the mouse.
>
> I switched to using Microsoft Natural Keyboards and now a MS Wireless
> Comfort Keyboard, and definitely find them much more comfortable.  (But
> after getting it, learn Dvorak.)  As much as I'm all
> free-software-advocacy, their ergonomic keyboard layout is the most
> useful I've discovered so far.
>
> I will sometimes rest wrists/forarms with ice wrapped in a cloth if
> they're really stiff or hurt a lot.  Any keyboard shortcuts you find
> yourself using a lot have to go.  e.g., before I finally stopped using
> emacs for 99% of everything I did, I took the first step in making sure
> it was impossible for me to use key sequences I did a *lot*, using this
> bit in my .emacs:
>
>    ; I hit C-x f instead of C-x C-f a lot .. since I don't want it to
>    reset the
>    ; fill column (what C-x f does), do this:
>    (global-unset-key "\C-xf")
>    (global-unset-key "\e[")
>    ; force the use of the File->Exit pulldown choice.
>    (and window-system
>      ;; set things up to not be able to use the more common control keys
>      ;; cuz left-handed control is too painful.
>         (mapcar (function (lambda (binding)
>                 (global-set-key (car binding) 'keyboard-quit)))
>             '(
>               ("\C-a")
>               ("\C-e")
>               ("\C-f")
>               ;("\C-d") ; fsf-emacs 21.1 maps Del key to C-d
>               ("\C-s")
>               ("\C-x\C-c")
>               ("\C-x\C-f")
>               ("\C-x\C-s")
>               ("\C-w")
>               ;("\C-t")
>               ))
>    )
>
> When used under X, this made sure I had to use buttons and pull-down
> menus instead of typing stuff (like C-x-everything).  I've since stopped
> coding in emacs usually because I was still finding ways around them.
> (e.g., Since C-x C-f was out, I got into the habit of doing C-x 4 C-f to
> still get to do it, even though this was against the original idea)
>
> Hope this helps,
> B
>
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-- 
Mark Dennehy