order: 
- Home
- RSI Basics
- What is RSI?
- Causes
- My Story
- History
- Medical diagnoses
- Treatment / medication
- What you can do
- Prevention (summary)
- Treatment plans
- Equipment
- Work habits
- Stretching exercises
- Passive stretching exercises
- Trigger point massage
- Nerve mobilization
- Strengthening
- Psyche
- Additional treatment
- Further information
- Books
- Other personal stories
- Health professionals
- Links
- Guestbook
- Press
- Support this website
- Overview
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Treatment / medication
Almost every doctor had a different idea to solve my problem. The following table is a chronological list of what I have done; with the respective failure/success. Duplicate treatments are listed just once.
| Treatment / medication | Impact felt |
| Initially avoided any activity with the hands | The pain didn't become worse |
| Diclofenac gel for my forearms and ibuprofen 400 tablets for three weeks | The swelling of my forearms decreased after three weeks |
| X-ray of wrist and elbow | No abnormalities identifiable |
| 3x cortisone injections in both elbows | Pain-free for one day |
| Epicondylitis clasps for both arms | None |
| Weeks of absolute rest (very little movement) | Slight improvement |
| Neurological examination of the forearms | No abnormalities identifiable |
| 11x deep friction massages | Less pain at times of rest |
| Strengthening exercises in a gym | Significant deterioration, aborted |
| 8x electrical muscle stimulation (forearms) | Only short-term improvement |
| Wore wrist braces constantly for two weeks | Slight improvement |
| Six weeks spirulina maxima algae tablets and essence of cilantro | None |
| Hair and blood analysis (suspected heavy metal poisoning) | Suspicion could not be confirmed |
| Food supplements (yeast, selenium, zinc, vitamin C) | None |
| Running | Temporarily completely free of symptoms (as with any other activity which increased blood flow to the forearms) |
| For acute symptoms: cold water (or hot-cold contrast baths) | Short-term relief |
| Spinal adjustments, osteopathic treatments | Slight (temporary) improvement |
| Massaging various trigger points | Slight improvement |
| MRI of the cervical spine | Tightly curved cervical vertebrae, but no other abnormalities identified |
| Standing upright, stretching neck muscles | Less neck pain |
| Exercises to stabilize the back area, sitting ball in my home office | No more back and neck pain |
| Neck and back massage | Slight improvement |
| Stretching exercises for both arms | Increased the pain in my wrists, therefore abandoned after two days |
| Blood test (arthritis, rheumatism ...) | No abnormalities |
| MRI of the right wrist with contrast agent | No abnormalities |
| Piroxicam 20mg tablets | Less pain |
| PH-examination of my blood | Rather sour, but still within the tolerance range |
| Ergonomic working posture, ergonomic equipment, regular breaks, stretching, strengthening, nerve mobilization, stimulating blood flow and massaging of specific trigger points (supported by a physical therapist) |
Slow, but steady recovery |
| Erase pain memory | Final improvement |
The strengthening exercises I performed in a gym were started too early. They could have been helpful, but my muscles were already too weak. Furthermore, I initially did the stretching exercises too intensely.
Some other treatments were also helpful. But since there was no "master plan" and no one told me that the treatment could take half a year or longer (the most common information was 2-3 weeks), I stopped the massages, stretching etc. too early. I was also very confused from contradictory recommendations (complete rest <=> stretching exercises).
The website of Justin Bennett and the book "It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!: RSI Theory and Therapy for Computer Professionals" gave me hope that I'm on the right track. Those two sources of information were the reason why I created this website: to provide fellow sufferers with sensible tips for the prevention and treatment of RSI.
The exercises described on this website are usually sufficient for the prevention and cure of mild cases of RSI. If you are in a stage of chronic pain you should definitely consult an appropriate health professional. Ideally, he or she has already successfully treated other RSI patients.
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