It’s Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome! RSI Theory & Therapy for Computer Professionals by Jack Bellis and Suparna Damany.

I was looking through a book store and came upon this book.  The title says it all.  Very small percentage of people actually have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, far more have Tendinitis or some other condition. The book is worth buying as it draws upon many user experiences.  It clearly goes over human anatomy, injury, diagnosis, various therapies, prevention, ergonomics, stretches, and lifestyle issues.

When you are dealing with such a debilitating condition, you should arm yourself with as much information as possible.

Pascarelli’s Book has a good chapter on when and how to do strengthening exercises by using weights. He does not talk about size of weights.

When I started his program, I started with very light 1lb dumbbell weights and slowly moved up after many months of therapy. I have been doing these exercises every morning for years.

As usual, consult your doctor and hand therapist for advice.

Here are two books that have helped me recover from Repetitive Strain Injury or RSI, which many people call Carpal Tunnel Syndrome:

Dr. Pascarelli’s Complete Guide to Repetitive Strain Injury: What You Need to Know About RSI and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome by Dr. Pascarelli

This is the bible on recovering from RSI. Recognizing the early signs and risk factors, Finding a doctor, Preventing RSI, recovering.

Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome : And Other Repetitive Strain Injuries by Sharon J Butler

This book contains stretching exercises to gently relieve the tension in your body and to strengthen weak muscles. The exercises I employed are on page: 106, 110, 112, 116, 128, 130, 134.
I perform them every morning.

Bicycling had a piece on cyclist’s palsy. “About one-quarter of all riders will develop cyclist’s palsy–pain, tingling, numbness and weakness in the hands, wrists or fingers–says Andrew Pruitt, a bike-fit and sports-medicine expert.” They go on to suggest adjusting bike fit and list some exercises to strength muscles.

As one suffering from computer induced tendonitis and as a person who enjoys cycling, I have faced a double whammy. When I had severe symptoms, I simply stopped biking and switched to hiking and running. Any time you stop using your hands, you let them heal.

I started using Ironman Elite cycling gloves because of their thick padding. They work pretty well. I also have their mountain biking gloves but do not like them as much because of less padding.

I installed a Stem Riser to make my road bikes handlebars higher. This allow more weight to stay on the saddle and off my handlebars. Keep in mind that you may have to install longer cables with a higher stem.

Road biking is very hard on the hands.  I found that I could tolerate far more road riding using my mountain bike.  Hey some riding is better than NO riding.

This site has some good tips from a doctor.