Hi fellow programmers.
How do you ensure to prevent RSI and/or manage RSI? Especially with your hands and arms.
For those who don’t know, RSI is a disorder that occurs when repeating the same movements too much for a long period of time. This frequently occurs when sitting behind a desk and using keyboard and mouse the entire day.
I personally have a great (but expensive) chair with arm rests and have a slightly ergonomic mouse (it has a curve, to make it more comfortable for my thumb).
Honestly, I dislike having to disrupt my computer activities every hour, because I’m usually quite immersed / invested into whatever I’m doing. Whether that’s watching a movie, developing an app or simply playing videogames. However, I’ll probably have to start taking frequent breaks, in order to prevent RSI from taking a hold in my body. Unfortunately, we only get one body, one chance, so let’s not mess it up with neglecting breaks and acquiring RSI.
Is there anyone with RSI or a carpal tunnel? If so, at what age did it start to develop, and does it comes suddenly or is there a warning you may miss or ignore?
I’ve spent most of my life in front of a PC. Since most of my hobbies are on a computer, and I work at a computer with which I started at a very young age (basically ever since I got a dreamcast when I was 4), and aside from also thankfully being forced to do sports at least once a week for most of my life (which I unfortunately stopped a few years ago, apart from ballroom dance from time to time - and I’m 27 now), I’m literally almost all the time in front of a PC. I never had problems with any kind of pain regarding wrists or hands, but from what I’ve heard carpal and RSI is something that can come pretty suddenly and it’s not a good time. Is that true and should I start worrying, or will I probably notice when the time comes?