Anno 1800 Cured my Chronic Pain | hidde in plain sight

6mo had random pain-free stints without a clear explanation you may have nociplastic pain. So what should you do? My cautionary advice: find something you can completely and utterly hyperfocus on (for me: Anno 1800), while doing the thing that would normally cause you pain (for me: using mouse and keyboard). Your brain may just forget to make you feel pain. Obviously there is the risk of making your pain worse if it doesn’t work. But with nociplastic pain, fearing your pain only reinforces your brain’s resolve to feel pain. Education on this topic is important. I recommend the aforementioned book for Dutch speakers, and highly recommend this website too: https://www.debugyourpain.org/docs/main_posts/understand/debugging_rsi/. And once again, I recommend you do this under supervision. I should note unlearning pain obviously requires “learning” it first. I think you can also “re-learn” it. By really remembering my pain and focusing on feeling my hands (and writing about it), I can feel it a bit again. But I am stronger. It can fuck off, lol. Closing thoughts My story may sound like this was easy (“just play some games bro”), but going through pain every day for well over 4 years with no hope of it getting better (or any therapies working) is anything but. I consider becoming pain-free one of the greatest achievements of my life. talonvoice.com ↩ Kensington Expert. For the biggest ballers. ↩ Apple Magic Keyboard. Yes, it requires turning your hands inward. Yes, I also tried split ergo keyboards. ↩ This is mainly a critique of the writing style. I know many people have used this book to become pain-free. Some stories here: one, two, three. A key part of Sarno’s theory is that pain is caused by repressed emotions. I don’t believe that was the cause of my pain. YMMV. ↩ Man, that sucked WAY more than I thought it would. ↩" /><br>6mo had random pain-free stints without a clear explanation you may have nociplastic pain. So what should you do? My cautionary advice: find something you can completely and utterly hyperfocus on (for me: Anno 1800), while doing the thing that would normally cause you pain (for me: using mouse and keyboard). Your brain may just forget to make you feel pain. Obviously there is the risk of making your pain worse if it doesn’t work. But with nociplastic pain, fearing your pain only reinforces your brain’s resolve to feel pain. Education on this topic is important. I recommend the aforementioned book for Dutch speakers, and highly recommend this website too: https://www.debugyourpain.org/docs/main_posts/understand/debugging_rsi/. And once again, I recommend you do this under supervision. I should note unlearning pain obviously requires “learning” it first. I think you can also “re-learn” it. By really remembering my pain and focusing on feeling my hands (and writing about it), I can feel it a bit again. But I am stronger. It can fuck off, lol. Closing thoughts My story may sound like this was easy (“just play some games bro”), but going through pain every day for well over 4 years with no hope of it getting better (or any therapies working) is anything but. I consider becoming pain-free one of the greatest achievements of my life. talonvoice.com ↩ Kensington Expert. For the biggest ballers. ↩ Apple Magic Keyboard. Yes, it requires turning your hands inward. Yes, I also tried split ergo keyboards. ↩ This is mainly a critique of the writing style. I know many people have used this book to become pain-free. Some stories here: one, two, three. A key part of Sarno’s theory is that pain is caused by repressed emotions. I don’t believe that was the cause of my pain. YMMV. ↩ Man, that sucked WAY more than I thought it would. ↩" />

About

⚠️ I am not a medical professional. ⚠️

Summary

I dealt with chronic pain in my lower arms (aka repetitive strain injury; RSI) from early 2020 until late 2024. During the first year, my pain ramped up to unbearable (can’t do dishes or hold a full teacup), after that it was usually mild to medium-heavy depending on hand use. I am now pain-free and have been for about 1.5 years. This post is about how I got there.

Symptoms:

tennis elbow-like pain

pain on back of hand

pain on side of wrist (when using touchpad)

numb/cold/tingling fingers

sudden and intense involuntary neck muscle contractions

Failed therapies:

microbreaks

vertical mice

stopping computer use completely

numerous physiotherapy sessions (e.g. Mulligan Mobilization with Movement)

dry needling

hand therapy (squeezing putty etc)

“ergonomic” evaluation of my desk setup

painkillers

Somewhat successful:

Talon1 (but it slowed me down a lot which was frustrating; skill issue, some may say)

big trackball2

low-profile keyboard3

psychotherapy (accept and commit; not pain-focused, but may have helped for pain anyway)

mindfulness (body scan)

Solution ✅: “unlearning” my pain.

Not like the other pains

By chatting to other people suffering from...