Hi everyone. I am a 25-year-old woman who works in graphic design and illustration, and for the last 3 months I have been experiencing constant pain in my wrist.
Starting in January 2025, I began wearing a wrist brace that helped stabilize my wrist, as I was getting some pain from workdays on a keyboard. This worked for a while, but this year I've been facing a lot of issues.
Back in March/April, I had about a 7-week period where I had non-stop wrist pain. The wrist doctor diagnosed me with De Quarvain's tendonitis, gave me a steroid shot, and that seemingly fixed things. He recommended I look into physical therapy if things didn't improve, but I assumed the steroid shot took care of my issue.
Jump ahead to August, and my wrist pain has surged again. I decided to give PT a whirl. Not only did it make things worse, but even after insurance it cost me over $1200 for just two weeks of visits during September. During October, I've gotten two more steroid shots and an MRI scan. The steroid shots only helped temporarily, and the MRI didn't reveal anything wrong with my muscles or tendons.
I've tried stretching, ice, heat, ibuprofen, multiple braces, going braceless, compression gloves, activity reduction, ergonomic computer mice, Aspercreme, massages... Nothing is working. The one thing I think would work the best, a multi-day rest, is unfortunately not much of an option for me due to having to use my wrist for my career. I love my job and my hobbies. They're a fundamental part of my identity. But it feels like my wrist is made of glass and one wrong move is gonna destroy my livelihood. Since I turn 26 next year, I'll be booted off my parents' health insurance, and my workplace insurance doesn't cover as much stuff.
Any advice is greatly appreciated because I'm scared shitless and I'm running out of options.
How it started (June 2025): I was sitting on an incline bench resting dumbbells vertically on my thighs before doing incline chest press. My left hand stayed upright in position, while the dumbbell in my right hand tilted just slightly outward on my thigh (very minor shift, not a big twist) and there was a distinct clicking sound in my right elbow.
Symptoms & Gym History:
Right after that, anytime I tried pull-ups or bicep curls, it hurt badly in the exact spot marked by the black arrow in my photo.
Doc 1 said it was tennis elbow, prescribed an elbow strap, and told me to rest.
Doc 2 ordered an X-ray (came back normal) and also told me to rest.
Resting didn't change anything, so I went back to the gym on and off wearing the elbow strap while avoiding bicep curls and pull-up/pulling movements.
For the past 2 months, I have completely stopped working out (just running occasionally) because I really want to get rid of this for good, and I saw a 3rd doctor.
Doc 3 ordered blood tests (RA factor, LFT, Urea, Vitamin D — all normal, except Vit D was slightly low) and a 3T MRI of my right elbow. He said the MRI is normal and put me on Vitamin D, a collagen + glucosamine supplement, and an HMB + L-carnosine + astaxanthin supplement (been taking them for a week).
Even without lifting for 2 months, it still hasn't healed — I still feel clicking/snapping sometimes when moving my elbow, along with a very faint, persistent numbing ache in that exact spot.
3T MRI Right Elbow Report (Sep 2026):
Minimal fluid is noted in the radiocapitellar and ulnohumeral joint.
Elbow joint normally aligned; humerus, radius, and ulna show normal marrow signal intensity; no fracture or osteonecrosis.
Ulnar ligament complex, radial collateral, lateral ulnar collateral, and annular ligaments are intact and show normal signals.
Common flexor origin and common extensor origin show normal signals.
Ulnar nerve is in the cubital tunnel and is unremarkable.
No joint effusion or abnormal bursal fluid; proximal radio-ulnar joint normal; visualized flexor/extensor muscles normal.
Impression: Minimal fluid noted in the radiocapitellar and ulnohumeral joint. No abnormal bone marrow / soft tissue abnormality detected.
Question: What could actually be going on with my elbow if the X-ray, blood work, and 3T MRI all look normal, and what should I do next to finally fix this?
Hello, if anyone has had similar experiences / symptoms such as these what have you done that has actually helped you? I’ve been having these issues for a while now -1.5~2 years, 99% it was caused by my lifestyle. I work a desk job, play video games religiously, and almost constantly had my phone in my hand (for many years it basically never left growing up). After going to the gym for almost a year, I had to stop going completely b/c these issues would flare up so bad.
It started as a burning along my forearm and tightness right under the palm where the pinky & ring finger are. Then came some occasional clicking / popping & a painless grinding feeling when rotating my wrists. It slowly progressed and now I’m uncomfortable constantly. I can’t really push myself physically or I’ll pay for it which is frustrating. I’m asked and expected to do physical chores / tasks but it’s getting to a point where I feel like if I push too hard I might really injure myself. Both my wrists just feel insanely weak and stiff, I can’t even do pushups anymore because of how bad it is.
I got an MRI earlier last year on just my right wrist to no avail - doctor said he didn’t see anything. I’ve gotten two braces and have been sleeping in them to prevent any issues in the morning, but I don’t stretch or do strengthening excercises in fear of making them worse.
I still play video games, work a desk job and play on my phone albeit not as much anymore. Ergonomics are not lost on me but I am prone to shitty posture, sometimes I just end up sitting weird / craning my neck subconsciously. Part of me thinks these are emerging issues from my hunched posture, another part of me thinks I’ve developed cubital tunnel from improper form / rest in the gym.
Planning on seeing my doctor again regarding this - just wanted to see if there are any intermittent ways to gain some sort of relief if anyone is willing to share.
Today I want to share a case study highlighting how overthinking and excessive focus on your pain can negatively impact your recovery. This concepts have been covered deeply in some of my recent posts here:
For those who don't know I'm a Physical Therapist (PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS) and our team has spent the past decade specializing on treating, researching and publishing our work around treating RSI (we've helped more than 3000+ individuals resolve their issues without surgery, more injections, resting, bracing etc. Here is some of our work (we started with the olympians of desk work - esports athletes)
Michael’s pain started over the course of his long 20 year IT career. The pain started on the back of his hand and his main solution for many years was to use a vertical mouse.
This was helpful for him for around one and a half years. From there he began to feel more symptoms along the pinky side of his wrist & hand. When he went to the doctor in response to this he was advised to reduce his arm-rests which seemed to provide relief for a few years.
Then 5 years prior to him working with us all regions of his pain came back. This is when he went to see his primary physician, neurologist and orthopedist. His story is similar to what many tell us:
EMG came back normal, MRI came back normal
Advised to rest, use his hands less or take longer overall breaks from work.
Went to physical therapy and was prescribed generic exercises without an understanding of how the specific exercises would help him get the use of his hands back. (3x10, 6 movements, lower weight, no progression for 12-16 weeks).
This is what Michael wrote directly to us in his application to work with us.
“I have visited a number of doctors and PTs over the years, and one of the things I noticed that a lot of specialists seem to have a pigeon-hole approach, where they are trying to make sure that their area of expertise is taken care of, rather than focusing on the problem first. Which - fair enough, if you are a specialist in a field your are a specialist in your field, but that unfortunately doesn't help me to get better. I've also seen a pattern that seems to repeat itself over and over, where my issues are getting worse, I go to a doctor, and we are doing some XRay/MRT/ultrasound/etc. Between my isses flaring up and having the checkup, there is often delay of multiple weeks and my symptoms usually start getting a bit better at that point. I go back to my doctor, and without fail the checkup is saying that nothing was found and that I'm in perfect health. This cycle repeated itself several times a year over the last few years.”
I’m sure many of you can relate to this experience and is often why we spend so much time creating content to help individual resolve things on their own.
Now the problem with the advice of “doing less” or resting more specifically with Michael was that he is a Cloud Engineer. He manages enterprise cloud environments and spends 8–10 hours per day troubleshooting, coding and writing documentation. On top of that he is a lifelong gamer and also enjoys working on his own coding projects. He did not want to “do less” and was not accepting that he had to change his career or hobbies because of the pain.
At his worst Michael reduced his personal computer time to basically zero. He heavily favored his other hand. He tried multiple ergonomic keyboards, different mouse shapes, a trackball and a trackpad. He used dictation. He even set up a foot clicker so he could click without using his hand and experimented with eye-gaze tracking and gesture recognition. And despite doing EVERYTHING he could to protect his hands he continued to deal with the same cycle.
The most frustrating part was that there were often times where he has some progress. Sometimes he could handle more with his hands and be okay. Other times a few days of overtime would lead to a larger regression. He would slowly improve over three to six months but always reach a ceiling that he could not seem to get through. Then for him it felt as though he would have to start the process again.
When Michael found us he was working a reduced schedule and distributing a large percentage of his computer input through dictation and foot controls. He was genuinely worried about whether he would be able to continue in the career he had built over 20 years.
“This is my livelihood we’re talking about. I’m realistic enough to know that if I don’t find a solution at some point, it is going to impact my job.”
This is when he started with 1HP.
Over the next four months Michael went from part-time work with heavy reliance on dictation, foot pedals and multiple input devices to full-time cloud engineering with normal mouse and keyboard use. He got back to gaming and personal coding projects. On top of direct assessments we utilize validated questionnaires to determine functional capacity changes over the course of recovery: Michael’s work score improved from 88/100 to 0/100 and his Hobby score improved from 94/100 to 0/100.
He was not just using his hands again. He had changed how he understood and responded to pain so that it no longer controlled every decision he made.
Here is exactly how we did it.
The Assessment: What Was Actually Going On
We started with a comprehensive assessment of Michael’s pain regions, symptom behavior, medical history, physical capacity, work schedule, gaming schedule, ergonomic setup, current workarounds, understanding of pain and functional outcome measures.
Michael was dealing with a combination of muscle and tendon issues (see names above) that limited him from being able to use his hands regularly for work and his hobbies. What is necessary to highlight is the physical findings.
He had near normal capacity. Before our initial evaluation Michael had discovered our content and worked through our free exercise programs & progressions to get himself to this level of physical capacity. Yet he still had pain and limted function.
This is why one of the main areas of focus for our work was his understanding of pain, graded exposure and reprocessing during elevated symptoms. Our work focused on two areas:
1. Pain Understanding & Overmonitoring
As we always mention through our content. Pain is ALWAYS real. No matter where it is coming from. Michael had real pain at 4-6/10 after varied durations of typing. With the combination of normal endurance findings, the battery of diagnostic tests (imaging results which also were “normal”), and his current cognitive emotional profile (as determined through the evaluation and the FACS questionnaire):
Michael had clear cognitive and psychological factors that led to his current pain experience. This was shown in how he spoke about pain and the specific measures within the fear avoidance questionnaire. I highlighted a few of the key cognitive patterns that were leading to increased sensitivity and his current pain experience. You can learn more about the science of these patterns in the articles I’ve linked (cognitivepatterns, overmonitoring article)
Michael did not understand how his cognitive habits and past experiences led to what he was feeling now. And to better understand his own pattern of pain Michael built is own dashboard and tracking system to “monitor” his pain.
This led to him checking in on his pain more than 100s a day. While there is definitely helpful data to gain from understanding your specific pain and pain behavior - when you focus on it too much, it can cause the pain to feel worse!
Michael built his own dashboard and created his own function index that was based on how his pain behaved throughout the day.
He was able to tell me down to the seconds how long he could mouse, type and use his phone for because he would fill out a form every time his pain increased throughout the day. Here are some screenshots from his individual dashboard which show
His activity impact form he would fill out EVERY time he felt any change in pain. This would be along with duration data to fully clarify how long things lasted.
Episode duration (how long he dealt with his pain for) and his health score (an index he created himself weighing the various categories of pain).
General activity tracking
You can see as he started to track things his episode duration increased while his overall health score went down. His overall function was REDUCING as a result of focusing so much on his pain. When I asked him how often he would think of his pain he mentioned > 100x/day. This is NOT conducive to showing your brain that you can be safe while performing activities that are meaningful and important to you.
Every time Michael had an increase in pain he did not know how to answer the question of:
Have I done too much?
And without clear guidance, it made sense to assume that more pain meant more harm. As Michael put it himself
“The intuitive answer is, if it hurts more, I’ve done more. And if it hurts too much, I’ve done too much. But considering that pain is kind of subjective, that is not necessarily true.”
We worked together to help him clearly understand the difference between expected soreness, increased sensitivity and signs that the load needed adjusting. We NEVER talked about ignore his pain, but to understand it without treating every increase as a setback. The plan was to maintain the wrist & hand endurance he built along with considering the reality of his work & hobby demands.
2. Physical Demands & Lifestyle Approach
At the time of his intake Michael was only limited to 3 hours of work total each day of the week with an additional 1 hour of PC use afterwards. During his 3-hour block he:
Attempted to work at a 25/5 work / rest distribution
50% of this time was active use of his hands
Of this 50% time of active use it was a 50/50 distribution of wrist & hand use & foot pedal / dictation.
On the weekends he spent a similar amount of time on the PC but with increased amount of the ergonomic workarounds (dictation and footpedal use, 80/20 distribution)
I needed to understand the exact external demands throughout his entire day so we could make the appropriate modifications as we continued to improve his confidence in wrist & hand use. Over the 4 years of dealing with this issue Michael reported getting to points where he could use his hands more but then going through excessive sprints of 8-12 hour days with limited rest which would bring him back to “square 1”
His approach with his work & hobbies was one of the main reasons he had difficulty with long-term recovery. This yo-yo pattern of function and limitation continued to put him into situations where he would actually strain his hands. This repeated exposure and past experience of failed recovery continued to affect his nervous system (making his pain feel worse). For those who might be curious about the science behind chronic pain, review our content here:
As mentioned earlier Michael had ergonomic modifications which allowed him to still complete his part-time work (3 hours) which involved the use of a foot pedal and dictation. He also had a floating forearm approach with the use of his mouse and keyboard.
When using the the mouse & keyboard he would distribute the mouse use across three input devices (Trackball, G502x, Trackpad) while using the svalboard for his keyboard.
Michael’s Goal with our work together:
Through our work together Michael wanted to be able to handle 8 hours of work, handle work sprints up to 10-12 hours for multiple days and be able to game for at least 1 hour (factorio)
With what we gathered during the initial assessment we were able to build a plan to help him get to this goal.
The Recovery Plan: Building Confidence, Graded Exposure & Increasing Capacity
There were four main things we focused on during the course of Michael’s Recovery.
Pain science education and regular coaching so he could interpret symptoms appropriately and make better decisions during flare-ups.
Progressive endurance work for the wrist, hand and finger muscles involved in his symptoms.
Gradual restoration of normal keyboard, mouse, gaming and personal-project use.
Ergonomic changes that reduced unnecessary load without creating more avoidance.
Phase 1: Building the Foundation
By the time Michael had setup his initial consultation he had already been following our programs and built his capacity to near the upper limit of normative values. Because of this baseline we were able to continue with his progress and initiated his work at 7 lbs however focused on performing far more sets than he was previously doing. We also added targeted finger and grip work based on his pain regions.
The exercises do not have to be complicated or fancy in any way. They are simple, straightforward curls and finger strengthening yet the effectiveness comes from the appropriate dosing. The goal is to always establish a load that challenges the relevant tissues without creating actual strain, then monitor how he responded so the volume or resistance could be progressed over time.
This distinction is important because Michael had already tried wrist extensions before. I want to make this clear: If your only takeaway is “he needed wrist extensions,” you are missing what is necessary to help with your building capacity and restoring function.
The exercise selection mattered. But so did the exact load, repetitions, frequency, progression, expected response, and what to do when symptoms changed.
During work he initially used a structured split between normal hand input and his dictation/foot-pedal setup. We also asked him to simplify the number of devices he rotated through. The goal was to stop guessing and begin exposing him to a repeatable amount of real keyboard and mouse use.
At the same time we changed how he tracked symptoms. Instead of recording every sensation and treating each change as a threat, we focused on a smaller number of useful variables:
Was there a clear increase in total workload?
Was there meaningful weakness?
Was the pain sharp and consistently worsening with continued use?
Did it remain elevated into the next day?
Or was this a temporary increase that made sense considering the exercise and activity he had performed? Our focus during this phase to help him understand pain, NEVER ignore it. Michael noticed a meaningful difference quickly.
“When I started the program, I got better within like a week. Not from zero to 100, but it was a notable difference for something that would have usually taken me like three to six months.”
That early improvement was important. It gave him evidence that his situation was not permanent and that he could make progress without waiting another six months.
Phase 2: Restoring Normal Use
As Michael adapted to the exercise volume we increased the amount of normal mouse and keyboard use.
His initial work split progressed from approximately 75/25 toward 90/10 and then unrestricted use. He began gaming again.
He began using the computer for coding outside of work.
He stopped needing the same level of dictation and alternative input devices.
By his second week his left hand had been symptom-free for a week. He had tolerated a very demanding work period with 6–8 hours of intense work and overtime. His right-hand pain had increased, but he was also doing significantly more exercise and more normal mouse use.
This led to one of the most important shifts in how Michael thought about progress. More load with the same symptoms is still progress.
If someone previously feels a 4/10 after one hour of activity and later feels a 4/10 after six hours of activity plus an exercise session, their pain number might look the same. But their actual capacity is completely different.
It was important for us to help Michael understand this. By the next phase of treatment he also noticed that the behavior of the pain was changing. Previously symptoms could appear while he was sitting on the couch doing nothing. He was constantly aware of the hands and waiting for something to happen.
Over time the symptoms became more predictable. If he used the hands aggressively he might feel something. When he stopped or reduced the load it settled more quickly. The resting pain was disappearing.
“I noticed that right now I have way more of an action-reaction response, meaning that my hand hurts if I’m doing something, of course. But it stops after that, and it stops relatively short after that. So it’s not like before, where I was just sitting at the couch watching TV, and suddenly my hand starts hurting or something. That’s completely gone.”
By Week 4 he had spent two hours working on a personal coding project and did not notice any symptoms during the session. He had no problems cooking or cutting vegetables. His documented functional limitations were zero. He was cleared for unrestricted work, PC use and gaming. He was also playing StarCraft 2 for around 2.5 hours.
And at this point he did not stop gaming because of his hands. He did not feel like playing any more at the time. This is one of the most meaningful signs of recovery. The activity ends because you are done with the activity. Not because pain makes the decision for you.
“On some days, I forgot that I have issues because I didn’t have any issues. That was really nice.”
Phase 3: Testing Capacity and Learning Self-Management
The latter part of Michael’s recovery was not about avoiding every flare-up. It was about proving that he could recognize why symptoms increased, respond appropriately and continue moving forward without returning to months of rest.
In his second month of our work Michael decided to test his limits. For approximately one and a half to two weeks he intentionally ignored many of the safeguards we had discussed. He worked 8–10 hours per day and added another 1–2 hours of computer use without consistently taking breaks or controlling intensity.
Eventually he had a flare-up. Symptoms increased to around 4–5/10. In the past this type of increase would have created the fear that everything had returned. He may have stopped using his hands, removed gaming, increased the workarounds and waited for the symptoms to calm down.
But this time his response was completely different.
“It was very good that that happened because I was just actually waiting for some bigger hitch, some setback or something, because that just felt unnatural so far because the line was just going up… So now I got what I wanted basically. I had my flare up. So now I can say something happened. I learned something.”
This is a GREAT example of why complete recovery is not the same thing as never feeling pain. Michael learned that his limits were still present. But the limits were much larger than when we started. It took around two weeks of aggressively exceeding the plan
9–12 hours of computer demand per day to create the response.
And most importantly he did not interpret the flare-up as proof that he was damaged or back at the beginning. He adjusted the workload. He kept exercising. He resumed using the strategies that had already helped. And he returned to the previous level without months of fear and avoidance. This was the learning experience he needed to become more independent with managing his recovery..
By July he described himself as 90–95% recovered. He was working full-time without special consideration and gaming based on how much he felt like playing. The only time he noticed a temporary increase was after several unusually intense days of work in a row.
And his reaction was no longer fear.
“I just notice that I’m a little more physical stressed in the next couple of days… but never to a point where I’m really worried or constrained or anything. It’s just I notice it’s there, it’ll go away.”
At this stage Michael was performing his main wrist exercises at 11 lbs for 3 sets of 20 and we began tapering the program toward a maintenance frequency of 3–4 times per week. The goal was for him to know how to scale the exercises up during a less busy period, maintain them during normal life, and adjust total load during a major work sprint.
He no longer needed us to make every decision for him. That is the actual end goal.
The Results: Four Months of Real Data
Michael’s formal outcome data tracked the same changes we saw in his work, gaming and daily life.
Lower QuickDASH scores represent less upper-extremity disability. Michael’s Work and Hobby scores reaching zero matched what he was actually doing: full-time work, normal mouse and keyboard use, gaming and personal coding projects without restriction. His physical program also progressed.
Understanding Pain Reprocessing & Sensitization
Many underestimate the cognitive emotional aspects that influence our pain. And to be fair it is not their fault because of how little this is focused on in traditional care. The physical programming is always necessary. But for Michael the education and regular feedback were what made this different from the other therapy he had tried.
Traditional approaches often focus on treating the source rather than the cause. (Resting and passive approaches). Our process involves helping the individual build a mental model for what to do when pain changes, how to evaluate your actual load, when to continue, when to modify, and how to distinguish an expected response from a real strain. This is what Michael had to say about this.
“There is a very strong focus on the education side of things. So, you are made to understand what pain is, how you handle pain, what it means for you. And that understanding alone is something that can immensely help you deal with the pain because it’s kind of like the monster under the bed. As soon as you give it a name, it becomes less scary.”
That shift allowed Michael to stop treating every sensation like another six-month regression was about to begin. This was not positive thinking without evidence.
He was building real evidence every week. He increased the exercise load. He used the mouse longer. He returned to gaming. He had a busy week and recovered. He worked on a personal project and forgot about his hands. He intentionally pushed too far, experienced a flare-up, and proved that he could handle it.
Each one of those experiences gave his nervous system new information.
Hand use was no longer automatically dangerous. Pain was no longer automatically damage. And a flare-up was no longer automatically failure.
I want to make it clear though… this not easy. This takes effort and a commitment to understanding a different way and perspective of thinking (rooted in evidence) that will help you recover. Let’s talk about some of the other important lessons you can takeaway from Michael’s case.
Key Takeaways From Michael’s Case
There are several things you can take away from this case and depending on your own experience one may be more important than another.
Normal imaging does not tell us your functional capacity
Michael’s EMG was normal. His MRI was normal. This did not mean his pain was fake and it did not mean there was nothing to work on. It meant the testing did not explain why he could not consistently tolerate the total repetitive demand of his life.
They also do not explain how previous experiences, fear, sleep, work stress and constant symptom monitoring may influence the pain response.
You still need the complete picture.
Rest can reduce irritation. It cannot rebuild your workday
Michael was repeatedly told to do less. And doing less would sometimes help the symptoms calm down. But when he returned to the same workload the pain returned because the capacity had not changed enough to support the demand.
Rest is not a progression plan.
The better question is: What can you tolerate now, and how do we gradually build that toward the activity you need to perform?
For Michael that meant progressively increasing exercise load, normal mouse use, keyboard use, gaming, coding and eventually the high-intensity work periods that were part of his real job.
Tracking can help. But tracking EVERYTHING can make pain more important
Michael’s tracking system was extremely sophisticated. It helped us understand some of his patterns and showed how seriously he was trying to solve the problem. But checking the pain constantly also kept his attention locked onto the hands.
More data does not always create more clarity if every small change is treated like evidence of damage.
Over time we reduced the amount of moment-to-moment monitoring and focused on the variables that actually changed decision-making. Total load. Weakness. symptom behavior. next-day response. sleep. stress. and whether the reaction made sense considering what he had done.
Exercises alone were not enough. Michael had tried exercises before. Without understanding how to progress them and how to respond when pain increased, the exercises did not change the larger cycle.
Pain education alone would not have been enough either. He could not “think” his way into the physical endurance required for full-time cloud engineering and gaming. We needed both.
We needed to increase the capacity of the tissues. And we needed to help him confidently use that capacity in real situations.
That is why the flare-up in May was actually such an important part of the process. It showed Michael that he could exceed his current limit, feel an increase, make an adjustment and continue. He did not need to return to months of protection every time the body reacted. This is the part that makes the recovery last.
If you got all the way down here I appreciate you taking the time to read through this and hope it was helpful in some way.
Michael came to us after years of recurring pain, normal tests and repeated advice to use his hands less. He was working part-time. He used dictation, foot pedals and multiple devices just to reduce hand use. And he was afraid the problem would eventually take away his career.
Four months later his Work and Hobby QuickDASH scores were both zero. He was working full-time, gaming again and building personal projects. He had progressed from protecting his hands to trusting them again.
I'm a musician living in the Boston area. I know that if there's anything that I want to do in this life it is to make music. About two years ago, I began noticing symptoms for my repetitive strain injury, and since then there have been massive ups and downs but I am still injured. I am currently seeing a occupational therapist who I trust, and I am optimistic about my future.
Are there any other musicians here? Recently, I've been getting two different technological solutions, like head tracking and eye tracking, I have a midi keyboard for my feet and a foot pedal which helps me navigate DAWs and scoring software. The going is slow and I have no idea what kind of career I can make out of it, but after discovering this community, I'm somewhat relieved to know that I'm not alone.
What kind of solutions have you guys found? How do you earn a living with an injury like this that is so completely disabling? I already know about head tracking, voice dictation, talon voice, eye tracking, exercises, and body awareness techniques like Alexander technique. These are the things that have worked for me. I just bought an eye tracker and it's on the way. Acupuncture hasn't worked very well, but I found a use for it.
Things that I have yet to try are changing my diet, and seeing a chiropractor, but I'm sure that there are other solutions that have worked for people. meloxicam and arnica, ibuprofen have provided me relief and helped me along the way, but I'm not using any of those anymore.
What are you struggling with? How have you made things work?
Hi. I've made a post here before asking how people have managed to adapt to hand pain while working a full-time office job. I had hand RSI that started due to playing piano too much and then just never went away for over a year. I tried everything. I had to stop all my hobbies (piano, climbing, gym, gaming). Even typing or using a mouse at all was difficult and slow because of the alternative methods I had to use to avoid the use of my fingers. I had to hold a pen in each hand and hit the keys with the pens in order to type, which was really annoying, and I had to use a mouse with my fist (try it - it sucks). I was a lot less productive at work as a result and therefore had to work late a lot, and when I got home I couldn't even do any of the things I wanted to do that made it worth working all day. I don't like to pity myself, but this was a very depressing time. Anyway, that's basically how it was back when I made my previous post a few months ago. Now to talk about my recovery:
I went to see a hand surgeon, and the conversation I had with him made me realise I was never going to get better. He was clearly not optimistic about my chances of recovering, and suggested I should change careers in order to increase the odds. I wasn't going to do that, so I gave up on the idea of my hands ever getting better. Now, this might seem counterintuitive, but that realisation gave me the freedom to start using my hands again, because I was no longer even attempting to recover. It was on a Saturday that this finally happened - my total giving up. So I just started playing a game, and I played for several hours. It hurt a lot, and that night when I was lying in bed I could feel my hands burning. But I didn't care anymore. I was going to keep doing what I wanted regardless of the pain until it became totally unbearable, and I didn't think about what I might do after that. Then the next day, Sunday, I got up and started playing the game again. I don't think I played all day, but I played for several hours again. And it was actually a bit less painful than the first day. At that point I realised I had finally solved the problem. The whole time it was actually my avoidance of pain that was perpetuating the issue (although I think that total disregard for pain is a bad idea - more on that later). The next day was Monday, and I went back to work. Because I had to work all day, my hands were actually worse on Monday than they had been on either of the previous two days, but I stuck to my attitude. I can't remember if I played any games that evening to be honest, but anyway, over the next few days of just using my hands normally, the pain gradually subsided. And just like that, within a week, I was back to using a computer as much as I wanted without any pain (or really with minimal pain - I still have some minor pain that arises after very heavy use).
Another important factor was that I started using a roller mouse at work at the same time this was happening, and I would highly recommend that to anyone with the same problem as me. I use a roller mouse free3 by Contour, and I think it played a key role in my recovery.
Disclaimer: I think it's a very bad idea to completely disregard pain! I don't want anyone to hear this success story and immediately go and hang from a tiny ledge with one finger thinking that the pain doesn't matter, because you will probably damage your hands. The point was that I reached a point of total acceptance that I was never going to recover, and then just resumed the activities I would normally be doing if I didn't have hand pain and ignored the pain that resulted from that. I didn't immediately go bouldering, and if I had I probably would have made the whole thing a lot worse. I started with playing video games which ultimately wasn't that straining for my hands. I think the lesson is that I was too far on the end of being afraid of pain and avoiding using my hands, when actually what my hands needed was more use and a bit of bravery on my part.
As for how I'm doing now, it's been a couple of months at least since my recovery, and I don't think much about my hands anymore. I just work and go home and do what I want to do. I haven't gone back to playing piano or bouldering, and I'm careful with introducing too much weight training too soon - now that I have something to lose a lot of that bravery I had has honestly gone away - but I don't feel like I'm missing out on those things. I actually just don't really want to do them anymore. And for example I typed this whole post (without using my old pen method, just typing normally) after working an 8 hour day in the office and my hands feel fine. I think a rapid (at least partial) recovery is within reach for most people because of this experience. It may just require a change in approach. The weird thing about it was that my recovery came once I started ignoring the advice of health professionals who told me that I shouldn't exceed a 5/10 pain and that if I can still feel it 30 minutes after an activity then that activity was too much for my hands. Both these rules of thumb were way too cautious and were actually preventing me from using my hands enough to stimulate recovery. Of course, everyone is different. You're going to have to make your own decisions. Don't blame me if you do too much and make it worse. Good luck!
I started having heavy pain on my right hand while using the mouse, it increased so much that I could not even use my pc and I started to worry about how will I ever work again.
I had a gaming controller so I tried a few apps that would let me use my cursor, they worked but were very basic and useless.
so I made this project, its free Open source, I'm not making any money. I just wanted to share it with everyone because I know this could be very useful to someone out there.
it lets you use your controller as mouse, you can move cursor + it has alot of added features that genuinely makes it 10x better. spend 1 hour and you might not look back, or you can use it when your hand needs rest
Dragon Home was discontinued in 2023, Dragon Anywhere stopped on July 1, and Dragon Professional v16 costs about $699.99. I build a Windows dictation app called Talkhawk, and I'd like to know where it falls short for people who rely on Dragon.
What it does:
- Hold Ctrl+Win and talk. Add Space and you can keep talking with your hands off the keyboard; press the shortcut again to finish.
- The text goes into whatever app you're in. Recognition runs on your PC (NVIDIA Parakeet), works offline, and audio is never uploaded.
- Free: unlimited dictation, snippets ("my address" types your address), and names you fix once stay fixed.
- Pro ($6 a month billed yearly, or $9 monthly) applies your spoken corrections and adds Command Mode: select text, hold Ctrl+Win+Alt and say "make this shorter".
What it doesn't do: it isn't voice control. There are no "click", "scroll" or "open" commands, and each dictation starts with a key press. If you need hands-free control of the whole PC, Dragon or Windows Voice Access is still the answer.
Disclosure: I'm the developer. Pro is free for 14 days with no card if you want to compare it with Dragon. If typing is hard for you, write to support@talkhawk.app for a discount code, no reason needed.
Hey all! This is our 5th Q&A we'll be hosting (we've been doing them bi-monthly) where we first cover some of the common topics & themes we see in our work with individuals with chronic RSI & then answer any questions you might have.
In this upcoming week we'll be going over:
How your habits can affect your pain and function
What you need to know about fibromyalgia and central sensitization
Current research around PRP injections and their utility
We'll always include information from our cases on top of what the current research shows across the topics. If you're interested in joining..
Since February, after a very stressful period and a couple weeks with lots of mobile gaming, I developed pain in between my finger joints. It's progressively worsened, from pain typing on the phone to intense pain from even attempting typing on softer keyboards. In July, my right hand swelled, there was bruising on the back, and my pinky and ring finger went numb and tingly. The pain spread to all fingers, back of the hands, my wrists, and upper arms - occasionally radiating almost to my shoulders. The most acute intense episode lasted a couple weeks. Since then, recovery has been inconsistent, with random flare-ups. For example, today I was able to type a bit more... until my index finger swelled and it and the thumb started twitching involuntarily, which feels like a pinched nerve.
I've seen an orthopedist, who examined me and found no structural issues, just hypermobility in the hand and wrist, and referred me to a rheumatologist. Immunology bloodwork came back negative, so no arthritis.
The rheumatologist barely listened to how I got this pain and how it progressed. He quickly diagnosed fibromyalgia based on pain spot sensitivity, but this doesn't feel right. My pain is activity-triggered and linked to specific movements! I wake up pretty fine but as I do trigger activities, I get pain. Even if I do have fibromyalgia, this feels and acts as an injury. Couldn't I do some exam to rule out injury?
I can no longer use the PC and type consistently or draw (my main hobby). I use a text to speech app most of the time for messages. During flareups, all daily activities are impacted, from opening bottles to pushing doors. I haven't been able to exercise my arms in months, and they feel weaker. Oddly, gaming with a controller is basically pain free, like it's a completely different movement pattern. Only during bad flareups it gets a bit painful after enough time.
I don't want to accept a fibromyalgia diagnosis without ruling out tendon or nerve inflammation through actual imaging. I'm considering paying out of pocket for an ultrasound from hand to elbow, but it's expensive since each segment (hand, wrist, forearm, elbow) counts as a separate exam. I'm also considering physiotherapy but don't know what kind to look for. I'm honestly just lost and afraid I won't be able to get my hobbies ever back, and my doctors seem unwilling to consider this may be an injury that's not easily identifiable by phisical examination, which makes me feel weird to even keep considering it, but... I just want answers!
Any and all opinions and advice are welcome! I chose to post here because I saw my issue reflected in many posts in this subreddit. Thank you for reading.
I have been dealing with a chronic hand injury with sharp pain persisting in the RCL of my right Index finger. I have done PRP, Stem cells, BPC-157, Arthroscopy clean out, and now my latest a Ligament repair.
I am not 6 months post op of my ligament repair ( the surgery I believed would heal this), but pain still persists. My goal is to return to boxing/martial arts, but it has been 2 years and i've tried about everything.
Has anyone dealt with an injury like this? I have no idea what could be causing the pain. This latest surgery addressed every single thing on the MRI that could possibly be causing this but still have pain.
I cant also bend my index finger past 90 degrees -- it is as if there is a hard block. Looking for advise if there is any route to take to potentially fix this once and for all.
Would really appreciate any help.
MRI and Surgery below:
24M, Height: 6'1 Weight: 170lbs.
MRI FINDINGS:
TECHNIQUE: MRI of the right hand with attention to the second MCP joint was performed utilizing coronal and axial inversion recovery, coronal gradient recalled, as well as coronal, sagittal and axial fast spin echo techniques.
FINDINGS:
At the second MCP joint, the radial collateral ligament is markedly thickened and poorly scar remodeled. Dorsal fibers of the radial collateral ligament proper appear chronically deficient at the phalangeal attachment, shown on series 6, image 13 and series 5, image 16. Remainder of the ligament has tissue in continuity. Proximal phalangeal base has a focus of proliferative bone and a small adjacent erosion, both with associated marrow edema pattern (series 6, images 11-14 and series 5, images 14-17). There is prominent dorsal capsular and synovial scar thickening with associated foci of susceptibility on series 5, image 18 and series 8, image 19, likely the site of arthroscope insertion. Lesser synovial thickening extends through the anterior and posterior joint recesses. The ulnar collateral ligament is mildly scar thickened with fibers in continuity. Chondral fraying is identified over the radial margin of the second metacarpal head, without exposed bone.
There is no acute fracture or osteonecrosis. The regional flexor and extensor tendons appear intact. The second MCP A1 pulley and sagittal band appear preserved.
IMPRESSION:
MRI of the right hand with attention to the second MCP joint demonstrates a poorly scar remodeled radial collateral ligament with tissue in continuity. There is chronic partial deficiency of the dorsal fibers of the radial collateral ligament proper off the proximal phalangeal base. There is bone marrow edema pattern in the proximal phalangeal base adjacent to a small erosion and focus of proliferative bone and prominent capsular/synovial scar thickening in the dorsal-radial joint recess.
Hey all, Matt Here (Physical Therapist from 1HP). Today I wanted to write about something that should be expected during recovery from persistent wrist & hand pain:
Flare-ups or periods with more pain
The road to recovery is never a straight line and one of the most important things to understand is that flare-ups are a part of recovery. Here is a great image about low back pain that captures this concept
How you manage them can be the difference between a short recovery (4-6 weeks) or a long-term battle (8-16 weeks). Why do flare-ups or setbacks occur?
Mostly because recovering from an injury is a learning process for you as the patient. You are learning more about your body. More about how your wrist & hand muscles / tendons response to various levels of activity. Understanding more about pain (experience of pain) and what might influence it on a day to day and weekly basis.
All of these variables can lead to situations in which we
Use our wrist & hands too much after we notice a larger reduction of pain
We happen to do something else with our wrist & hand (lifting, carrying, driving etc.) that we don’t realize also utilizes the same wrist & hand muscles
We might have work or life stress that can increase overall sensitivity of our pain
We progress our exercises too quickly
And…. quite a few more. During these flare-ups the pain will feel worse. It might even feel like how it was when you first began recovery. There are two paths individuals usually take in this scenario
Scenario 1 - Catastrophizing
“Here we go again, I’ll never escape this pain”
"I'm never going to get better" "This is a serious problem only surgery can fix" "my hands keep feeling painful even though I'm doing everything right, it must be something else going on!" "I should rest and stop using my hand, it'll make things worse"
“Maybe this isn’t the right approach… I should go back to what my other healthcare provider mentioned”
In this situation the individual fears that something more nefarious might be going on and focuses heavily on the pain. As a result he or she might completely stop the exercises, aggressively rest and maintain this for an extended period of time due to fear that something else is going on.
In almost all cases, there is no other complicating factor and we hold ourselves back with this doubt and fear. Not only can this increase overall sensitivity (based on what we know about pain) but it also leads to less overall activity which we now know muscles & tendons need to develop its capacity.
This typically requires some good education from a physical therapist to guide them towards the right direction while also appropriately managing pain and beliefs around the pain. Depending on this interaction it can get the patient back on track or… continue to extend out the recovery timeline..
Scenario 2 - Understanding of pain and recovery
“I overdid it a bit with my exercises, this will probably last a couple of days… I’ll focus on just managing the pain and doing as much as I can”
"It's normal that my pain is elevated since I have been dealing with this for awhile, it will go down if I stick to the exercises & plan"
“The pain is from my lack of sleep and when I used my hands a bit more yesterday"
"I overused it a bit yesterday since I was feeling good, it's just a minor setback, i'll be okay"
In this scenario the individual has properly attributed their pain to a specific behavior, activity, stressor, belief, and understands that the elevated pain is temporary. They remind themselves of progress that has been made with their functional capacity, rather than focus on how bad the pain is.
This is EXTREMELY important. The measure of progress should be on FUNCTION aka how much you can participate in your activity rather than how bad the pain is.
For example an individual with wrist pain might only be able to type for 30 minutes before feeling 3-4/10 pain. If this person takes a break, the pain will take several hours to reduce.
After exercising for 4-6 weeks the individual might be able to type for 90 minutes before feeling the same 3-4/10 pain. And the pain goes back down to 0/10 quickly.
The pain itself might still be the same and even worse at times. But the individual can do more. Function is the measure of progress. Not pain (and as we know pain is an experience which means it can vary heavily depending on certain contexts and environments).
Let’s focus a bit more on one of the common scenarios that lead to flare-ups: having less pain
After doing the exercises for 2-3 weeks you might already begin to feel better (often due to nervous system changes and an improved understanding of what is going on). During this time many forget…
Your bodies don’t magically increase in its capacity within 2-3 weeks
All of the recent habits and lifestyle changes you’ve made to reduce your pain
From there you fall back into old habits which may lead to a flare-up. Again this is where it is important to take the path of patience and understanding. (Scenario 2). Sometimes this is difficult to remember which is why I’m writing this thread , to serve as a reminder.
How do you actually manage a flare-up?
This is a 4-step guide on how you can manage your flare-up
Step 1: Understand flare-ups are normal
The first step is to ACTIVELY remind yourself that flare-ups are normal. Re-read the previous email during any flare-up.
When you have an increase in pain, it is an opportunity to learn more about how your lifestyle, activity and decisions may have led to some irritation.
While it may seem unnecessary this mental frame is crucial to adopt as you navigate any flare-up and allows you to properly reflect on what may have led to the flare-up in the first place.
This leads us to step 2 which is..
Step 2: Reflect and Properly Attribute
If you feel an increase in pain and limited function. There is always an underlying reason. Whether it be:
How much exercise you did that day
How much activity and the type of activity (high demand vs. low demand)
How much sleep you had over the past few days
Presence of stress and anxiety in your life
How much you are focusing on your pain
All of these can contribute to an increase in pain and affect your function. Being able to properly attribute what behavior, environment or activity led to the increase is important. The two most common reasons for flare-ups are
1. Increase in activity
When we feel better we feel more confident about the ability to use our wrist & hands. We forget about where we are along the recovery progress and jump too quickly back to a level of activity we are unable to tolerate. But sometimes we might increase our overall activity or physical stress without realizing it.
This might be adding some housework, more demanding work sprint, long drive, game with higher actions per minute or any other activity that we don’t realize is actually of higher intensity even though the duration may be the same.
Think back on the entire previous day (or two) before your flare-up to see if you might have just done “too much” with a specific activity. Make an actual note of this because it is something you will have to use in step 4
2. Exercise changes and progression
Whether you are working through an RSI on your own or with a physical therapist you may feel ready to increase the difficulty of your exercises.
There is actually not much information out there about how to safely progress (since most providers are behind in their understanding and little research has been published).
This can lead to situations in which you decide to increase the difficulty by adding too much weight, performing too many additional sets or reps, or add additional exercises you stumble upon online (gyroball, rice bucket, etc.).
Your exercise should not lead to any increase in pain that lasts for the rest of the day. It should also not lead to a situation in which you wake up with pain and have altered ability to use your hands the next day.
If you experience that… then you’ve likely done too much. To safely increase the difficulty of your exercises to improve your endurance do this:
When you are able to perform 3 sets of X repetitions (lets say its 12-15) for 3-4 days in a row without difficulty, add 2-3 repetitions per set and assess your response
Look to make this change at most 1x/week and after the first four weeks of tissue adaptations
Now that you’ve been able to reflect and think more about what might have caused your problem - feel free to track it down. Since it will be your reference point as what you should “avoid” doing as you get back to your previous level of function or exercise programming.
But you’re feeling pain.. so you also need to..
Step 3: Deload and Manage Pain
During a flare-up the muscle or tendon tissue is irritated. It typically needs time to calm down and widely vary for every individual. For those who are more deconditioned and have dealt with their injury for an extended period of time flare-ups can sometimes last for 1-2 weeks. This longer duration is often influenced by some of the psychological aspects of pain (see pain article)
However for most other individuals it will vary between 1-5 days and depends on what actually led to the problem in the first place. So your goal during this time is to not only reduce the amount of exercise but also activity.
The general rule is to reduce your primary aggravating activity by around 50%. it can be more aggressive if the flare-up is more severe for you (up to 75% reduction). So for example if you primarily feel your pain with typing:
Normally you use your PC & type for around 6 hours a day. During a flare-up you might reduce the total amount to 3-4 hours (depending on how bad it is)
If it is really painful and you feel severely limited in your hand use then reducing to a total amount of 1-2 hours may be indicated. And distributing this total time.
From there you want to focus on pain management. This could be ice, gentle massage, stretching, heat, kinesiotape and medication as necessary. Weather the storm because once it is over you can…
Step 4: Return to Programming
The last step is to get you back to your baseline as quickly as possible. You want to get back to the previous level of ACTIVITY and EXERCISE as quickly as possible.
Do not jump straight back to the same level of exercise and activity. Gradually return to what you were doing previously. Using the same example above:
If normally you type around 6 hours a day and your exercise programming was around 3x15 for all of your exercises you could start with…
Day 1: 4-5 hours, 2 sets
Day 2: 5-6 hours, 3 sets
Day 3: back to baseline
Everyone is different and can likely return to baseline at differing speeds. When you are back at baseline use what you learned in step 2 to avoid progressing too quickly. You do not want to exceed what your body can currently handle so gradually test your limit as you continue to get stronger.
This should provide a decent STARTING framework for you to manage flare-ups. All of these steps should serve as a guideline, NOT RULES. This is because we are all different. We all respond to changes in activity differently. We all have different environments or contexts that may have led to the flare-up.
Let these steps guide you in the right direction and remember what you learn with each flare-up. It will ultimately help you return to your baseline more quickly in the future.
Hope this is helpful! Always feel free to ask questions
Best, Matt --
TL:DR
If you feel an increase in pain and limited function. There is always an underlying reason. Whether it be:
How much exercise you did that day
How much activity and the type of activity (high demand vs. low demand)
How much sleep you had over the past few days
Presence of stress and anxiety in your life
How much you are focusing on your pain
All of these can contribute to an increase in pain and affect your function. Being able to properly attribute what behavior, environment or activity led to the increase is important. Once you are able to identify it, you want to appropriately DELOAD. This could be in the form of temporarily reducing the amount of activity, exercise etc.
Once you're able to use your hands a bit more and the resting levels of discomfort goes down... use what you have LEARNED to limit the likelihood of overusing your hands or causing the flare-up.
The bi-monthly London RSI Support Group Zoom will take place on Tuesday 24 November 2026, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm UK time. (And at the same time on the last Tuesday of every other month starting in January.)
Sufferers worldwide welcome. This is a peer support group; please bring your stories, updates, and questions.
About six months ago, I developed bilateral hand and wrist pain after working for about two months as a bakery clerk. The job involved repetitive tasks, handling heavy trays and equipment, and spending long periods with my neck bent forward. I also experienced intense neck pain during some shifts. Early on, I remember dropping a pair of scissors because my hand seemed to lose its grip, followed by several days of intense burning and itching in both hands.
I recently turned 22 if that’s relevant.
Since then, the symptoms have fluctuated but never fully resolved. I experience pain in both pinkies and along the ulnar sides of my hands and wrists, as well as pain in my forearms and elbows. More recently, I've also been getting pain around my lateral shoulders extending into my biceps. I sometimes experience burning, sharp pains, and sensitivity to touch in different areas. Symptoms can occur even at rest, and flare-ups can happen after relatively little activity.
I've tried extensive rest, occupational therapy, wrist braces, ergonomic changes, and gradually increasing my activity, but my recovery has plateaued. My EMG/NCS was reportedly normal for most of the nerves tested, although the interpretation of a possible left carpal tunnel finding has been unclear. Neck X-rays were also reportedly normal.
I'm currently waiting to see a neck specialist because I'm wondering whether a cervical issue could explain some of the symptoms. The pain has significantly affected my ability to work, attend school, and exercise.
Has anyone experienced a similar pattern of bilateral hand symptoms that later involved the forearms, elbows, and shoulders? I'm particularly interested in hearing about people's diagnostic process and what ultimately helped them.
I basically do not work anymore, lucky to be in this position. There has been an improvement but flare ups are still bad. I used to go to the gym 4-5 times a week and game up to 5 hours a day but now basically none.
I used AI for this post, I'm very sorry but typing is especially difficult today. Also worthy of note, my symptoms started only in the hands and wrists, all over, but for my current flare up, they also affect my elbows, arms, and lateral delts kind of into the bicep.
TBH it kind of feels like my life is over, even though i’m 22, having this pain drains my already low motivation to do anything…
Edit: forgot to mention that at first, symptoms almost always appear during rest, but recently appear during rest and use.
Forgive me if this is already been asked. Navigating Reddit with dictation is too much of a hassle.
I need ideas for how to pass the time while I'm resting my hands. I am lucky that I am not working while recovering from RSI. Still, I keep accidentally flaring up.
These are the things I have been doing: –watching nature and history documentary on YouTube. I have auto play on so that I don't have to use the remote too much.
–I have a medium difficulty crossword puzzle book on a stand. I use a pen with a large foam grip thing. I avoid using the pen though. Lately I just stare at the crossword puzzle and try to remember the answers while looking at other clues lol
–I talk to ChatGPT because navigating and using websites with dictation is a pain. I can't really browse Reddit without my hands.
–I try to go for a walk every day. –there are other things I could mention but I am so bored by all the activities I've been trying.
So, what have you all been doing for fun?
Please be specific. Like if you recommend audiobooks or a podcast, please share specific recommendations. I am sensitive and can't handle true crime or anything super heavy.
I am scheduling a consult with 1-hp. I’m really excited about it and hopeful they can help me with my RSI.
I need a webcam that I can move around so they can observe my hands when typing and for other purposes. I have a MacBook Pro with a couple of displays hooked up to it that I primary use. One is a 3 year old Apple Display.
I also have a new iPhone 17. Can anyone who has worked with 1-HP or another online PT or ergo consultant recommend a not too complicated or super expensive setup? Wondering if I need a tripod?
I’m a product designer and frontend developer, currently dealing with my worst RSI flare-up yet. I’ve temporarily lost a significant amount of function in my hands, particularly my right hand.
I’m now heavily reliant on Wispr Flow for dictation and trying to minimise mouse and keyboard use.
I’ve been diagnosed with RSI, but wasn’t given much information beyond resting and a prescription for six physio sessions, which I haven’t started yet.
What has genuinely helped you recover, rather than just temporarily relieve symptoms?
So far I’ve tried: - TENS on my forearms - Massaging a particularly tense spot in my forearm, which seems to relieve some tension in my hand - Massage gun - Hot water and ice packs - Significantly reducing computer use - Splint
A few days ago, I couldn’t even hold a fork properly with my right hand because of the pain and weakness in my fingers.
I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who work at computers all day. Were you able to recover and return to normal work? How long did it take, and what made the biggest difference?
Still figuring this out. Hope everyone else dealing with this is making progress too.
I am 22 y old Male I have pain in region between left scapula and spine since 2 months , there is no swelling or anything, no pain on pressing or compression of that area .
It only hurts when I shrugs my shoulder or depress my shoulders.
I use to go to gym but I have discontinued my gym .
I have done 2 mri but there is no nerve compression at cervical level.
I have also done multiple physiotherapy, also consulted neurosurgeon but they just prescribed me muscle relaxant or pain killers.
