In addition to finding a chair that you really like (I had to try hundreds of chairs before I found the one), I highly recommend getting a high-power back massager, like the hitachi magic wand. I know from porn that some women enjoy it as a sex toy, but I can tell you it is extremely effective to alleviate back & neck pain. The only thing is it needs time to cool off after 20 minutes, but typically just a couple minutes is more than enough if I use it as soon as neck pain starts to crop up.

 

Last edited: Mar 31, 2021

It was originally invented as a neck & back massager and it absolutely excels at this task! Some women do enjoy it as a sex toy but it depends on her level of sensitivity. My last girlfriend tried it as a sex toy but described it as too powerful/painful. But she loved it as a back massager.
For me, the hitachi magic wand really helped me to relieve neck & back pain when I started working from home during the pandemic & I was using a god-awful kitchen wicker chair that did a number on my neck & back. When I got my good office chair out of storage, the situation drastically improved.

 

Another little thing that can be very significant is the Mouse you're using..

I used to have a considerably Big gaming mouse (A4Tech X7) which I happily used (and abused) for 7 years,
but then one of the buttons died, so I went and bought a Steelseries Rival mouse..

Judging by the box, I didn't realize the difference in size,
and even when I've got Big hands, I couldn't have imagined how much of a factor mouse size is..

But as good of a mouse it can be, there's noway I could have kept it.

Just using it lightly for a couple of days, it gave me carpal tunnel,
not a severe one, but a build-up of tension/pain that made think twice about grabbing it again..

Ofc if I stopped using it, the recovery was fast/complete,
but after that initial break-in, I couldn't even use it for 10 seconds without feeling the tension/pain growing,
in both elbow and wrist.

So yeah long story short,
I gifted the steelseries, and bought another X7, same model (XL-740K).

Now I'm using the new X7,
but kept the old to have spare pieces/parts if ever necessary.

Lesson learned, Big Hands = Big Mouse!

(I'm not a gamer tho,
for the last 9 years all I did/do is work composing/producing music, and that's how I destroyed the first unit..)

PS: Oh and btw I second the Water thing,
I personally wouldn't know, as Water is the ONLY thing I drink (and constantly) for the last what.. 13 years or so.

But it has a positive effect in other things like say, morning leg cramps.

If you've got morning leg cramps, those painful bastard things that are hard to control/avoid,
you need more water, period.

 

I used to go to gym 3x weekly to push (heavy) weights. I never had problems, but now, having been under virtual house arrest for a year, My right shoulder is giving we hell. My back is continually painful. My knees are making noises. I generally feel like shit. I had insomnia for around three months, but I managed to fix that.

No chiropractors, no acupuncture, no dentists, no doctors for anything other than Covid. I walk around, stretch, try to keep a decent posture. I have a good chair, but I feel that I've aged 30 years in the past 12 months. There are hundreds like me. It's only going to get worse. The UK is going out of lockdown, but believe me its not for very long. and the next lockdown will be even more draconian.

 

A good chair is certainly important for your back, but also so is the height of your main computer monitor/s off your desk for your neck. I had the same neck strain with a prior monitor to where I took the shelf portion off my desk. It had somewhat of a nice, but tall, base to monitor support. That monitor died, and the newer one has the screen lower. Only maybe 6 inches difference, but I was able to reinstall the shelf on the desk. It is such a small difference in height, but it is night and day difference on my neck during long sessions; just from looking upward that tiny bit more with the old one. The first time you wake up with a stiff neck so bad it has basically seized into one spot is fkn alarming if you have never had it happen.

I had existing wrist/carpal tunnel issues from years in IT and coding as it was, and the Apple Magic Mouse made that really resurface also. I ended up switching that out for a Logitech MX Master mouse (pc version), and that really alleviated my wrist and forearm issues. And with right click, macro buttons, infinite style scroll wheel, and Flow software that allows you to control multiple computers from the same mouse was added serious added benefit. They are not much more expensive than the Magic Mouse, but cheaper than patching the holes in my walls I would have from throwing the Magic Mouse off my desk. I already hated it to start with.

The Mac magic Keyboard is not much better. I keep using it for Logic because I have an XSKN shortcuts cover skin on it that I really like. (if you think you really know Logic, you will quickly find out you don't). But it's mush, and seriously typing on the thing gets the outside corner of my right wrist about on fire. A familiar split kb can be great, but also anything with mechanical switches helps alot.

it's a personal, mix and match thing but working uncomfortably sucks, and it's cheaper than surgery.

 

As a musician I can relate...

 

There was a software in the good old days to make gym exercises sitting at your computer Maybe that still exist but It was so long ago and I have no clues of the name it had
2005 or 2007

 

give me a bit, long day @work
first of all
dont follow those retarded abs workouts
most of them dont take into account the fitness level and that can lead to
training fatigue or worse shrinking of overworked muscles

whenever you search for training vids, ad "healthy" into the query and -fast -abs
super important are the lower back, sides and both lower and upper stomach muscles

 

@J Spektrum
@WillyA
@Hazen

even if it looks stoopid this is very good
Besides being very effective it will show you where you stack up fitness wise
if you feel absolutely unbothered after 20min
i´ll give you another video tomorrow!

the Specific core workout videos i followed are gone (but ill find)
not today though i need sleep!


@clone
i suggest you mix up your peripherals
i use this wacom

it has touch too
so right hand
mouse, pen, touch = no more carpal tunnel syndrome
left hand

things like copy, cut, paste, duplicate, space or enter
ill do just with my thumb! without shifting my hand
when i move my hand ill can
flip views in ableton, or change the mixer view in cubase ! still with my thumb
you get the picture
also my left finger can hit alt, shift,strg, esc
without moving my (L)hand and the right hand can just hit 1 letter on the keyboard (while holding a pen)
or leaving the mous/touch pad (for specific shortcuts)

or this little helper makes working in live actually fun
and extremly fast


all of those things let you personalize things PER APP or Globaly
that means my copy cut paste works the same in every program (i want)
what ever it is, i map it to the same button!
zooming while scrolling and on and on

check it out

 

@Catalyst yo dude, let's talk, i think i need to explain something

 

I developed some pretty awful neck and shoulder problems when I had to move to a new house in a different state about 18 months ago. I was at times in agony and I was beginning to think it was never going to heal. The way I fixed both problems was remarkably easy and deceptively simple. I stopped sleeping on my side and started to sleep flat on my back every night without fail. It worked and it took less than one week for every one of my pains to disappear. I got the idea from a video on youtube posted by a couple of fellas whose names I cannot remember. I would provide you with a link but have you ever tried to find anything in your youtube history? It's impossible. I was probably searching for "shoulder pain" when I found the video in question. You might want to try that if you need to hear the concept from an authority on the subject. I wouldn't blame you for doing so, I wouldn't take my word for it either, hehe.

 

Pilates saved me 10 years ago and it is still holding up.