Colin ,

Comments interlieved below, based on my own experience rather than
any medical knowledge. My symptoms relate specifically to the hands,
although the cause may be elsewhere. Yo don't say specifically what
your condition is so these are general comments.

>>> "Davies, Colin" <[email protected]> 27/07/00 16:59 >>>

1. Will my doctor not take it seriously, laugh it off and tell me to
pull
myself together? Will I then try to ignore it and end up with a
serious
problem?

A...... They should take it seriously. RSI-type injuries are I
believe the fasted growing industrial injuries category and we have
whole generations of people starting work who have been using
PCs/consoles from a very young age which I believe is contributing
to the problem. GP awareness of the symptoms and treatments seems to
be improving. Whilst my GP does not seem that knowledgeable of the
treatments available he does recognise that it is a real injury and
referred me to a specialist (consultant reumatologist) relatively
quickly.

2. Will my doctor over react and tell me to take 3 months off work?
Is that
an over reaction? How will my employer take it? I've only been with
him 6
months and have only 4 weeks paid sick leave available to me. On the
otherhand, the problem has only been with me since I started with
this
employer, so maybe it's his fault.

A...... Some rest in the early stages will be beneficial. I left
mine too late and needed 2 months before it settled down to a
manageable level. That was 4 years ago. Subsequent flare ups have
usually been brought under control within 4 weeks, altough some
tendon pain in the palm takes a lot longer. "Manageable" in my case
means almost constant dull pain/stiffness and occasional sharp pains
everyday, but I can still work and do not need surgery or
painkillers (yet). I can't comment regarding your employer except
to say that ULDs do come under the terms of the Disability
Discrimination Act. I'm not sure how this is affected by length of
service though. Initially try and work with them to adapt the
workplace to your needs rather than being confrontational, even it
you do consider it their fault and they're not taking it seriously.
Sometimes there is a lot of inertia to overcome, but its a problem
employers will be experiencing more and more in future. You may find
its just down to a lack of knowledge and if you can educate them on
the various recognised symptoms / injuries that fall under the RSI
umbrulla they may be a lot more understanding. It is difficult to
prove specific cause, and the problems may be a result of many
factors coming together, not necessarily all related to work.

3. Will I end up on a lenghy round of hospital / consultant visits,
also
involving lots of time off work. What will the conclusion of that
be? If it
is RSI at the end of that period, how will I resolve it?

A...... You must take it seriously whatever the cost in time off/
incnvenience, particularly if its at the early stages and you stand
a chance of correcting the problem. Look at this newsgroup, there
are a lot of people who have been suffering for years and for whom
their lives will never be the same again. Full recovery is possible
(in some cases at least) if the problem is caught early enough.

4. I have changed many things in my working life recently. How can I
tell
which one(s) have sparked off these pains? I drive 60 miles extra to
work
each day, I am working at a new desk with a new chair, I do more
work at
home on my p/c, apart from the stress of changing jobs I also have a
much
more stressfull job. The pain is definately worse a) when I use a
mouse and
b) when I get stressed.

A..... Possibly several factors affect it. Driving is a problem for
me, but that is as a result of the injury rather than the cause. I'm
fortunate enough to be able to identify a specific set of
circumstances that occurred for a couple of years prior to
developing the condition, and having removed those factors it
gradually improved to a certain tollerable point, but has not got
any better in the last few years despite lots of mechanical aids
(inc VR software). I think all the factors you've mentioned could
play a part, particularly the ergonomics, stress and using a PC at
home (you really should let your hands rest from keyboard work in
the evenings)

5. Nobody really takes me too seriously at the moment, and I would
probably
get almost no support from my family if I decided to take time off
work to
rest. I'm almost embaressed to talk about it myself. Would time off
even
help. I'm sure it would whilst I was off, but would the pain come
back as
soon as I restarted work?

A..... Provided you rest then time off will help initially. Others
won't take it seriously unless you do, and please. don't worry about
appearing "weak" or any other macho rubbish (assuming that's why
you're embarassed, it certainly was in my case and didn't/doesn't
help me at all). It may come back when you return, but hopefully by
then you would have discussed options with your employer and taken
steps to ensure it doesn't (e.g. different input devices, ergonomic
adjustments, VR software, change of duties etc)

I await tomorrow with trepidation. All these worries add to the
stress. Any
advice would be much appreciated.

A.....Very true that worry and stress cause physiological changes
that probably don't help the condition. No point worrying about it
just yet though. See what the doctor says and I'f you don't think
they're right then get a second opinion. Also look up all the
RSI/ULD info you can on the web. Hopefully you'll find something
that exactly matches your symptoms and once you know what you're
dealing with it'll be a lot less worrying.

Best wishes,
Steve



































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