Some of you who have corresponded with me lately may have noticed that I have been brief with my responses. You may also have noticed a number of spelling and grammatical errors in recent WUWT blog postings. This is due to the fact that after over five years of blog posting, I have succumbed to a problem that plagues many people who use the computer too often -carpal tunnel syndrome.
During the last week the problem has gotten severe enough to interfere with my ability to use the keyboard and mouse, as I have constant pain in my right hand. So tonight I decided I would try something new.
That “something” turned out to be speech recognition in Windows 7, which until tonight I didn’t know existed. I started looking for a off the shelf program to do the job but in the Google search discovered that it was built into Windows 7. After going through the tutorial on it I am using the speech recognition utility to write this blog posting.
As with any new technology it takes some getting used to. But, I am getting the hang of it with continued practice. So far I’ve only had the correct about six or seven mistakes in the paragraphs preceding this.
Over the next few days I planned to take a little bit of a break in blog posting and I will use that time to get more familiar with the speech recognition software. Hopefully by taking a short break I will be able to improve the situation with my right hand. Of course, I also have to learn how to dictate more effectively as it is something I’m not used to on a regular basis. I will say that that dictating to the computer allows me to write faster than I have been able to for quite some time. Further, it seems the speech recognition software is quite good at picking up the nuances of my voice and inflection which results in an overall increase in typing speed.
For those of you that have Windows 7, you might want to try getting a USB headset with a microphone and practice learning how to use the speech recognition software -it may help you write better comments. One of the most interesting things I learned is that screaming at the headset results than nothing being typed at all – the computer gets confused. So, on the plus side if everyone use speech recognition for writing comments we would probably have less trolls because they tend to shout. 🙂 it even recognized when I said the emoticon in the middle of the last sentence.
In the meantime, those of you that wish to submit stories should use the submit story button on the WUWT menu. Please bear in mind that when submitting a story it should be submitted as if it’s actually going to be posted rather than as a tip or advice. Please use tips and notes in the menu for those sorts of notifications.
As always, thank you for your patience and consideration. -Anthony
Here’s an experiment that yielded an interesting result:
A usual 3-button optical mouse was placed against my shirt which placed the wrist at 90 degrees from ‘normal’ for mouse use, this position on the shirt was kinda to the left of center of my chest (I use the mouse left-handed) … and I worked it in that position for a bit … it felt a little more comfortable than the ‘usual’ position flat on the table, for I too feel some ‘strain’ in the wrist and fingers while using the ‘usual’ mouse.
An alternative is to place a small flat book or other ‘surface’ in the mouse-opposite hand and work the optical mouse against that surface …
Background (to be complete): Right-handed from birth BUT been using the mouse in the left hand since day two (late 80’s ?) so I could take pencil-notes with the right hand … drink hardly any Coke or Pepsi (or other soft-drinks), still drink milk regularly, and cannot really do without a daily ‘dose’ of coffee (NO cream or sugar however) … exercise regularly by biking and some walking/jogging … take breaks while doing PC-keyboard ‘work’ …
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Hey, Anthony, count yourself lucky! It could have been a lot worse. Apparently anything to do with this CAGW scam seems to be high risk.
Mike, Gavin and Phil, for example, are now suffering from severely damaged eyesight having years ago been given over to spending hours crouched under their desks in the foetal position, covering themselves from head to toe in their own drool gawping wildly at well-thumbed snaps of naked hockey sticks and thrashing around crippling themselves with chronic wanker’s cramp, in both paws.
The good news is that the medics say their condition is incurable, and terminal.
Won’t it be marvelous when technology adds truth recognition?
It is very important that you not lay your wrists on a hard surface, especially an edge. You can also produce pain in your feet if you sit on an office chair and put the arch of your foot on one of the radiating legs with a castor underneath. Nerve compression can produce quite a bit of burning pain that lasts for days. Your body is telling you something. It’s the old joke:
Patient: Hey, Doc! It hurts when I do this.
Physician: Well, don’t do that.
I also had shooting pain when I would rest my arm on a flat hard tabletop. That was because I had irritated my ulnar nerve.
Problems are much worse if you have diabetes. A diabetic’s nerves are likely swollen, and they will be more easily compressed. Consequently, pain may develop distal to nerve tunnels. A prime example is lower extremity pain. After some time, the pain goes away, but that is not good, because now the nerves are no longer functioning. A consequence of that can be injury, infection, and ulceration.
We notice our hands more because we use them constantly. We tend to overlook our feet because they are inside shoes. When they become numb, it’s easy to damage them and not realize an infection has started.
You should have a doctor help you with the following, but many people refuse to see one if they aren’t sure there is a problem. A test you can do is try to remain standing with your eyes closed. Realize that if you can’t feel the floor properly, you may fall over and hit something. You could be severely injured if you aren’t careful. It is a good idea to have a helper to catch you, or at least try this in an open area with some cushioning. If you can’t do it, see a doctor. If you know already you can’t do it, see a doctor.
Diabetics and others with severe neuropathy generally don’t survive long if they have a lower leg amputation due to an infection. You can be treated and monitored to avoid that very bad outcome.
Anthony, I’m sure it has been said before, but do everything you can to avoid surgery. It is a drastic measure and the recuperation can be murder. I think your quick thinking is an excellent idea. I know for a fact that bad ergonomics have plagued me over the years, as I am an amateur writer and have been typing since 1985. Not just my hand/wrist either! My elbows, my neck, my jaw, even my ankles have become chronic from sitting and writing/typing. A man obsessed may write many words, but it can bring on calamity with the joints. Baby that wrist. It’ll take a very long time for the internal swelling to subside, and it may permanently damaged. Speaking only from experience – mine and my loved ones who have suffered directly from this disease.
As has been stated already – this is a very common condition. I work as a technical supervisor for a PMI (Private Medical Insurance) company, and we cover treatment of this condition all the time across the UK. Obviously any surgical procedure is not to be taken too lightly, but this is probably one of those relatively quick day-case procedures that a surgeon can do in his sleep, given how common it is. After a few weeks following surgery (including possibly wearing a cast and maybe physio/hand therapy if required) you can be near good-as-new. Many report excellent relief within even a few days. Good luck with however you decide to manage it.
Steve Oregon says:
June 27, 2012 at 11:37 am
“Won’t it be marvelous when technology adds truth recognition?”
Try http://www.wolframalpha.com/
It’s good enough that Apple who bought Siri had to patch Siri – which forwards questions to wolfram alpha – to lie when asked for the best cell phone. It had started to answer “Samsung Galaxy” or something. Not it answers “the one in your hand”.
DirkH says:
June 27, 2012 at 12:05 pm
“It had started to answer “Samsung Galaxy” or something. Now it answers “the one in your hand”.”
That’s funny. Now all the Apple mobile phones and nothing else is mentioned at the top.
Okay, so forget about the truth detector. They might be just a tiny bit receptive to large bundles of Dollar notes.
A friend of mine is a quadriplegic and has used that technology for seven years now and is very fast at it. He uses a proprietary program that cost a bit but works much better than the built-in one. .
I would also suggest taking krill and fish oil which are both excellent internal lubricants and contain valuable Vitamin E. My wife takes tablets containing Condroitin and Glucosamine which are shark extracts and help with cartilage problems.
One of the common misconceptions is that RTI/CTS is caused by “poor posture” when it turns out “good” posture and ergonomic posture are not the same thing. If your elbows (or forearm near your elbow) are not supported, and your wrists are not straight (especially if in extension), you will end up with pain. As for mice – well you can’t get much worse from an ergonomic perspective. I’ve used the thumb trackball from logitech (the most recent version is the M570) for almost 15 years now and have remained CTS free; a couple of my coworkers switched to it after getting diagnosed with RSI/CTS have seen dramatic improvement in their symptoms.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is usually a symptom of magnesium deficiency. Get some good supplements, not multivitamins. Pill based multivitamins are almost useless because the body doesn\’t absorb them very well.
And Vitamin B6 too
Maybe you could take out “middleman” print and just record facebook-type broadcast.
Aaron:
Like a “band” around the outside of the limb. A “pressure” or general sensation… MOVED day to day (inferior to the elbow to superior to the elbow..to us medical speak.)
Max
Would a foot-pedal actuated left-and-right mouse button clicker help? One would only need to fingers (thumb and index finger) to move the mouse around while clicks are accomplished by foot. I believe I saw someone post up-thread about a modification to existing accessories, but this is off-the-shelf solution:
” While factory programmed for mouse button emulation, it can be easily reprogrammed on a Windows PC to perform any keyboard action or key combination. ”
http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/fs-savant-elite.htm
Full disclosure: We used something similar to this to allow technicians to advance a test/troubleshoot program with feet while their hands were otherwise occupied holding scope and voltmeter probes. Worked quite well for that purpose!
PS. At the link above they also offer “Foot Mousing Devices” but I did not look at how they accomplish that trick …
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Oops – it was this website which featured pedals and the “foot mousing” device:
http://www.fentek-ind.com/FootPedal.htm
The “No hands” mouse: http://www.fentek-ind.com/nh-mouse.htm
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Besides Alexander and Feldenkrais techniques as long term physical therapy w/o the New Age fluff, weight loss via low carb cuisine is highly recommended. This graphic surgical image shows how yellow fat blobs basically tighten up the whole wrist area:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_iF6Z5_yaMUg/TK6Q1mqEX1I/AAAAAAAAB2I/P9aNQRIbt6g/s1600/carpal+2.jpg
Classic French cooking is all meat sauce concentrates (now available prepaid from More Than Gourmet), meats and fibrous veggies. Indian food minus rice and potato is low carb, as is Chinese and Japanese. Steamed cauliflower or frozen spinach can be puréed with a stick blender and a bit of heavy cream to give thick sauces to add to also steamed chicken or fish or even sausage. If you don’t add any additional liquid to the cauliflower it results in an ideal alternative to mashed potatoes, believe it or not. Anyway, recipes exist that mean an Atkins diet is nowhere near the stereotyped narrowness that amounts to an urban myth, the point being that shaping up is a mood enhancing adventure of learning rather than a drag.
Feldenkrais method was designed by a top notch physicist when “only surgery” was suggested by doctors who examined the bad knees he developed while tweaking sonar designs for WWII submarines.
I also use Macro Scheduler as a more advanced version of simple hot keys utilities, most of which would allow a left handed keyboard stroke to quickly perform the needed mouse clicks wherever required on the screen. Customizability and movement recording allow scripting software to lick the details.
A colleague of mine is a retired heat transfer, thermodynamics professor who is still active and publishing. He uses Dragon 10 or 11 for preparing technical publications that are full of formulae and jargon. He reported that it took a while to “train” it but that it is faster for him to dictate using Dragon and to correct than typing and correcting.
A back story…My late father-in-law suffered from profound hearing loss, didn’t know how to type and wasn’t very interested in learning how. My wife and I thought that voice recognition software might have developed to the point where he would be able to use it to ease his communications difficulties. I was walking by a sports bar in an airport and stopped for a few minutes to watch an NFL game. The analyst was a retired interior lineman who grew up in the Mississippi Delta, went to an SEC school and never really lost his accent. I was amazed that the “crawl” was extremely accurate so I noted the network and went on my way. It took a number of calls to the network to reach someone who knew what how they produced the crawl, a court reporter using a stenotype. So much for voice recognition.
Best wishes for success.
My last attempt at using VR was awkward, Dragon with XP, one has to get used to different words to avoid confusiton with commands, and how to back up to correct.
Technilogy moves forward.
Anthony,
Very cool! I’m scheduled to ‘upgrade’ to Windows 7 on my work platform in a couple of weeks and look forward to giving this a try. It may be quite useful, both for taking notes during field investigations as well as dictating final reports.
Thanks for highlighting this!
MtK
BTW, last I tried VR, common advice was to get a headset tailored for speech recognition, IIRC non-normal frequency response. Hopefully that “technilogy” improves. 😉 Back then, Blue Parrot was a common brand, but given the bad UI of their Bluetooth phone headset I cannot recommend the company.
Hi Anthony. If you are an average sized man with average sized hands then your mouse is too narrow for your hand. Look at the distance between the tip of your thumb and your little finger when your hand is at rest. It will almost certainly be much greater than the width of your mouse.
When your mouse hand is sore try grasping something wide between your little finger and thumb. If this makes it feel better then the narrowness of your mouse may be part of the problem. Stick something (like an eraser) onto the thumb side of your mouse using double sided tape to make your mouse about half an inch or an inch wider.
I have a mouse in my hand for most of the day doing mechanical design and this was my problem. A little bit of rest and a wider grip on the mouse allowed my hand to heal.
Thanks for all that you do.
Just to throw some more weight into the surgery vs diet recommendations.
One of the many trades I used to do was boilermaking/welding. I ended up with CTS after a 6 week stint using a 9″ electric grinder, (Bosch for those interested) and had both hands cramped over into something resembling eagle claws. After the necessary tests, and discussion, I was advised to have surgery on each wrist separately, which meant according to the surgeon, nearly 3 months off work.
On the day, I argued for both wrists to be done at the same time, taking into account the thought that I would probably need home help for most things, but I’d be back at work quicker.
On waking up in recovery, I was dressing myself, buttoning shirt, tieing shoelaces, while the surgeon was explaining all the things I wouldn’t be able to do, until he saw what I was doing. The relief from pain and ability to use my hands was that quick. Home help wasn’t required, if anything, waiting 2 weeks for the cuts to heal was the most boring part of the whole thing.
I ended up with a small (1/2″) scar on each wrist, and was back at work 2 weeks later.
So I take it that it’s no longer technically accurate to say “more power to your arm”?Congratulations on mastering the new technology, and I hope that it results in restoration of full health to your typing hands.
Wear wrist splints at night, it does wonders for me.