Carpal Tunnel: A Death Sentence for a Writer
At times I struggle with pain in my wrists. I am deathly afraid that it is the beginnings of carpal tunnel, which in my opinion is a death sentence for a freelance writer — I make my living by typing on the computer, after all!
Another thing that it could be is repetitive strain injury. I have definitely experienced this from repetitive motions with my mouse hand. When it happens, the pain is typically in my wrist and sometimes can go all the way up my arm, which has about the same effect as carpal tunnel: It keeps me from working.
My mom had some problems with carpal tunnel a while back, so if it’s a hereditary condition then I’m definitely at risk. Her problems occurred when she first started working in a new job as a librarian some years ago, probably because it was the first time she had ever been on the computer for so long at a time. I don’t remember what kind of carpal tunnel treatment her doctor suggested back then, but I do know that there are now a lot of methods of natural pain relief, such as magnetic therapy. This basically involves stopping or dulling the pain nerve’s impulses to the brain with a focused magnetic field.
For the time being, I’ve learned to be more careful, and I think I’ve also adjusted to the repetitive motions of my work a little better. However, there may come a time when being careful or keeping in practice doesn’t work anymore, and I may need to find a way to deal with the problem directly.
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