Yeah so, this carpal tunnel syndrome deal really hurts. It hurts to a surprising degree. I’ve sprained my wrist before and this is more painful. Actually, I’m not convinced it actually is carpal tunnel. I’ve looked it up on wiki and my symptoms don’t exactly match up but I’m pretty sure it is a repetitive movement related injury in as much as it seems to be exacerbated by typing. Yes, I say this as I type. No, I haven’t stopped typing. I got a carpal tunnel brace and wore it yesterday morning and tried to work with it on but it was impossible. It is an effective tool in that it completely prevents me from using my hand. I couldn’t type to save my life, or rather, I could, but did so very slowly, like one of those fools who stare at their keyboard and type with their two index fingers while sticking their tongue out of their mouth in deep concentration. I’m used to touch typing goddamit! I refuse to type in any other way. So today I’m wearing one of those sports injury wraps around my hand, which I have just readjusted so it covers my wrist as well as my hand because the pain is spreading.

So I guess I should just stop typing altogether if that’s what’s causing the pain. I stuffed envelopes for a while for a change of pace but that hurt too. Clearly I cannot do my job properly with this injury but more importantly, I can’t make my “art”. Curses!

My boss is appropriately sympathetic. She reimbursed me for the brace and insisted I wear it even if my work suffers because of it. But obviously the real solution is just to tough it out and suffer through the pain. ‘Cause there ain’t no way I’m gonna stop typing. Typing is not only my bread and butter, it’s how I enjoy myself.

Oh well, I guess it’s not that bad. After all, on the pain scale, CTS may be higher up than a sprain, but it’s lower than having disenfectant poured in your eye. So good times!