Home Treatment for Repetitive Stress Injury

A few months ago I joined the gym and it’s been great for fixing my posture, getting rid of shoulder and back pain, and making me feel healthier and stronger. One of my favorite gym tools –suitable for both people suffering from chronic injuries AND people who are gym junkies –  is the foam roller. [...]

Every workspace has its own ergonomic issues, and every body has different ergonomic needs and problems based on their physique and habits. A lot of generic writing on ergonomics, unfortunately, seems to be prescriptive–forcing users to try to sit in a particular position, creating tools that force you into an upright posture with your arms [...]

It’s been too long since we looked at a good stretch here on this blog, but Yoga Squirrel is here to help you stretch out those 2010 blues and go into 2011 feeling refreshed. Photo courtesy Eschipul on Flickr (Eschipul on Flickr) The squirrel will show you the way: Kneel on your floor of choice [...]

The first major storm of the season hit the San Francisco Bay Area today, causing freeway snarls, nearly-drowned cars-and a lot of stiffness in my joints. Why does rain and weather change affect joint stiffness? I had to do some research to find out. Arthritis sufferers in particular have been reporting this phenomenon for many [...]

A while back I wrote about my vision for a future way of interacting with computers-a program that would let you use full body movements to control your mouse and keyboard. The program would accommodate your fitness level and help you get exercise and stay strong, healthy, and active while getting work done. So it’s [...]

Sorry I have been MIA lately: I have been out enjoying my pain-free life. I remember how devastating and debilitating it was to be in constant pain, and wondering if I would ever get free of it, or whether I would be weak and suffering forever. I guess when you’re 24, a chronic injury seems [...]

At its best, massage can do much more than feel good–it can lead to healing, increasing circulation, lifting your energy, breaking up scar tissue, and making you healthier overall. Before you find a therapist, research the styles they perform and decide which is right for you. Since everyone has different levels of comfort in relation [...]

I recently began taking a self-defense class. It’s a positive step, but probably would have been much more empowering when I was younger. Today I feel mostly like an empowered human being, except for the fact I’m physically small and weak compared to most other people. Being 5′ tall, relatively petite and female, I’ve taken [...]

Active Release Technique, or A.R.T. as it’s known, is a technique that involves strategic pressure on trigger points combined with guided stretches. Practitioners are highly trained and the techniques are useful for treating repetitive stress injuries, breaking up old scar tissue, and treating sports injuries too. My experience with A.R.T. started at a climbing gym [...]

When you work full time, especially if it means chronic pain in your arms and hands, every part of life can start to feel overwhelming — the last thing you want to do is wade through a bunch of old blog entries to find the easy ways to make things better. So here is a [...]