Repetitive Stress Injuries Could End Your Design Career. Here’s how to avoid them.
Don’t wait until it’s too late
This is not intended to be medical advice. If you have concerns, please consult your primary healthcare provider.
My forearm burned and the tingling in my fingertips was turning into numbness. Still, I fought through the pain to finish before the deadline.
I went to sleep, thinking I would feel better in the morning. However I woke up at 4am still in pain. I was worried I would need surgery. I was already having visions of cold metal tables and could see the distinctive lens flare of operating room lights whileI was about to be put under.
Trigger finger already took away my left hand ability to play guitar, and the thought of losing movement in my right hand terrified me. How will I continue to work? Is my design career over?
An injury can easily end the career of a professional athlete. What makes you think you’re any exception?
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), RSI affects some 1.8 million workers per year. More than 8 million people are affected by Carpal Tunnel Syndrome each year. You think it won’t happen to you until it does.
Here’s some tips on how to avoid common RSI’s:
Take frequent breaks
Sometimes in the middle of wireframing or typing it’s easy to get wrapped up in concentration, never stopping to rest, and next thing you know your forearm is on fire. Take a 5 every hour or so to rest your eyes, shake out your hands, and get some circulation in your legs.
The deadline can wait. No project is urgent enough to be worth your health.
Make your workspace more ergonomic
Take a moment to analyze your workspace and posture. Ideally the top of your monitor should be about eye-height. Try out your keyboard, does it cause any pain? Ergonomic split keyboards can be another option. The mouse is also very important for designers. After trying out a mouse with a thumb rest, I could never go back to my low profile magic mouse. They also make vertical mouse designs which place less stress on the forearm muscles compared to traditional horizontal ones.
The importance of good posture while working is another important point. Try to keep your back straight and wrists in a natural unbent position. Sometimes for better posture I even put up the armrests on my chair. Experiment and find what works for you.
Resist the urge to self-diagnose
These days with webmd and google it’s more tempting than ever to run a search on your symptoms and diagnose yourself. After all, why spend $100 or more on copays and prescriptions when you can get a quick, easy treatment plan at home?
The problem with this is that before long you may trick yourself into thinking you have some ultra rare serious disease when your problem may be some simple inflammation.
Self treatment won’t help if you’re treating the wrong condition. Sure a wrist brace is cheap, but how do you know it will do anything to treat your tendonitis? It could end up causing more stiffness. When in doubt, consult a doctor.
See a doctor sooner than later
Despite the image I give off as a hypochondriac, I actually am the type to avoid going to the doctor for as long as possible. Although it’s certainly not good to overwhelm the health system by seeing the doctor about every little thing, avoiding the doctor is not a habit you’ll be able to get away with forever.
Lot’s of health plans offer simple tele-medicine services these days. It’s very convenient to get a quick consultation at home before seeing a specialist or going to your GP. If you let your injury or injury-inducing behavior continue on for too long, you may end up doing yourself a disservice in the long term.
In conclusion
This is a short article, but I believe it’s important to raise awareness and give some simple tips on how to avoid common RSI’s. I’m not a doctor and cannot give advice on any specific condition, but a healthier, happier design community would be good for everyone.
