Hand and Wrist Pain

Hand and Wrist Pain is close to my heart, having suffered since 2001 with chronic pain and suffering from repetitive stress injuries. For those not familiar this generally is related to over use of computers and other digital devices (those darn smart phones count too). I have learned quite a bit about my condition and learned to adapt quite nicely, and hope Hands Free Poker can bring some education and information to those who are suffering and have questions. I know when I was at my lowest point and in the most pain, I had trouble lifting a hair brush or opening the easiest jars, and I used the internet extensively to find techniques to reduce the clicks and work smarter rather than harder.

In the below sections we would like to offer advice and helpful pieces of information that the Hands Free Poker team and myself have learned over the years. Some of these techniques will help you right away improve your condition and others take years of training and habit breaking.

- Jeff Schreibman – Inventor, Hands Free Poker

Jeff has read quite a bit of literature on hand and wrist pain, having had surgery on both of his wrists for “De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis” and gone through countless hours of personal and professional rehabilitation for his repetitive stress injury. He also has written two front page articles on the subject of computer over-use for Pocket Fives.com, a well respected online poker community, including Ergonomics and Online Poker and Ergonomics and Expected Value.

	Carpal Tunnel Hand Injuries This type of injury can feel completely crippling, but there is hope if you can just take it one step at a time and listen to what your body is trying to tell you. Learn more about what causes this irritation in the carpal tunnel region of your hand and how unfortunately the best way to beat this is to stop with the activity which caused it in the first time; using the computer.
	Speech Technology Learn about how Hands Free Poker uses Windows speech technology which has come a long way since it was introduced with Windowx XP 5+ years ago. Also learn about other speech software programs out on the market now and you may find one that is right for you.
	Carpal Tunnel Recovery Read down to earth advice on how finding the most conservative means for recovery possible at first can help you. Be extremely careful on diving directly into surgery as often you can find simple means to reduce your symptoms and start the road to surgery.
	Repetitive Stress Injuries RSI sometimes called Repetitive Strain Injury is marked by chronic pain from repeating a movement that causes irritation to a nerve in the affected area. This harrowing injury can manifest itself with any repetitive movement, in our case, we see it most often with computer over-use.
	Other Recommended Equipment Read about other pieces of recommended equipment that can help you with the fight against hand and wrist pain. Each of these can help your individual situation and are highly recommended before surgery or anything else drastic.
	Changing Your Computing Habits If you are starting to feel tingling and pain in your hands, wrists, or neck, you need to listen to your body’s signals that there is a problem. Unfortunately, the only way to beat this type of repetitive stress injury is to stop doing the movement that is causing the pain, there is no other quick fix. This entails completely changing your computing habits from the ones that are causing the pain and irritation, which is easier said than done.