Cannot draw any pics for some moment >.<

[chisa-chan]

I wonder whether it is because my hand is too busy at playing comp keyboards or because I often get pre-exam tests, I somehow lose my ability to use my hand to draw. My hand hurts now.

This surely disappoints me, moreover since I haven't finished the character sprites for my project. (And I cannot handle spoon well now )

Any suggestions how to (at least) reduce this pain? Ouch....

[Recca Phoenix]

REST FOR A WHILE, first and foremost.

I used to have this problem in high schoool when I was doing kendo and playing bass too much in the same week, and now I get it when I alternate typing and crocheting a lot (and writing tests, oy...)

Get a large paintbrush and make painting motions, this will help alternate the muscles in your wrist. Also, try doing some exercises whenever it first starts to hurt so it doesn't get so bad later.

When all else fails, USE TIGER BALM!!!! >: )

You can ask a sports medicine person too.

[chronoluminaire]

I had really bad RSI for two years. I couldn't use keyboard or mouse because they hurt too much. I had to use a graphics tablet as a mouse, and programs like Dasher as a keyboard. (When I Rule The World was written almost entirely in Dasher...) It was a real pain (in more ways than one), so take care of yourself!

Specifically, POSTURE and BREAKS are the two biggest things to watch. Take a break every hour or two, for two to five minutes. (It's a pain, I know, but it's one of the most important things.) Rest your hands during that time; there are a number of stretches you can do which might be useful. RSIGuard will show you many of them.

Posture is the other thing: try to avoid slouching (this is really hard I know), sit in a straight-backed chair, use a wrist rest at the computer, and try to avoid bending your wrists to unnatural angles.

I really, really recommend taking this seriously and taking care of your body earlier rather than later, because it takes a long time to heal, and longer if you leave this unaddressed for longer. (I'm still not fully healed - I have to use wrist braces whenever I'm at a computer.)

And yeah, a physiotherapist can give you some wrist braces or some more specific advice.

[Jake]

Also, if you are using a computer for long periods of time, learning to type properly is a big help for battling RSI. It's frustrating at first, but it lets you use keyboards like this, which despite looking freakish is easily the most comfortable thing I've ever typed on.

And as a bonus, you can type quicker, too.

[chisa-chan]

Thanks for the reply!