I had hoped to get one later on in the year, however I had to step up the purchase by several months.
In the late 90's, I developed a repetitive stress injury in my arms, triggered by heavy computer use, lots of sitting, poor posture, etc. It was probably even more frustrating than painful, as I wasn't 'sick', however I wasn't able to do even simple things like cut my food at times. I was referred by my doctor to The RSI Clinic, was off work full time for a while and then part time for a bit as well. I probably was doing rehab therapy for about 2 years. Then I changed companies and was no longer working 'downtown', but out by the airport. Too far to continue going to the clinic, so I tried my best to continue my exercises, etc.
Apart from continual back muscle pain and tightness, things haven't been too bad over the past 9 years. :) I admit that my lifestyle doesn't include much regular physical activity, which is never a good thing. Combine that with 7-12 hours sitting in front of a computer and I have had to be careful not to overdo things. I also rely heavily on my husband's help to work out some of the tight muscles. He's gotten very good at finding the trigger points on my back and helping to release them. His poor hands are getting weaker though...poor guy!
A few years ago I started sensing that the old body might be starting to rebel once again. So I made sure I did my best to not sit for too long in front of the computer and was lucky that my job at that time required me to be on my feet on a regular basis. The company I work for also had a Registered Massage Therapist come on site once every two weeks which was very convenient and saved a lot of time vs. having to find one close to home and wasting time traveling to and from appointments. Unfortunately, about a year ago, the onsite massages ceased, as there wasn't enough interest to make it worth their while to come in. I think at times I was the only person who was booking and they'd always end up cancelling on me! LOL
Back last Fall, I took on a new position at work and was once again sitting at my desk most of the day. Couple that with the photography related computer work I do and it was back to sitting in front of a computer for 7-12 hours a day. I did notice the difference almost right away, but made a conscious effort to not remain static for long periods. It's been going alright for the most part, up until this week.
I recognized the sensations in my arm all too well. :( Yesterday, when I started writing this post, is actually the worse day of all and it's take me a very long time to even type this blog entry. But I'm stubborn and will find a way to accomplish what I need to accomplish. I decided last night that mousing was definitely not going to be a possibility for much of my editing work that I'm doing right now as I can't steady the mouse with my hand. So I did some more research and narrowed it down to two types of Wacom tablets. The Bamboo Fun and the intuos4. I decided on the intuos4 based on what Bryan at my favourite camera store, Henry's, told me about the quality during editing compared to the other model.
I'm hoping that changing my hand and arm motions while I'm using the computer, at least while at home, will help some of my muscles rest. If it turns out it works well, maybe I'll use it at work as well. We'll see.
My Newest Toy
What's Inside The Box
It's a bit strange to get used to at first, and I've only been using it a short time, but I think I'm getting the hang of it :)
So we'll see if my new addition will help at all, in conjuction with other changes. Wish me luck!!!! :))
-- Lisa P.
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