Thanks for the write up, I had a similar experience and it’s why I now know vim.
I found talon was nice but still frustrating, I never got as fast as OP. I got really good at pairing though. I wrote C and C++ code to finish a HPC course at Georgia Tech entirely through pairing.
Mid way through the journey (but I didn’t know it would ever end) I went to UT health and saw a doctor who sat down with me for about an hour and answered all my questions. He was basically trying to reassure me that what I was going through wasn’t permanent but also there was a very real psychological effect where being worried about the injury made the injury worse. Basically by focusing on the pain and dreading “never coding with my hands again” I would tense up and flex the muscles that needed time to relax.
He recommended therapy and a book called The Illustrated Happiness Trap to give me some mental exercises to practice to acknowledge the sensation without over privileging it.
When people ask “how did you get better” or “what keyboard can I buy to avoid this” I recommend:
Get an on-site ergonomic assessment by a professional. Even if I “did all the research” I’m not a full time health professional and my assessment after I got better gave me some tips I never would have thought to try (such as removing my chair arms). I hurt my forearms while using a fancy split ortholinear keyboard and you can too.
If you start to feel pain, don’t ignore it. Find stretches. Buy a kitchen 1 hour timer (or a visual timer for kids, I like those) and stretch every hour when it goes off.
Numbness and tingling (beyond just muscle pain) can be more serious signs, don’t ignore them, get it checked out. Get a second opinion too, orthopedics is very subjective.
Get a therapist. As knowledge workers we need to keep our brains in good shape. You couldn’t imagine a pro athlete that didn’t have a trainer. I can’t imagine a career programmer without a therapist.
Thanks for writing about your experiences. It’s one that I went through that’s hard to really talk about. Thanks for this opening to allow me to share.
Thanks for the write up, I had a similar experience and it’s why I now know vim.
I found talon was nice but still frustrating, I never got as fast as OP. I got really good at pairing though. I wrote C and C++ code to finish a HPC course at Georgia Tech entirely through pairing.
Mid way through the journey (but I didn’t know it would ever end) I went to UT health and saw a doctor who sat down with me for about an hour and answered all my questions. He was basically trying to reassure me that what I was going through wasn’t permanent but also there was a very real psychological effect where being worried about the injury made the injury worse. Basically by focusing on the pain and dreading “never coding with my hands again” I would tense up and flex the muscles that needed time to relax.
He recommended therapy and a book called The Illustrated Happiness Trap to give me some mental exercises to practice to acknowledge the sensation without over privileging it.
When people ask “how did you get better” or “what keyboard can I buy to avoid this” I recommend:
Thanks for writing about your experiences. It’s one that I went through that’s hard to really talk about. Thanks for this opening to allow me to share.