RSI Awareness Day
On Saturday I attended RSI Awareness Day 2007 in London. Although I found it helpful to meet fellow sufferers with so similar stories I did find it frustrating to listen to so called medical experts (Dr R. M. Pearson, Consultant Physician and Helen Skehan of Physio Solutions) telling me nothing at all useful. It seems they all stick to the party line of:
1. it's incurable
2. it causes permanent damage
3. unless you catch it early on you're screwed
I think this is rubbish. Especially since not one of the experts could even define what causes RSI, or even what it is. I also get incredibly angry that NHS doctors often refuse to diagnose RSI, can't refer their patients for any treatment that may help such as acupuncture, physiotherapy or massage and will only offer pain killers or anti-depressants while putting you on at least a 3 month waiting list to see a rheumatology specialist. Then months down the line when they finally agree it must be RSI since it hasn't gone away they then say it's too late to get help with it and damage is aready permanent! Meanwhile you've spent hundreds if not thousands of pounds stabbing in the dark with alternative treatments.
The two talks I found most helpful were the Recovering from RSI: The Mind-Body Connection by Harriet Young and Sarah Fisher and RSI Recovery by Eckhard Pfluegel (London RSI Support Group). Both of these talks were given by people who have suffered from RSI themselves and believe they have found a "cure". In my opinion, I would rather listen to them than someone who has no idea what it feels like.
The worst talk of the day was by far RSI Prevention by Tonia Cope Bowley. I will not be buying her book: RSI: How to Avoid It and What to Do If You've Got It. I felt I learned absolutely nothing from her, no strategies for avoiding RSI other than type less and no advice for what to do if you have it other than type less. After all, that is what she did, she retired! I asked her if she had found anything that had cured her and she mentioned a few alternative therapies (acupuncture etc) but the truth is, she's probably better because she quit her job. Her presentation was unprofessional (repeatedly misspelling the word "crisis") and incompetent (she couldn't work the laptop). Her entire thesis seemed to be that we are heading for a health crisis and the only solution is to limit the amount of time we spend using our hands repetitively because the human body just isn't designed to do this kind of work. I totally refute this. For starters, there is no evidence the human body is so weak and badly designed that it can't handle either sitting down for long periods or working in a repetitive way. If this was true millions of people would be ill and that just isn't the case. I have worked with hundreds of people in my 11 year IT career and I've never met more than a few with problems. In fact I've met people who have worked with computers all their lives, go home after a 10 hour day and play on a games console for another 4 hours and yet still don't have RSI.
Secondly, she backed up her crisis theory with data from a survey that showed an exponential rise in the number of workplace injuries related to keyboard and/or mouse work over the last few years. And yet what she fails to take into account is that those figures simply reflect the eponential rise in the number of people using a computer at work! That is like comparing crime figures for cities without taking into account their respective populations.
I may sound as if I found the day a waste of time but I didn't at all. I found it hugely reassuring to find other people struggling with similar symptoms, difficulties with the NHS and lack of information and advice. I am not alone! I also picked up a Goldtouch keyboard for a bargain price so all in all the day was worth it for me. 26 February 2007
1. it's incurable
2. it causes permanent damage
3. unless you catch it early on you're screwed
I think this is rubbish. Especially since not one of the experts could even define what causes RSI, or even what it is. I also get incredibly angry that NHS doctors often refuse to diagnose RSI, can't refer their patients for any treatment that may help such as acupuncture, physiotherapy or massage and will only offer pain killers or anti-depressants while putting you on at least a 3 month waiting list to see a rheumatology specialist. Then months down the line when they finally agree it must be RSI since it hasn't gone away they then say it's too late to get help with it and damage is aready permanent! Meanwhile you've spent hundreds if not thousands of pounds stabbing in the dark with alternative treatments.
The two talks I found most helpful were the Recovering from RSI: The Mind-Body Connection by Harriet Young and Sarah Fisher and RSI Recovery by Eckhard Pfluegel (London RSI Support Group). Both of these talks were given by people who have suffered from RSI themselves and believe they have found a "cure". In my opinion, I would rather listen to them than someone who has no idea what it feels like.
The worst talk of the day was by far RSI Prevention by Tonia Cope Bowley. I will not be buying her book: RSI: How to Avoid It and What to Do If You've Got It. I felt I learned absolutely nothing from her, no strategies for avoiding RSI other than type less and no advice for what to do if you have it other than type less. After all, that is what she did, she retired! I asked her if she had found anything that had cured her and she mentioned a few alternative therapies (acupuncture etc) but the truth is, she's probably better because she quit her job. Her presentation was unprofessional (repeatedly misspelling the word "crisis") and incompetent (she couldn't work the laptop). Her entire thesis seemed to be that we are heading for a health crisis and the only solution is to limit the amount of time we spend using our hands repetitively because the human body just isn't designed to do this kind of work. I totally refute this. For starters, there is no evidence the human body is so weak and badly designed that it can't handle either sitting down for long periods or working in a repetitive way. If this was true millions of people would be ill and that just isn't the case. I have worked with hundreds of people in my 11 year IT career and I've never met more than a few with problems. In fact I've met people who have worked with computers all their lives, go home after a 10 hour day and play on a games console for another 4 hours and yet still don't have RSI.
Secondly, she backed up her crisis theory with data from a survey that showed an exponential rise in the number of workplace injuries related to keyboard and/or mouse work over the last few years. And yet what she fails to take into account is that those figures simply reflect the eponential rise in the number of people using a computer at work! That is like comparing crime figures for cities without taking into account their respective populations.
I may sound as if I found the day a waste of time but I didn't at all. I found it hugely reassuring to find other people struggling with similar symptoms, difficulties with the NHS and lack of information and advice. I am not alone! I also picked up a Goldtouch keyboard for a bargain price so all in all the day was worth it for me. 26 February 2007