Prevention Of RSI - 10 Simple Tips

By Paul Goddard

I frequently get calls from people who have been told they have RSI and want to know which mouse would be the best choice for relieving their symptoms. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it was as simple as selecting the right pill to get an instant cure?

RSI or Repetitive Strain Injury is an all encompassing term that covers a multitude of symptoms and conditions, but isn't a diagnosis in itself. It's more of a general term like "sports injury" which could mean a bump on the head or sprained ankle.

When you think about it most ailments will get the default advice of "take 2 paracetemol and stay in bed" regardless of what might be wrong. It seems to be a method for finding out if your own defence systems will deal with the problem if given a couple of days to get on with it and if you don't get better presumably you will come back. It is not uncommon to hear some doctors recommending that the best way to cure Repetitive Strain Injury is to stop repeating the activity that is causing the strain, which results in the injury.

For most of us advice that involves a complete career change that excludes use of a computer is unrealistic so in fact there are only two practical options; avoid getting the problem in the first place, or develop a means of managing it so that you can still work on a computer.

RSI is avoidable, and this is obviously the best plan. As anyone has experienced RSI will tell you, it's painful and has a serious impact on your working life.

The following steps are my suggestions for working on a computer without suffering.

1. Adjust your whole workstation to fit you not the other way around

2. If your equipment is not positioned correctly and you can not adjust it - it is not ergonomic and you will suffer as a result.

3. Start with your posture and invest in a good adjustable chair. It might seem expensive but is less costly than back treatment and much less painful

4. Get your desk to the right height for you - not what your chair will allow. You can do this by inserting small blocks of wood under the feet or saw a bit off its too high (if you share a workspace a height adjustable desk makes life much easier for all)

5. Get a fully adjustable, Goldtouch keyboard. These are quite simply the best, You can read up on why by Googling "Goldtouch keyboard"

6. Get another mouse or even better get two, and keep the one you have. Keep switching between them so that you minimise the repetition. Get different ones, a trackball might feel a bit strange at first but you will get used to it. Vertical mice help a great deal to reduce twisting or pronation in the wrist

7. Get a document holder that can sit over and behind your keyboard. There are lots to choose from, the Microdesk will fit over the Goldtouch and gives lots of space for papers. The key feature is that you want to keep all your work in a straight line head up position

8. Adjust your monitor to the right height and distance. Monitor arms are ideal and easy to use with flat screen monitors. They also free up space on your desk. If you need to use a laptop make sure you have a stand to get the screen to the right height and always use an external keyboard and mouse

9. Use RSI Guard - ALWAYS. You are part of the problem because you think it won't happen to you or you simply can't be bothered. RSI Guard is simple software that can really help you be more aware of how your behaviour is hurting you.

10. Do something now! The whole problem with RSI is that your body will put up with the way you treat it for quite a long time but once it gives up - you are in big trouble, and the road back is painful and slow. Some people never really recover at all. They are the ones who found this stuff to boring to read, don't join them! - 30287

About the Author:

Paul Goddard is an Education Officer at Keytools and a well known RSI expert. He claims that RSI problems are easily preventable and his company, Keytools provides assistive technology for people with RSI including the RSIGuide software for prevention of RSI

Learning About Inflammatory Arthritis

By Kim Archer

Inflammatory arthritis includes a variety of illnesses that attack the joints because of immune system problems. Many forms of inflammatory arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis, are autoimmune disorders, in which the body views its own tissues as being foreign, and in turn reacts with inflammation. Other varieties, such as reactive arthritis, are the body's response to a bacterial infection. Another type of inflammatory arthritis is psoriatic arthritis. This is related to the skin condition, psoriasis.

Arthritis technically refers to any painful inflammation of the joints, and arthritis conditions can range from being so mild that they are hardly noticeable to so severe that they are practically debilitating. Arthritis can be overwhelming and the associated pain is often severe enough to interfere with daily tasks.

There are quite a few different possibilities when it comes to the causes of inflammatory arthritis. Unhealthy habits like excessive drinking or smoking are thought to be linked to the development of this disease so these habits should be discontinued to minimize the risk. Certain blood types are also more prone to developing this condition than others, and so you will want to be aware that genetics can often play a role here.

The symptoms of inflammatory arthritis are often so subtle and general that it is easy to mistake them for signs of something else, even just a regular cold or flu. When the disease is active, common symptoms include fatigue, lack of appetite, low-grade fever, muscle and joint aches, and stiffness.

Inflammation is a commonly experienced symptom of the disease. You may feel as though there is significant swelling in joints which occurs without warning regardless of how much the affected joint has been used, and joints may become stiff and difficult to move.

Chronic inflammation can cause serious damage to the body's tissues and cartilage, so if you are ever experiencing any of these symptoms you want to report them to your doctor as soon as possible. The good news is that inflammatory arthritis is usually pretty easy to diagnose. Then you can start on the path to treatment, and fortunately in today's advanced day and age there are plenty of treatment options available.

There are many over the counter medications and treatments available that will help to ease the pain associated with arthritis, but there is no known cure for arthritic conditions. Even though medical treatments cannot make the illness go away, they can help you live a healthy, active life. - 30287

About the Author:

Reactive arthritis symptoms are similar in many ways to those of other forms of arthritis. This disease affects your joints and organs, and can seriously impact your life. Fortunately, there is a way to minimize the pain and distress of this condition. Find out how at Arthritis Relief.

The Link Between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia

By Brenlee Place

There has been some discussion in recent years that severe fibromyalgia and fatigue syndromes are actually the same medical condition. Nearly all fibromyalgia sufferers also report having chronic fatigue (CF) and/or sleeping disorders, for example. In patients who meet the definition of chronic fatigue syndrome, a good portion of them experience tenderness in the joints or muscles, as well as headaches. Both syndromes affect primarily women between the ages of 20-50. Since the root causes are so elusive, patients of either syndrome often join forces to find constructive treatments.

Those who suffer from CF and severe fibromyalgia assert that fatigue is the most incapacitating element of their disease since they feel hyper-sensitive to pain and are never totally alert, which can have an effect on all of their daily tasks. Consequently treatments for fibromyalgia and CF usually begin with managing sleep patterns, states Mary Rose, behavioral sleep specialist and clinical psychologist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

"We recognize from research that sleep improves disposition, pain, and the general way that individuals feel throughout the day," she says. "Regardless of the causes of CF, if we can get some control over quality of sleep, you're almost certain to notice positive benefits for mood, fatigue, concentration."

Chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia patients usually have a lot of bad habits that prevent them from getting adequate rest. "Don't lie in bed, worrying and stressing," Dr. Rose tells her patients. "Get up, go to the other room. When you're calmer, relaxed, feel tired, go back to bed." Another recommendation with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome is to avoid napping. "A lot of patients have circadian rhythm problems. Napping can throw you off. Any sleep during the daytime will be taken from your sleep at night," Dr. Rose adds. Limiting noise and distractions in the bedroom, blocking out all light and participating in calming activities before bed are all ways to improve sleep quality.

Patients who have any sort of syndromes, diseases and conditions find that stress exacerbates their maladies. Therefore, stress reduction is essential for anyone suffering from fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue. Gentle exercises like yoga, Pilates and meditation can help patients unwind and sleep better. Relaxation exercises and meditation can also help individuals normalize their heart rates and lower blood pressure, which contributes to an overall feeling of wellbeing. Stretching several times a day and taking nice warm baths are pleasant ways to provide gentle comfort to an aching body. - 30287

About the Author:

Chronic fatigue is a real illness that requires education and the right treatment methods. One cure does not fit all with this disease. You need to educate yourself if you hope to start living a normal life again. Visit Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Help to find out more.

Ways To Relieve Neck Pain

By Mark Thomas

Pain in the neck muscles is often a result of spasms and too much stretching of the neck muscles. An inflammation in the neck joints can also lead to this condition. If your cervical vertebrae get injured or you have arthritis, then this too can give rise to pain and stiffness in the neck.

Sleeping with a pillow that doesn't suit your head and is not symmetrical can be a reason for the stiffness in your neck. If you stay in the posture resting your forehead on your arm or hand for a considerable length of time, then that too can lead to pain and stiffness in your neck muscles. However, a correction in your posture and the knowledge of your body movements can take care of the conditions triggering the neck pain and stiffness.

Any injury in the neck or head zone, where a nerve suffers an injury and can't function as it is expected to, can also be the reason for pain in the neck and surrounding muscles. This can also happen due to over straining of the neck muscles through exercising more than the body can handle.

A great natural remedy to stay away from a stiff neck is to maintain a good posture. If your neck pain tends to increase after a days work, then you should assess how you spent your day. If your work is computer related, then make sure that the computer screen is at your eye level. Take breaks in between work to change your body position. Being in an unchanged position can be a hindrance in proper blood circulation.

A regime of exercising the muscles around your neck can make them tough and powerful. Keeping the nose along the central line of your body also helps maintain symmetry in body position. During sleeping, you head should be straight and not twisted at an angle. If the stiffness recurs when you wake up, then changing your mattress might help relieve your pain.

The ways listed above usually relieve a stiff neck or pain in the neck, but if for some reason they don't help you , then you should go through a medical checkup. If you feel any pain in your arm or hands or any numbing sensation in your fingers with the neck pain, then it might be due to a pinched nerve and you should consult a doctor about your problem. - 30287

About the Author:

You can detect and relieve a pinched nerve in neck by these methods.

Pain Relief and Arthritis

By Scarlett Gillman

According to medical specialists, when you've got arthritis, you're doubtless to suffer other diseases. People who have arthritis often feel joint pains as a result of it is amid inflammation. Arthralgia is the medical term for the joint pain. There are over 40 million arthritis sufferers in the United States and they're all continuously wanting for effective pain relief. The disease is considered debilitating as a result of sufferers will hardly stand the inflammation and pain.

Arthritis will have an effect on different components of your body however in most cases, the pain and inflammation occurs on the - tendinitis, fibromyalgia, sclerodermal, and joint types or articular. Tendinitis aims at the tendons; Sclerodermal refers to the thickening of the connective tissue and skin; when the muscles become tender and sore particularly when touched, it's referred to as fibromyalgia; and also the articular refers to lupus or gout and it will be really painful.

You'll be able to tell when arthritis is going to hit you; whether or not you're young or previous, you'll suffer from arthritis. At present, a majority of arthritis sufferers have Osteo-Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Individuals who have these conditions feel persistent back and joint pains. The causes of Osteo-arthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis are completely different, as well as the results and risk factors. If you'resuffering with arthritis symptoms, you can select among the different pain relief devices, medication, and products sold within the market.

In the US, Osteo-arthritis affects more than 21 million people in numerous age ranges. If you've got this condition, it's natural to own swollen limbs. Your joint cartilage is affected and it conjointly results in stiffness. The condition is commonly known as OA and it will affect completely different body parts just like the spine, hips, knees, and fingers. Different elements like the ankles, shoulders, elbows, and wrists will also be affected but this seldom happens. In step with medical experts, these parts are subject to OA if there's a history of unusual stress or injury. Physical trauma and repetitive injury throughout early age will also cause OA.

The common OA symptoms are intermittent or steady joint pain, stiffness, tenderness or swelling of joint/joints, and crunchy feeling when you move around.

The only manner to determine if you've got OA is through an x-ray. If the symptoms are already present, the doctor can request an x-ray. The x-ray results will reveal the cartilage deformation additionally because the tissues around it. Joint Aspiration will also be performed by a qualified doctor. A sample of fluid will be taken from your affected joints with the use of a tiny needle.

Rheumatoid arthritis is another dreaded condition as a result of it is characterized by chronic and progressive pain of the joints. The synovial tissues tend to extend in size and this is referred to as hyperplasia. This condition provokes bone and cartilage destruction. Damaged cells will eventually die and it conjointly promotes abnormal growth of the encompassing tissues.

Natural merchandise like cod liver, olive oil, and ginger act as pain relievers. These are renowned and affordable product which can relieve pain effectively. Try them out now and see the pain relievers can conjointly work for you. When you feel chronic and progressive joint pains, consult a doctor immediately as a result of you'll be plagued by arthritis already. It would be best to handle your condition at an early stage to prevent the onset of undesirable effects of the disease. - 30287

About the Author:

Looking to find the best deal on Chiropractor Marietta, then visit www.Chiropractor-Marietta.com to find the best advice on Chiropractor Marietta for you.

Treating Fibromyalgia Naturally- Dealing And Coping With Fibromyalgia Pain

By Shaun Marsh

Fibromyalgia is defined as a type of chronic condition that is characterized by extreme pain in the ligaments, muscles or the tendons. It is also a type of illness that causes fatigue on tender points of the body. Other signs of fibromyalgia include restless legs syndrome, irritable bowel movements, numbness, anxiety, or painful menstrual periods among women. With all these common symptoms, fibromyalgia is probably one of today's most common types of medical problems.

Looking for the proper treatment of fibromyalgia has been a concern among many especially that hundreds and thousands of people already suffer from it. And one common consideration is to seek for fibromyalgia natural cures, in the hopes of helping patients to minimize their FM sufferings.

Vitamin D is probably the most common of all fibromyalgia natural cures. It has been proven that FM is often characterized by the body's vitamins D deficiency. So if you take in a generous amount of vitamin D religiously, you will achieve less painful fibromyalgia attacks in the future.

SamE, OR S-adenosylmethionine, is another form of fibromyalgia natural cures. Treatments that contain SAMe is proven effective for use since SAMe is that compound in your body vitally needed to keep your immune system working properly. SAMe is also the compound that aids the breakdown of your body's neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, or norepinephrine. Generally, SAMe is one good way in curing fibromyalgia because it also has a major function in the cartilage formation of your body.

Finding the right fibromyalgia natural cures is actually not that difficult since you practically have numerous options today. However, you must understand that one cure may work with others and it won't do well on you. That's because fibromyalgia cases vary from one another.

So in order to find out which natural cure for FM is right for you, it is important to consult your medical practitioner first and discuss what may be a possibility with your case. - 30287

About the Author:

Keen to access information on fibromyalgia?, then click on our website below to learn everything you need to know about fibromyalgia including fibromyalgia diagnosis, treatment for fibromyalgia, alternative treatment methods and coping strategies for fibromyalgia.

Medicinal Mushroom Hot Water Extract vs. Alcohol Extract

By Dr. Markho Rafael

Medicinal mushrooms have been immensely popular in Asia for millennia. Today, Americans are waking up to these powerful nutraceuticals. In the wake of this new awareness follow issues of product quality claims made by competing brands.

All medicinal mushroom species are plagued by this. Most fiercely debated is red reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), the most popular of all medicinal mushrooms. So this article will primarily focus on that species, but it's generally applicable to all species of medicinal mushrooms.

First off, stay clear of cheap, mass-produced medicinal mushrooms. If they are just dried and pulverized, then the medicinal compounds are still inaccessible behind the mushrooms' cell-walls. You'll be wasting your money on inert matter.

Then there are the real therapeutic grade red reishi brands, which are produced with much more care. But even here there are big differences between brands. Each claims to be the best, of course, because they want to sell their product. So lets set the facts straight and be independently informed consumers.

There are primarily three ways to extract the medicinal compounds from red reishi. Each method pulls out different compounds, all of which have been proven by scientific research to be therapeutically important.

1. Water Extraction, Hot (polysaccharides and more)

2. Alcohol Extraction (triterpenoids, sterols)

3. Fermented (arabinoxylanes, etc.)

The water soluble compounds, primarily polysaccharides, are powerful anti-tumor agents, immune enhancers and strong antioxidants. [1]

The alcohol soluble compounds are mainly triterpenoids, a large group of related compounds. Scientific studies suggest they help stabilize cholesterol, blood pressure and clotting. Most importantly, they are the anti-inflammatory compounds so critical to many of reishi's suggested uses, including arthritis, allergies and asthma. [1]

Finally, by fermenting the red reishi, the original medicinal compounds break down to form new compounds with unique healing properties. These "secondary metabolites" have among other things been shown to be immune enhancing and help regulate blood sugar, as well as having unique anti-tumor properties. [2]

Since this article is not intended to elevate any one brand over another, no brand names will be mentioned. Nevertheless, the author does know of two highly reputed brands (American and Japanese) that claim only hot water extracted red reishi is of any value and that alcohol extracts are useless.

Of course they do that to promote their own brand. In reality both hot water extract and alcohol extract contain unique medicinal compounds that are all very important.

When looking for the best reishi extract, find one that uses at least the first two extraction methods in combination: Hot Water and Alcohol Extraction. Even better may be a brand that includes all three methods listed.

An additional point to keep in mind is the form the reishi comes in. Reishi that dissolves completely in a water-based liquid such as coffee probably only contains reishi from hot water extraction. As a substitute for regular coffee, this would be a superb health-choice. However, it will not contain the water-insoluble triterpenoids so valued for their anti-inflammatory properties.

On the other hand, alcohol tinctures can actually contain both water soluble polysaccharides and alcohol soluble triterpenoids. The way you know is that the polysaccharides will fall out of solution because of the alcohol, and will make the tincture cloudy. That's alright though; you just need to shake before you take. Capsules and tablets may be one or the other or both. The only way to know is ask the manufacturer or read their information.

[1] Boh B, Berovic M, Zhang J, Zhi-Bin L. "Ganoderma lucidum and its pharmaceutically active compounds." Biotechnol Annu Rev. 2007;13:265-301.

[2] Tang YJ, Zhang W, Zhong JJ. "Performance analyses of a pH-shift and DOT-shift integrated fed-batch fermentation process for the production of ganoderic acid and Ganoderma polysaccharides by medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum." Bioresour Technol. 2009 Mar;100(5):1852-9. - 30287

About the Author:

Dr. Rafael has worked with natural health since the early 90's, recently specializing in medicinal mushrooms. He partners with Cordyceps Reishi Extracts, LLC on red reishi extract and cordyceps extract plus the increasingly popular mesima mushroom and more.