Overworked at a startup since 2.5 years. Took forever for visa to get transfered and now I just injured myself last week. Typing and mousing is very painful. My fingers, wrists and forearms hurt since last week. Haven't given my notice yet. Any ideas on how to proceed? I have 3 weeks of PTO.
Your new manager should be understanding of the situation? Push back your start date is possible?
I interviewed in December last year, they have waited for very long. At the same time I need to really get out of this stressful Job.. I will try take a 3 week Break starting next week.
Take a long multi-week break. Wear wrist braces when doing work on computer. Get vitamin d and reduce stress. Months from now, try doing deadlifts/pull exercises.
The braces are going to enhance long term degradation of the muscle fibers and contribute to shortening of ligaments/tendons
Only if you use them in normal life. Using computers is an unnatural environment, so supplementing support to this situation is fine.
Once this starts it won't go away. Mine hit first about 8 years ago. Ibuprofen, 1g helps, ie an anti-inflammatory dose. VitD, R&R, and learn to pace yourself. You've got to learn to work smarter not harder. (Don't type on a laptop anymore either, Mac laptops are death traps for RSI)
Thanks for the response. How long did you take Ibuprofen for? Did you go for physical therapy?
I still take it sometimes. But while getting better I probably took it most days. If I feel inflammation in my arms I'll take it. I did do PT on and off, but honestly at the beginning it caused more problems than just straight resting it. Basically, if you're tingling, or having reduced motor control, you've got to rest. I did some ultrasonic which seemed somewhat helpful. But first step is to get your nerves in a good place. Then build strength back up. After that it's just pacing yourself. Today I really don't have too many problems, but I can't write tons of code continuously. So, I mix it up, data analysis and dribble of code, then a major sprint until I feel it, then start over. As long as you pull back the instant you feel some nerve twinge you'll be fine. The other thing though is stress..., you have to manage that. Stress tightens up all those muscles, and if you go and write a bunch of code while tight like that, you're fucked. The other bit is flexibility, lengthening your tendons will help. Anyway, I took it to the point that I could hardly turn a door knob, and it took a while to recover. Don't do that.
How's your rsi?
Howās your RSI? Mines not improving
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See a physical therapist. They should fix it within a week. Kettlebell lifts, wall movements, manual work