Any ideas for sore fingers and hands?
Posted By: sm on 2006-06-15
In Reply to:
I do hand stretches and massage my fingers, but they are so sore from typing. I can still type very fast, just so sore doing it. Also, my thumb and index finger are drawing toward my palm more so than my other hand. Does anyone know what could cause this?
Also, does anyone else get muscle spasms in their feet while typing? javascript:editor_insertHTML('text',' ');
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TIA.
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Sore neck, sore eyes sm
Depends - if you are young, have the time and need the money, at least it's work. Did it years ago, no "day at the beach" so to say and the ESL's write like they talk, so be prepared to try to figure out what they are trying to say. "He can't get alone with the neighbor." Alone - along - a loan???? " The pt. drink 1-1/2 6 can beer per day." - A six pack and a half??? 9 cans??? Good luck anyway, Honey.
sore arm
I found that it is not from MTing, but actually from leaning on 1 arm/side too much. I had this myself about a week ago on my left side only and found that when I modified how I was sitting, sitting more centered, that the pain has totally gone away with no meds or injections.
sore fingertips
I also type 10 to sometimes 12 hours a day between my regular 40 hour a week job and extras that I do - I found my right thumb was getting soooo tender so I have since improvised and put a foam ring (that is actually for toes) on it to take the brunt of my hitting the space bar all the time. It works wonders and can't do without it now. But never had any other trouble with fingertips....
And sore wrists. Have you tried any of these?
Smart Gloves. Google them. They're wonderful. About $20 bucks apiece but well worth the money.
Carpal tunnel type straps. Wal Mart. $10 bucks apiece.
I have both and I alternate.
I ended up with numbness in my right index finger, but after buying these, it just went away after a few weeks. My fingers and wrists have some discomfort on occasion, but nothing like they were before.
One more thing, and I know people that do this, if you do "pound" the keyboard with your fingertips, relax those hands, elbows and shoulders and just tap. If that doesn't work, you may want to get a better keyboard.
Good luck! 
Sore elbow(s)
 I use elbow pads to save my shoulders & neck, but find that continually resting my elbows on anything (or keeping them bent at a 90-degree angle or greater) for any period of time exacerbates the pain. My problem is bone-spurs in the elbows - combination of arthritis and/or overuse from sports, etc. But typing, sleeping with it bent, etc. do make it worse. I've found gentle exercises on the machines at the gym to be helpful, provided I don't overdo it. I also use glucosamine & chondroitin supplements for a knee problem that might help a little.
Sometimes sleeping curled around an extra pillow, with my arm stretched out underneath it to help prevent it from being over-bent, seems to help. Also avoiding over-use. I try to keep my med. dictionary on my desk during the day, so I don't have to reach for it, and when I first take it off the shelf in the morning, I do it while standing up to lessen the stress on the joint.
When it does flare up, I've experimented with different pain remedies to find what is most effective. While aspirin works best on some of my parts, my own elbow pain seems to respond best to extra-strength Tylenol, and second-best to two ibuprofen (even though the bottle says take just one.) And the neck and shoulder pain is best relieved by Flexall cream, second-best by ibuprofen.
Best of luck finding the right cure!
sore elbows
I have used a tennis elbow brace that is worn around the forearm right under the elbow. Really helps.
sore elbows
In a way it's nice to know I'm not the only one who has this problem. Not that I wish pain on anybody... :)
Fortunately, I did not need any injections. I had physical therapy--heat, iontophoresis, and exercises--and anti-inflammatories.
The occupational health physician I saw also recommended a keyboard tray adjusted so that my arms were at a 90-degree angle while typing. I know someone mentioned having their arms at that angle made it worse, but my problem at that time was having my keyboard too low so that my arms were going down. Changing the angle did help.
Now when I have a flare-up, ibuprofen usually helps as well as a topical gel called Biofreeze which I buy it from my chiropractor but some independent pharmacies carry it, also.
Sore loser
Grow up
sore elbow
Just yesterday I noticed a lump on my forearm, just above the elbow. It is sore and has a red spot just on top of the lump, but the red just fades into almost nothing (which is just smaller than a dime), and the lump is actually lumpy, but seems to spread into a mass a couple of inches long. Anyone have any experience with something similar to this? I don't want to go to the doctor unless I have to because I know they will want to do an MRI, and all of that "stuff," (so if anyone has had anything like this and may have an idea what it is I would appreciate hearing from you). Thank you.
sore wrists
I use Oregano Oil on my wrists and the tops of my hands. Sometimes it hurts to lift fingers and I run the Oregano Oil along those bones.
sore back
I just moved from a hospital setting to typing at home and I am dying, too. At the hospital, they had these articulating keyboard arms that positioned up and down and forward and backward. I had my keyboard raised and close to me so that I could lean completely back in my chair and type comfortably. I researched those online and they are expensive little boogers. I will be getting one soon. My back is worth it. Look at Office Depot. I think they are listed as articulating keyboard something or another.
Sore back
I too have a bad back and I get backaches when I type. I see a chiropractor once a week and he showed me some stretches that help. I also have a support for my lower back. As far as the keyboard, I use a split keyboard and make sure my wrists are straight when typing.
Just saw your post about how sore
your elbow really is at this point (just to touch). If it is inflamed in any way, go with ice (on 10 min/off 10 min - on covered skin)for a few days. Then do moist heat/ice alternating for a couple days. Do the massage and stretching, as I mentioned in post below, as tolerated (keeping consistent with the 7-8/10 on pain scale). Also, make sure your elbows are not lower than your hands when you are typing. Let me know how it goes.
Anyone have a solution for a sore behind??
I just recently bought a new chair, recommended on one of the sites and it wasn't cheap by any means. But my butt gets so sore when I sit for days. I've tried putting a pillow under me, but that doesn't seem to help very much. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Boy oh boy, have you ever hit on a sore spot with me! -(sm)
I'm up against the same thing with that da**ed BOS. Every other day, it's something. Put a dash between words. Don't put a dash between words. And then each account varies from the BOS in its own unique and utterly ridiculous ways. Frequently the BOS goes against what's correct punctuation and writing style.
This whole BOS cow-pucky is keeping a lot of people busy, and in all the wrong ways. We're so busy worrying about the absurd minutia that BOS tells us is Law, that it's harder and harder to get a decent day's worth of transcribing done.
If MT co's want to use the BOS, then they should tell their clients that that's the standard they're going to be using. But no, every account, even every DOCTOR, wants it their way. I have no problem with typing every account and every doctor their way, but then I sure don't want QA flooding my inbox with marked-up reports, telling me I've done it wrong.
I truly believe that the whole purpose of BOS (besides making couple of shady characters very, very wealthy, is to further justify paying us less and eventually driving American MT's entirely out of the field. An MT can be very experienced, accurate, and fast, but if you keep playing the shell-game with the account specifications, and changing them up every other day, no one on earth is going to be able to keep up with all that and maintain a high QA score.
And the bottom line? Since WHEN does it matter to patient care (which is SUPPOSED to be the bottom line in the medical industry) whether you spell out numbers below 10, or type them in numerals? Since when does it matter if the date is March 14 or 3/14? It DOESN'T! When the doctors check our reports to sign, or before going into surgery, etc., does anyone really think they give a rat's backside about whether we capitalized "operating room", or spelled out the number ten? All that matters is accuracy and readability! The almighty BOS doesn't matter to them one iota.
This whole BOS/QA analness of MT is driving me crazy, too, because it's all about being jerked around.
Sore neck and shoulders
This is the first year that I have had this type of pain. There is nothing that will relieve it and if there is the slightest movement of my computer screen or anything out of the ordinary, there it goes. I am afraid surgery is in my future. I do take breaks and your schedule sounds good. Thanks for the information....
Oh grow up - such a sore loser!
x
Sore left pinky...
Mine gets like that from time to time as well. I tend to stretch it out too far. Usually I'll tape my ring finger and pinkie together with athletic tape (loosely, not as if splinting) for an hour or so to let it rest, and then go back to business as normal.
I'm hoping this will rectify itself when I get an ergo keyboard.
ExText-sore thumb
Does anybody have trouble with a sore left thumb from doing speech recognition in ExText? I have been doing it now for 5 months and have constant pain in my thumb. Just wondered if there was a better way of doing it.
No but I have a sore left pinky from doing
x
That is also a very sore spot, I agree
I requested the same thing about 2 months ago, could a physician pleaseeeeeee spell a name, especially when wanting a cc sent and was told if I could not find, just to pend the note and so I do. Why they are so against asking for a spelling is just beyond me. That should be a no brainer but noooooo, don’t get a high and mighty physician upset.
Have you had a sore throat lately? Don't call me crazy, but....
My legs from the calves down, and especially my ankles, have been swollen
since about the first part of February. I walk around like a "weeble-wobble" doll.
And I thought, gosh, am I too fat?!, eating too much salt?!
Why don't they go down overnight or when I prop them up?
Well, finally I found out that I probably have Hoen-Schoenlein (or something like that) purpura.
They say it recurs. It usually is in kids, but can happen in adults.
IT HAPPENS AFTER A SORE THROAT. It is in the autoimmune family. Sometimes they will give you steroids for it -- but mostly you have to just ride it out.
They really don't know what causes it - but like I said they do suspect it comes in correlation with a sore throat.......and I have had that horrible flu that hit in Feb and I have had recurrence of the flu/sore throat about every 6 wks (as do a lot of the folks I know).
They say the purpura/swollen legs and ankles can last for 6-8 wks or longer.
So, if you have really funky swollen legs and don't have luck with them going down after leaving off salt, drinking plenty of water, and not drinking caffeinated drinks -- it may be HENOCH-SCHONLEIN purpura.
What is HSP?
Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP or anaphylactoid purpura) is a form of blood vessel inflammation or vasculitis. There are many different conditions that feature vasculitis. Each of the forms of vasculitis tends to involve certain characteristic blood vessels. HSP affects the small arterial vessels called capillaries in the skin and frequently the kidneys. HSP results in skin rash (most prominent over the buttocks and behind the lower extremities associated with joint inflammation (arthritis) and sometimes cramping pain in the abdomen.
What causes HSP?
HSP occurs most often in the spring and frequently follows an infection of the throat or breathing passages. HSP seems to represent an unusual reaction of the body's immune system that is in response to this infection (either bacteria or virus). Aside from infection, drugs can also trigger the condition. HSP occurs most commonly in children, but persons of all age groups can be affected.
What are symptoms of HSP?
Classically, HSP causes skin rash, pain in the abdomen, and joint inflammation (arthritis). Not all features need be present for the diagnosis. The rash of skin lesions appears in gravity-dependent areas, such as the legs. The joints most frequently affected with pain and swelling are the ankles and the knees. Patients with HSP can develop fever. Inflammation of the blood vessels in the kidneys can cause blood and/or protein in the urine. Serious kidney complications are infrequent, but can occur. Sometimes a biopsy of skin and/or kidney is used in assisting the diagnosis, which is typically made based on the clinical findings.
Symptoms usually last approximately a month. Recurrences are not frequent, but do occur.
Do you all type when you are sick? I woke up this morning with a sore throat and a stiff achy
neck and my body was kind of stiff all over, but I ignored it, got the kids off to school, and went about my usual routine of having my morning coffee and reading the paper. I don't start work until noon every day. As the morning wore on, my body got achier and achier and I started having chills and basically had to huddle under three blankets so I would quit shivering. I took my temperature and it was 102.3 and I'm wonder if I have strep throat or something. I tend to pick that up about once a year and amy pretty familiar with the symptoms.
I couldn't bare the thought of calling sick especially because I work at home and I always think it's kind of lame to call in sick when you don't physically have to go much farther then down the stairs. I always feel extremely guilty whenever I have called in for illness in the past. Do you guys feel that way? Like we're somehow not entitled to take sick days because we already working from home. I mean, I have them accrued and I am truly sick, why should I feel bad about taking one when I actually need it?
Anyway, I took a handful of Motrin and the aching has eased up and I'm sweating like a pig so the fever broke for now, and now I just feel really tired and would love to lay down and take a nap, but just feel like I shouldn't and dread the idea of calling my boss.
Oh well, guess I'll suffer through like I always do. Every once in a while working at home doesn't feel quite fair. 
same here- my fingers just do not
.... with fingers.
x
Could it be something on your fingers?
And I ask that in all seriousness and no offense meant. I have had 3 MS Keyboards and have not worn the letters off any of them. Are you maybe putting some kind of lotion on your hands that would eat the letters off? Maybe if you get the sticky letters another poster was talking about you could stick the letters on the front of the keys instead of the top so they don't wear off, but you can still see them.
Nothing to do with your fingers sm
The "Million Dollar Question" was once, "What is the most used vowel in the English Languate?" I supposed "E" as this lasts least on my keyboard.Guess what - it was "e" - DON'T THINK IT WAS ANSWRED CORRECTLY but we who pound the keyboard would have known. Understand 1110 per cent!
Ya know what FINGERS
You speak ridiculous.... let's all tell our employers we are not working until..........
The idea was to organize and get all your ducks in a row. If you are going to do something, do it with a plan and organize. You can't just jump the gun and go into something blindly. You will look ridiculous and get nothing accomplished.
Cold fingers
Even though I keep my house comfortable, I find my fingers getting cold when I type. Is it just me. Does anyone have any suggestions.
frozen fingers
do you guys have troubles with her hands getting cold? and what do you do about it?
cold fingers
All the time when I start out before the work area is sufficiently warmed up with the SPACE HEATER. Space heater essential to get fingers going.
let ur fingers do the walking
No....but I transcribed asleep once. I was working 3rd shift and dozed off. I don't know how I managed to work the foot pedal and my C-phone and go through several reports. Luckily for me I woke up and realized what I had done. I scrambled to put my last several reports on hold to check them before the doctor received them who was one hallway over. It scared me so bad I wasn't sleepy for the rest of the night. I've never let myself sit there that sleepy anymore either. I get up and walk around to get myself more alert. Funny thing was I was not transcribing what the doctor was saying. I was using some of their phrases. I guess I would hear a word and it would trigger my memory and I would type a regular phrase. Scared the bejeebers outta me that is for sure!
trained fingers
Makes me think of what it is like for your fingers to "know" a telephone number but for the life of me I couldn't tell you what it is--I'd have to dial it for you.
Cold Fingers
Try typing gloves! I have the same problem. They do help some. I also have been known to sit on a heating pad while typing -- helps warm me up.
Actually the ones I have do not have fingers, just a thumb.
I really love them, There is a strap around the wrist to adjust the tightness, but the neoprene is a great fabric that seems to work really well for me. I hate to recommend anything because sometimes what is good for one is not so good for another. I would recommend going to a surgical supply store and they should let you try them on, that is what I did.
fumbling fingers
When that happens to me, I consciously slow down and meticulously try to make no errors and eventually increase my speed. That seems to help me.
Another trick is to not think about your fingers at all, but still slow down a bit, and then you will find you are on the right track again after a while. I think it also happens when the dictator does not speak in a good flow of words, is choppy and starts and stops a lot. Your rhythm is off when that happens.
Hope this helps. 
Gee you must have bionic fingers
and/or a very good line rate. How do you do it?
The only movement should be fingers. I have
and keyboard where I dont have to reach up or down to type. I wedge a pillow between the arm of chair and my body so arm is resting on pillow and supported. Also have comfort keyboard configured like capital L and reverse capital L. Hands are in neutral handshake postion at all times. Also have left backspace bar set up as backspace to stop groping of backspace key (I have small hands). Took a lot of tweaking and paying attention to what I was doing to streamline things. Also am streamlining all aspects of work. Every second I can shave off is more money in my pocket.
lol. I figured my fingers
got all jumbled up and I somehow did it to myself. It would be quite a coincidence if we both jumbled up the same way at the same time, I think. Maybe we can get some help from the site administrators.
fingers won't work
Your mind and fingers seem to be at odds. Try to relax more and have a look out the window and maybe free your mind some.
Could be other things also on the fingers sm
I have had my MS Natural keyboard for about 7 years, and the only key that is fading is the N. It wasn't until I left my previous company a few months ago and had to send back their computer that this key started getting messed up. The difference? My kids, my husband, and I all use this one computer now, and I am constantly on them to stop eating at the computer. My mother-in-law is a constant on-line game player and eats at her desk frequently. She has gone through about 5 keyboards in the same 7 years due to the letters wearing off. We're getting another computer soon, and I'm buying a new keyboard for myself so we do not have this issue again.
Let's hear it for bionic fingers!! (nm)
nm
I was not pointing fingers at a particular region, sm
just pointing out that we in the Northeast have our share of bad weather. In fact, we get just about everything here. Blizzards, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, even earthquakes for that matter, albeit, minor earthquakes in the last century. Highest recorded winds were on top of Mt. Washington in New Hamphshire. Been there several times. Cold. It's expensive to live here, too. Due to proximity to the Big Apple, we get a lot of celebrities and rich types living here, driving up the per capita, while the rest of us pay the price at the pump, for real estate, you name it. Nobody tries to give us a hand. Just take from us. Funny, I work for a national, but don't get paid anymore than those in lower expense areas. When I worked for corporations before MT, pay was gauged to the region of the country we lived in. Those on west coast and Northeast made a little more because of the expenses in our areas. 
Painful fingers from typing
I experience sore, aching fingers each day from typing. Because of this, I cannot do more than 1000 lines a day. Ibuprofen helps somewhat. I do not know what is wrong. The knuckles appear a bit enlarged and upon waking in the morning each finger appears swollen. I am a thin person. I wear fleece gloves with no fingers all day while typing for warmth. This is more than just an annoyance but rather something that gets bad enough that I have trouble concentrating on typing because all I can think of is the pain. The doctor I saw was no help at all. Anyone else having this problem?
Keep your fingers on the keyboard and not the mouse. sm
I average anywhere from 500 to 600 lines an hour on recognized files; however, it took a little while to get there.
There are eScription provides tips and shortcut keys so you do not have to use the mouse (a lot of control + keys).
Do you have those tips? If not, I could try to e-mail them to you.
cause is brain going faster than fingers
I don't think there's anything we can *do* about it - except perhaps proof better as we type and/or not type as fast as we are.....it's our own flaw..I think.....and every time I re-read - I find something omitted - so I'm re-reading it all :)
fingers not working today
I have had my days with horrible dictors, and today I have a dream dictor, could no thave been happier to get her and my fingers do not work. I can't seem to type anything correctly. lol. Thank goodness I proof my work before sending - thank goodness for spellcheckers and grammar checkers - cause I suck today lol
Does anybody else have that kind of day - or is it just me? Now be nice lol
QA response to flying fingers
I know exactly what you mean. In the company I work for, there is 1 QA director which is in charge of 100% hold and then there are 7 shift QA people. I was told by the head QA person what a great job I have done and was released 3 weeks into QA. then begin to send to clininc with sending in docs with blanks and oh my god I am made to feel like my job is on the line at night when I sign off by these people. I was even told by one that if I though the doc was good enough with just a few blansk go ahead and send them in, and of course my check is still not here from the 15th, I guess we are just expected to keep up the typing with no pay and all the belittling we have to put up with. If I do receive pay today I am not going to type today. MY time is to valuable just to type for the heck of it.
What do you use for cold fingers while typing?
xx
and I disagree with your statement. It's all in the fingers.
I MEAN *lessen* - arthritic fingers let me down....
:(
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