I'm super glad I passed the exam I had a few weeks ago! It was a close call. It also means that I got my 300th credit in just over four years - for comparison, 180 credits is an entire degree. Only 50 more to go of which 30 is my final thesis. Got in contact with one of the top experts in the AV field - he was part of the reason I moved to this university in the first place, and it's now looking very likely that he's gonna be my thesis counselor. Something else entirely: last week I put way too much stress on my right arm tendons, giving me a terrible case of RSI. I couldn't do anything with it the day after without it hurting and it's still not entirely gone. Anyone have tips on how to alleviate RSI?
Tendons are not a part of the vascular system, so blood doesn't flow through them, which means that the all-repairing white blood cells can't get in there to do their jobs. Tendons only heal when they are not used for an extensive period of time. I injured my peronius brevis tendon in my foot almost a year ago now: This month, due to wearing an immobilizing boot for close to a month, special ankle braces for two months or so, and reducing my walking and exercising, I now only have moments of pain, instead of constant pain. It sucks. And it will continue to suck as long as you continue to use the arm. However, acupuncture (and light massage) will work wonders on it. Especially RSI. Go to acupuncture 3x a week for two weeks, and you will feel significantly better, if you have also basically immobilized the arm to let it heal.
Tendons heal very slowly. The trick is to take it easy and don't stress them. I believe that hot packs can accelerate healing but not radical amounts; the issue is that the tissue doesn't have great blood flow and is mostly non-living matter so it's akin to regrowing a fingernail. You kinda just have to wait.
Echoing kleinbl00, had quiet a few tendon injuries recently. Been two months since my most recent knee tendon injury and I'm just now able to do the 30 minute walk to work without an inflamed ball on my knee. Wrists are especially annoying because you can't exactly not use them if that's your job. I went heavy on the ergonomics after damaging mine a few summers ago. Wavy keyboard, slanted / vertical mouses galor, and a stylus for the phone. Plus re-organizing my desks to avoid any edges pressing on my forearms. I'd be lying if I said the pain was completely gone even a year after the ergonomic upgrades. No laptop at the coffee shop. But the wrists are functional / able to work full days at the computer again.
I found that switching to a mechanical keyboard was not only a joy because of the clickyness but also a noticeable improvement in how long I can type without strain. Now I'm too fond of it to ever switch it out for a wavy keyboard. A while ago I tried to add a Wacom tablet as a mouse replacement, as it has worked wonders for some people after you get used to the display locations being mirrored on the tablet. However, I get more RSI from thin pens / styluses than anything else because I use too much force to hold pens. Good thing I kept the receipt on that one.
Never tried an ergonomic + mechanical keyboard so your mileage may vary. I will say that I feel the same thing on styluses pressing on hard screens, made ~10x worse with fingers on hard screens, fingers on touchpads, and fingers on low depth keyboards (a la mac keyboards). Something about the backpressure just makes the tendons inflamed lightning fast. Vertical mice did wonders for me though. Let me know if you find a better solution, keyboards and mice are mostly a solved problem for me, but hard glass screens and stiff buttons are still my Achilles heel so to speak.
Does your phone have haptic feedback? As in, it vibrates a bit when you type/press things. The main reason most people press too hard is because they want to make sure their press registers. With haptic feedback enabled it's easier to teach yourself to tap lighter on smartphones/tablets.