Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Causes, Symptoms, and Tips for Writers and Bloggers
Do writers face hazards at work? You better believe it: repetitive strain injury or carpal tunnel syndrome can be caused by the repetitious motions of typing, clicking, using a laptop’s built-in mousepad, and hitting the “backspace” or “delete” key constantly. Those motions can affect a writer’s fingers, hands, and wrists — and not in a good way! Here several symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome (which I think I’m developing), plus six tips for avoiding this repetitive strain injury.
My mother-in-law is going for surgery to ease her painful carpal tunnel symptoms next week – and she’ll be out of commission for six weeks. I can’t imagine not being able to work for that long, and am on an anti-carpal tunnel syndrome rampage.
Here’s a tip for writers and bloggers: if you daydream, think, write, or blog in your head, don’t “just” stare off into space. Grab a soft stress ball or something that stretches your hand and wrist muscles while relieving pressure. Click the hands and red balls for more info — there are also exercise bands that can ease the effects of repetitive strain. And, read on for the causes, symptoms, and exercises to relieve carpal tunnel syndrome…
Causes of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when there is increased pressure on the median nerve and tendons on the outside of the wrist. According to Body and Health Canada, the exact cause of carpal tunnel can’t be determined because it’s usually a combination of things that causes increased pressure on the wrist.
Factors that contribute to carpal tunnel syndrome include:
- repetitive movements of the hand or wrist
- trauma or injury to the wrist
- certain medical conditions (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, low thyroid, diabetes)
- cysts or tumours
- pregnancy
- frequent use of vibrating hand tools
- having wrists too small for all the ligaments and nerves to fit properly
Writers and bloggers may be at a greater wrist of developing carpal tunnel because of the repetitive movements of typing and keyboarding.
Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Numbness or tingling sensation in the fingers.
- Loss of feeling in thumb, index, and middle finger.
- Hands falling asleep.
- Aching shoulders and neck.
- Pain radiating up forearm.
- Hand and/or wrist pain.
- Poor circulation in hands, wrists, and fingers.
- Loss of hand grip strength.
- Clumsiness of hands; dropping items.
It’s extremely important for writers and bloggers to do all they can to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome – especially if they want to make a living from writing!
6 Tips for Preventing Carpal Tunnel for Writers or Bloggers
1. Use a mouse – or stop using your mouse. I write on a laptop, and never used an external mouse until the tingling and numbness in my fingers started to unnerve me. Now, I use an external mouse as much as possible; it’s like a massage for my wrist and the meaty part of my thumb. To prevent carpal tunnel syndrome, change your hand, wrist, and finger position as much as possible. Use different types of mouses and keyboards.
2. Take frequent breaks. Every hour, take a few minutes to walk around your office or home. Shake out your hands, stretch them above your head, dangle them near your feet. Get the blood flowing! Give your hands, wrists, and fingers a break from the repetitive motion of typing. Just like breaking any bad writing habit, incorporating “stay healthy” breaks takes time and effort — but then it’s just part of your day. If you’re on Twitter, try @twittercize (“getting fit, one tweet at a time”).
3. Get exercise that involves your hands and arms. My exercise break is at 11 am every day; I do an hour-long home-based workout that’s incredibly effective, inexpensive, and fun (I have seven different 10 Minute Solutions DVDs, and have toned up and lost over 15 pounds because of them – read 7 Tips for Working Out With Pilates Fitness DVDs for more info). To avoid repetitive strain injury, don’t just run or cycle to stay fit. Do exercise that actually uses your arms, hands, and fingers.
4. Consider ergonomic desk chairs, keyboards, etc. If you have ergonomic office equipment, use it. I used to shrug off the idea of buying good office furniture and equipment because I thought it was a luxury…but now I realize that protecting my health for the long term is a necessity, not a luxury!
5. Do specific exercises to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. There are dozens of great exercises for carpal tunnel and I can’t list them all here, but I found several excellent sources of info. One of the best is the University of Maryland Medical Center’s How Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Can Be Prevented.
6. 
Consider wrist support. Similar to a knee brace, carpal tunnel wrist support can brace your hands and wrists. This type of brace can ease the pressure on your finger and thumb muscles, which may reduce the chances you’ll struggle with carpal tunnel as a writer. Whether a brace works depends on your hands and arms, the position they’re in all day, and your specific type of strain. But, they may be worth a try – this might be a good product to share with a coworker or family member who also writes or blogs a lot (or spends a lot of time on the computer).
Fellow scribes, don’t wait until your wrists or hands are sore before you think about carpal tunnel syndrome. Take care of your hands…they’re your second-best source of income (after your brain, of course).
Does the repetitive motion of writing or blogging affect your hands and fingers? If you have any tips for preventing carpal tunnel, I welcome you below…
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Comment by Sharon Hurley Hall on 8 January 2010:
Great tips; one more is to use speech recognition software such as Dragon Naturally Speaking, MacSpeech or the built in one in Windows, to save your wrists and hands. I’ve been using Dragon recently and it really makes a difference.
Sharon Hurley Hall´s last blog post ..Dragon NaturallySpeaking Review
Comment by Lisa (lablady) on 8 January 2010:
Great advice. I believe that extensive typing on the non-ergonomic Qwerty keyboard causes quite a bit of problems. If you notice, your hands/wrists don’t line up and since most of the letters we use when we type on this keyboard are on the left-hand part of the keyboard…well, ouch!
I’d love to get an ergonomic Dvorak keyboard to not only line up my wrists properly and not strain them but also to balance out the use of fingers on both hands. Some day…just hope after over 30 years of typing on Qwerty, I’ll be able to learn the Dvorak key placement quickly. lol
Lisa (lablady)´s last blog post ..Happy New Year! Win, win, WIN in 2010!
Comment by Travel Blogs on 8 January 2010:
Great post and good tips!
Comment by Chris on 9 January 2010:
I use a free program called EyeRelax which makes my computer screen go black for one minute every hour. Makes me get up and walk around.
Chris´s last blog post ..Tech Tip–Review of Financial Programs
Comment by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen on 9 January 2010:
Thanks for your tips, everyone!
Speech recognition software is a great way to take the pressure off your wrists and hands, which could definitely reduce the likelihood of carpal tunnel syndrome. Have you tried it, anyone? How does it work?
Lisa, that’s interesting that most of the keys we use are on the lefthand side of the keyboard…and yet it’s my right hand that’s feeling the effects of repetitive strain! I think it’s not typing as much as using my laptop’s mousepad. It forces my hand and wrist into an awkward, unnatural position. I’m sure that’s where my problems lie — which is why the external mouse is so good.
Chris, I love the “EyeRelax” idea — that’s a great way to take a break! Love it.
Laurie
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Comment by Susan Greene on 9 January 2010:
A couple years ago I had severe carpal tunnel symptoms. Nothing seemed to help.
Eventually, out of desperation, I went to a physical therapist who suggested I do stretches/exercises with something called a wrist wand. I tried them skeptically, doubted such a low-tech, inexpensive solution could do anything. Much to my surprise, the exercises worked.
Within about a week, I was pain-free and have been ever since. A couple times a day, I pull out my little wrist wand and do the exercises.
I got the wrist wand, which is really just a small bar, from http://www.wristwand.com. It comes with directions on how to do the wrist exercises. Cost is roughly $25.
Comment by K.M. Weiland on 12 January 2010:
As someone who suffers a repetitive stress injury in my wrist, as the result of too much mouse work, I can’t stress enough the importance of prevention. You can save yourself so much pain and stress if you practice good habits from the very beginning.
K.M. Weiland´s last blog post ..Why Word Count Goals Can Be Destructive
Comment by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen on 12 January 2010:
Thanks for your input on carpal tunnel syndrome for writers!
Susan, I’m glad you’re pain-free — thanks for the tip on the wrist wand.
And I agree, K.M….your comment reminded me of the “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” quip
Laurie
Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen´s last blog post ..6 Tips for Running on the Beach – Exercising in Maui
Comment by Grants on 15 January 2010:
Valuable thoughts, thank you.
Taking breaks to move is very important, not just for the body, for the spirit and mind as well.
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Pingback by New on Quips and Tips – Travel Blogging, Honeymoons, and Maui | The Adventurous Writer on 16 January 2010:
[...] Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Causes, Symptoms, and Tips for Writers and Bloggers – my mother-in-law went for carpal tunnel surgery yesterday, and I’m suddenly ultra-conscious of my wrists and fingers. Writers are at risk! [...]
Comment by Chloë on 19 January 2010:
I’m right-handed and two years ago I switched to using an external mouse with my left hand.
It takes a few weeks to get used to it, but overall the switch has greatly reduce pain I was feeling in my right hand.
Comment by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen on 26 January 2010:
Interesting — I hadn’t thought of using the external mouse with my left hand! That’s a great idea, and I can totally see how it would reduce the possibility of carpal tunnel syndrome — it gives your right hand a much-needed break!
I think I’ll try it. Also, using your left hand for such a primary task is good for your brain (neurobics, doncha know!).
Thanks for the tip.
Laurie
Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen´s last blog post ..How to Make Conversation for Introverts – Tips for Small Talk
Comment by Lynette on 26 February 2010:
We have developed a new product for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS).
We are currently involved with a case study, which is showing great success. We have seen improvements with Carpal Tunnel Symptoms within a few weeks of using the Carpal Roller. For more information you can click my name to go to our website.
Comment by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen on 26 February 2010:
Thanks, Lynette, for letting us know about the Carpal Roller.
I just got a massage yesterday, and found that my wrists, thumb, and hands are much more relaxed and loose! Regular massage is a great way to overcome carpal tunnel syndrome, I think.
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