I don't know if it was the book, a placebo effect, or something else, but I got better after reading that.
The book The Mind-Body Prescription[1] by Dr. Sarno covers this exact topic, and made a huge impact on my life and the life of a friend of mine. It's a worthwhile read for scientifically-minded skeptics who are feeling frustrated that doctors seem stumped by their chronic pain/illness. I had a worsening pain that jeopardized my ability to work a desk job, and that book resolved it in a matter of weeks.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17899992
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Mindbody-Prescription-Healing-Body-Pa...
https://www.amazon.com/Mindbody-Prescription-Healing-Body-Pa...
With that in mind, I'd like to preface all of the following by saying: I am not a doctor. This information is for educational purposes only, and is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advice.
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Here is a long, varied guide on everything I've learned and things that have helped. Most of my knowledge has come from trial and error, and reading books and medical papers.
I have had tingling, burning pain throughout my arms and hands for many years. I also had several bouts of nerve pain in my legs. RSI and nerve pain stuff seem to go hand in hand. A lot of this advice ties into reducing nerve pain as well. I've had three surgeries total to move my ulnar nerves out of their ulnar tunnel so they would stop snapping over the bone and causing me pain. This wasn't the only cause of my issues though.
A lot of pain in your arms actually originates in your neck/shoulder area. There is an issue called Thoracic Outlet Syndrome that is suspected to be the cause of most of this kind of arm/hand pain. Chances are, you have bad posture.
Things that helped:
- Using a macbook pro for all computer use. Using a mouse or raised keyboard is awful for your hands. The trackpad placement with the keyboard, and the fact you can set the trackpad to register a touch (without pushing down) as a click are very helpful. Make sure you're not bending your wrists to the left or right when typing. It's a hard habit to break, and you're probably doing it now, but ideally you want your hands to be straight in line with your arm. Wrong - https://ehs.okstate.edu/modules/ergo/hand4.gif. Right - https://ehs.okstate.edu/modules/ergo/hand3.gif. Also, don't raise up your hands when typing or using a mouse, it stresses out your forearm muscles.
- No keyboard or mousepad wrist pads, they just constrict the nerve pathways in your wrists.
- You want to make sure your posture is good. When working at a desk, you actually should be sitting back against the seat, with your arms supported by the arm rests. You shouldn't be sitting straight up 90 degrees, but leaning back a little, with your back supported against the chair. This picture kind of shows it - http://cdn.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/computer... - though I would say you should be a bit less far back than the 135, maybe like 110.
- General posture stuff: when walking make sure your hips aren't tilted forward or backwards, make sure your shoulders are slouched forward, make sure your head isn't tilted forward (99% chance you do this one and don't even realize). Make sure your shoes' soles aren't worn down - if you see they look uneven buy new shoes.
- TMS (Tension Mytostis Syndrome) - basically is stress and anxiety making your brain subconsciously cause your body pain. Really helpful with me way after my surgeries in getting from 3-4 pain level to 0-1. I read this one - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446675156/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_d....
- The Trigger point therapy workbook - http://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Point-Therapy-Workbook-Self-Tr.... Your muscles get tight and get these things called trigger points. This causes them to tense up and pull on other muscles, starting a bad chain reaction causing pain all over. This will teach you not only how to do trigger point self massage, but how groups of muscles can affect other parts of the body far away from them. You’ll also want to pick up a pair of lacrosse balls, they’re super helpful for self massage.
- OTC pain pills – this I discovered recently – NSAID’s like Aleve work by reducing inflammation, while Tylenol works more on your Central Nervous System by increasing your pain threshold so it takes higher levels of pain before you can feel them. Also way gentler on your stomach than Aleve. Aleve can also cause some damage to your digestive system, making it harder to absorb…
- B12 vitamins – a deficiency of b vitamins, especially 12 can cause neuropathy (nerve pain). This b vitamin combo is really good, has all the best options for each one inside of it - http://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson-ultra-high-potency-ac...
- Sleep – I find that if I get less than 8 hours of sleep over a period of a few days my nerves start to light up a bit (not sure how else to describe it). Sleep is super important, it’s when your body does most of its repairing and healing.
- Anti anxiety meds – klonopin, xanax, etc - if you can get prescribed these, I’ve found them more helpful than painkillers sometimes, they definitely take the edge off. From what I've read they can be very addictive though, so watch out for that.
- Actual nerve pain medicine – I learned about this reading Wolf of Wall Street. Turned out he had terrible, chronic nerve/back pain that drove him to do all those drugs. He was at the end of his rope, multiple surgeries and still a lot of pain. His doctor ends up prescribing him Lamictal, which at the time was a medicine for seizures, and it’s like a switch was flipped and he wasn’t in pain anymore. There are better options these days for that though, Lyrica is a popular, as is Neurontin. They can have some side effects, but apparently can be very effective (I’ve never tried them myself, was able to get my pain down to a manageable level for the most part, though I do have them in my mind as a back up if it gets really bad again) - http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/peripheral-neu...
If you would like to do more research on top of what I described above:
- If you want to go to a doctor, try a neurologist or a good physical therapist. Most doctors are infuriatingly ignorant and incompetent when it comes to these kinds of issues.
- Read about the nerves in the arm, and thoracic outlet syndrome
Good luck, and try not to lose hope, I know how being in pain every day can wear someone out. Remember that there’s a good chance you won’t be in pain or at least it will be manageable at some point in the future, even if that may be a while out. If you want to ask me any questions, I'd be happy to help.
Similar to the vomiting poster, I had/have a longtime chronic nerve pain issue in my arms and legs that this book was tremendously helpful in managing. While fixing bad posture and a variety of other things helped, this book helped me get to the point where most days I'm in no pain.
Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre http://www.amazon.com/Existentialism-Dostoevsky-Sartre-Revis...
A Kierkegaard Anthology http://www.amazon.com/Kierkegaard-Anthology-Soren/dp/0691019...
Party of One: The Loner's Manifesto by Anneli Rufus http://www.annelirufus.com/partyofone/
The Mindbody Prescription by John E. Sarno http://www.amazon.com/The-Mindbody-Prescription-Healing-Body...
http://aaroniba.net/articles/tmp/how-i-cured-my-rsi-pain.htm...
which recommends
http://www.amazon.com/Mindbody-Prescription-Healing-Body-Pai...
It's the only thing that could cure my constant RSI/chronic pain after years of trying everything, and in the book he talks about fibromyalgia.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Mindbody-Prescription-Healing-Body...
The idea of psychogenic disorders would have normally have sounded like esoteric BS to me, but I ended up picking up the book at the recommendation of an ex-Google coder who went through all the same things that I did. I'm glad I did; for 15$, I completely cured myself after years of trying everything else (physiotherapy, standing desk, stretching exercises, working out, various books on RSI, ergonomic chairs, keyboards, mouses, trackpads, switching hands, etc, etc), and it turns out the book takes a very scientific approach to these conditions, even if it admits that there's a lot we still don't understand about exactly how our minds work and how they can affect our bodies (it's kind of an engineering approach -- we figured out something that works, now we need to figure out why).
Highly recommended to all those of you suffering from constant back pain, neck pain, RSI, etc.
The Mindbody Prescription [1] and The Divided Mind [2] are two of his books.
My interest in this started with the motivation to get some relief for the RSI-like symptoms and it's been part of my recovery for a few weeks together with the improved ergonomics.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/The-Mindbody-Prescription-Healing-Body...
[2] http://www.amazon.com/The-Divided-Mind-Epidemic-Disorders/dp...
+ Hedonic adaption: Hedonic adaption is special psychological effects that explains about how we perceive about happiness. Even after a big happy moment, our level of happiness do down quickly. We adapt our perception to our current situations. So it's like nothing will last forever. Hedonic adaption is both good and bad. It makes us adapt quickly with any situations. It keeps us safe. So we should appreciate it and learn how to make use of this effect rather than blaming it. Learns to attend with everything you do even it's bad, explore something news. It will help you deal with bad effects of hedonic adaptation.
+ Mindfulness: Do some mindfulness exercise. We feel stress because our mind think we're having problems. Our mind made up our feelings to keep us safe [7]. It's good for us. Mindfulness help us understand more about feeling and more enjoy the moment.
+ Mind body connection: Your health affects your mental, and your mental will affect your health. To me, it's not because some spiritual belief, but it's how systems work [3] [4]. Our body, our mind are systems. They are part of bigger system. They connect each others and interact with each other, sending some feedback. So try to improve both your health and your mental. Try to improve your health diet, do exercises and taking care of our thoughts and feelings.
+ We aren't rational. Our thinking system is optimal but it has limitations [3]. It has a lot of problems (cognitive biases). Learn to appreciate and find a way to make it better. For example, we can adapt. We update our belief overtime. Try to make new better habits[5]. Make small steps.
+ There isn't perfect things. Every systems aren't perfect. Our immune system, our cognitive system, organizations, data structures, design patterns,... Appreciate what works, what not and improve it.
Some interesting books, articles you might interest:
[1] https://www.plantinghappiness.co.uk/hedonic-adaptation/
[2] https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp...
[3] https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Systems-Donella-H-Meadows/dp...
[4] https://www.amazon.com/Mindbody-Prescription-Healing-Body-Pa...
[5] https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
[6] https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being
[7] https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Insecurity-Message-Age-Anxiety...