Hi fellow programmers.
How do you ensure to prevent RSI and/or manage RSI? Especially with your hands and arms.
For those who don’t know, RSI is a disorder that occurs when repeating the same movements too much for a long period of time. This frequently occurs when sitting behind a desk and using keyboard and mouse the entire day.
I personally have a great (but expensive) chair with arm rests and have a slightly ergonomic mouse (it has a curve, to make it more comfortable for my thumb).
Honestly, I dislike having to disrupt my computer activities every hour, because I’m usually quite immersed / invested into whatever I’m doing. Whether that’s watching a movie, developing an app or simply playing videogames. However, I’ll probably have to start taking frequent breaks, in order to prevent RSI from taking a hold in my body. Unfortunately, we only get one body, one chance, so let’s not mess it up with neglecting breaks and acquiring RSI.
I got a Logitech M570 wireless trackball mouse because I do a lot of CADD work. It allow me to keep my shoulders and arm at a comfortable neutral position and reduce strain on my mouse hand’s wrist. Also allows me to work from basically anywhere on my laptop without the hassle and limitations of a trackpad or traditional mouse that requires a flat surface. One flick of my thumb and I can send my cursor sailing across three monitors. Obviously all of your advice is still very applicable. And people do mock me for my funky mouse, but I don’t care because my wrist doesn’t hurt any more. And, I will absolutely crush anyone in a thumb war now, so I got that going for me.