Short Internet Break…
Hey guys, I know I promised a second post for the “How to Write a Romance” series, but clearly that’s not happening. I’ll be honest: my wrists are shot. They’ve been getting worse and I’ve been ignoring the pain (these wrist support bands are just for style!), pretending I don’t notice the obvious side-effects of overuse (ganglion cysts? Naw. Those are just gross knuckle bumps brought on by…a frog…peeing on me…?), and continuing to type-type-type all day long.
Yesterday, though, I actually hit a breaking point. My wrists throbbed the whole day even though I had barely touched the keyboard that morning. So come 4:00 PM when I would usually hunker down to write the Monday blog, I just couldn’t do it. This hurts like hell, guys, and I need a break from the desk.
No internet. No blogs. No newsletter. No Twitter. No forum updates. For at least a week. I’m so sorry, y’all, but I just gotta give these wrists and tendons and muscles a break. They’re my livelihood. (I should also probably visit a doctor. Not probably, but definitely.)
If there’s an emergency, I will still be checking email (though probably not answering). And I’ll still be maintaining the #YARunsA5K Fundraiser, of course. 😉
Forgive me. I’ll be back soon. Promise.
(Also, do NOT emulate me. Take care of your wrists. Seriously. ♥)
June 16, 2014 @ 1:58 pm
Oh gosh! That’s horrible! I’m so sorry you’ve been in so much pain. Hopefully a doctor can fix the problem and you can get back to typing: pain free. Get better soon, Sooz, and enjoy a much-needed break 🙂 <3
June 16, 2014 @ 2:36 pm
Boo!! I’m sad you’re taking a break but clearly you NEED it!! Take care of yourself and I hope the week helps!
Erin
June 16, 2014 @ 2:38 pm
Take Care of yourself! We’ll be waiting for you when you get back.
June 16, 2014 @ 3:14 pm
Aw, Sooz, I hope you feel better soon! You use this as a movie break. 🙂
June 16, 2014 @ 3:58 pm
Take a break. My husband is an executive producer. So he types/writes all day for his job and he has major problem with his wrist. I know sometimes he has to wrap them in salonpas and then puts the brace over that. He’s been to the doctor but there isn’t much they can do for him besides tell him some physical therapy exercises to do.
June 16, 2014 @ 4:28 pm
I’m so sorry that you’re having problems with your wrists. In the short term, ultrasound treatments may help as they reduce inflammation – they certainly helped me – but in the long term you might want to think about moving from a QWERTY to a Dvorak keyboard. I don’t use one myself, but I know of a well-respected writing teacher who made the switch after she developed wrist pain and she hasn’t looked back since.
All the best, and I hope you’re feeling much better soon. 🙂
June 16, 2014 @ 4:28 pm
Take care! Before starting work again, maybe getting a wrist cushion would help to prevent further/future injuries?
June 16, 2014 @ 11:35 pm
Get better!!!! <3
June 17, 2014 @ 7:40 am
Ouch, I hope you feel much better after a week’s well-deserved break! 🙂
June 18, 2014 @ 1:23 am
Oh no! That’s terrible! I hope the break does them worlds of good, and they get better soon. And seriously– stay away from frogs that pee on you. 😉
June 18, 2014 @ 4:34 am
Oh no! Hope that you’re able to visit the doctor and get your wrists looked at. Definitely get plenty of R&R! <3
June 18, 2014 @ 11:26 am
Aw Sooz! Look after yourself and rest up. I hope that pain goes away FAST, and that the doctor helps fix your poor wrists. I’ll be thinking of you! <3
June 18, 2014 @ 5:44 pm
Hi Sooz,
So sorry to hear about your wrists. Rest is probably the only cure! Throw on Firefly if you haven’t seen it and rest up. Recharge with tv, movies and reading! Look after yourself as you’re number 1. It’s amazing how much you’ve contributed to date to writers and writing alike. We will all be here when your wrists are better whether it’s weeks or months so give yourself all the time you need to recoup! 🙂
June 18, 2014 @ 10:49 pm
Sooz! Listen to your body, you know this! All the best to you as you heal and seek medical advice this week.
June 20, 2014 @ 3:15 pm
Rest them best you can and get supports, stat! If there’s inflammation also elevate and keep them cool with ice. Resist the urge to use them too soon as it can really push recovery back (trust me – I know!) Once they’re better I recommend hand grips and a Powerball – http://powerballs.com/? – , plus daily gentle stretching (google ‘erin motz yoga for wrists’ as a starter). If you also get pain from using a mouse, then check out a trackbar. I use this one – http://www.ergoexperts.com/Roller-Bar-Mouse-p/trackbar.htm – when I’m at work at a desktop. Take it easy!
June 27, 2014 @ 7:37 pm
Hi Susan!! Just found your blog today from a link on Pinterest (about writing romance). Looking forward to seeing part two when you feel better. Also, as a person who’s dealt with adult-life-long wrist pain, I thought I’d share what helped me. First off, have you ever looked into voice-activated software? You might try it, so you can speak instead of use your hands (dragon naturally speaking). Second, my major pain come from my right wrist, while using a mouse, and I found the best mouse to buy, hands down: it’s a zero-tension mouse. I have been using mine for 2 years now with NO pain. You read that right, NO pain. I went from throbbing, iced-down wrists, to being totally pain-free! Yayyyyy!! Third, sitting in a better position and a better chair (that’s both comfortable AND ergonomically friendsly) will help a lot. The best ergo chairs on the planet are Haworth chairs. Sometimes you can find them used (office liquidators stores), because brand new they’re quite pricey (but then how much would you pay for a set up that eliminates pain?) I use this chair at my day job, and ended up asking my company if I could buy one of the duplicates they were throwing out. I ended up getting mine for free (largely because all the chairs they were tossing had strong reasons to be tossed – the upholstery on mine is crazy stained/bad/been-in-a-construction-zone-covered-in-plaster, and parts of the right arm were busted off, but all the ergonomics work, and I just made a no-sew seat cover for it). Lastly, my cousin swears by Tommy copper wristbands. Now, I’ve NEVER tried them, and have a hard time believing they work, however she really, really, loves hers, and wears it all the time, and says it helped her wrists a lot. If the mouse and chair hadn’t worked for me, I’d have tried the Tommy Copper thing just because they’re relatively inexpensive.
Almost forgot – one of my physical therapists had me massage the muscles in my forearm with a tennis ball several times a day. I’m sure there are video tutorials on how to do this, but it really helped, you’d be surprised.
And if you end up seeing a doc and they recommend surgery, take heart. My mom had carpal tunnel surgery back in the 80’s, after enduring wrist pain and numbness for a long time. And after she recovered from the surgery, she was pain-free for the rest of her life (she passed away in 2008). So that’s 30 years of healthy wrists after surgery, and I’m sure the techniques NOW are even better.
Hope this info. is helpful to you or whomever might need to see this!!
– brand new blog reader
August 27, 2014 @ 4:40 pm
Try writing/typing as if you’re playing the piano. Keep your wrists straight and don’t bend them. This may take some practice but should help with the tension. Good luck!