[plug] (OT) RSI?

[Andrew Francis]

Hi all


This is offtopic and I'm probably just being paranoid, however I'm getting
rather anxious so I figured I'd ask... is anyone listening particularly
familiar with the symptoms of RSI?


Ever since I bashed in a far chunk of code for an assignment in the 24
hours before it was due, about 10 days ago, I've had a dull ache in my
right wrist. It was very minor at first, in fact I didn't notice it most
of the time, however it's gotten tangibly worse over the last 48
hours. Typing doesn't seem to make it any worse (I'm avoiding it mostly,
though, just to be on the safe side) however clicking the left button on
my mouse seems to agitate it - on a couple of occasions I received a sort
of 'shooting pain' up my forearm.


In addition, my right wrist is 'popping' quite a bit when I swivel it
around (like when you crack your knuckles).


I was going to go visit my GP a at the end of the week (I have two exams
on Wed and one on Thurs, and eery second beforehand counts...) however
after a quick google search I'm surrounded by horror stories; of course,
the not-quite-so-horrible stories never make it onto webpages :) And for
the most part the pains experienced seem to be described as significantly
worse than mine. Still, I'm beginning to think visiting the GP tomorrow
might be an idea.


Has anyone had experience with relatively *minor* wrist pains, or RSI in
general? Am I risking my health significantly by putting in 10 hours of
study/writing betwen now and visiting the GP?


And as a result of this little scare, I think I'm going to try and improve
my ergonomics..


Any ideas or feedback anyone might have to offer would be appreciated.


Cheers :)

--
Andrew Francis
locust at iinet.net.au