Yes, I am in the same position as you. My room mate has had even worse problems, requiring him (a CIS major, musician, and programmer) to
not use computers or wrists for over a year!.
He went to all sorts of specialists, traditional doctors, acupuncturists, etc. He started stretching and doing exercises to help them, using ice, using heat, etc, every doctor seemed to have a different opinion on what the problem was exactly and how to fix it. Anyway, he is back using computers again, here is a list of items we tried, and what worked:
1. "NO HANDS MOUSE" -- This is a foot mouse, one side is the cursor, and one side is your buttons. Seems like a good idea, no? Using your feet for controlling the cursor, instead of your arms/wrists. Good theory; horrible implementation. After a few hours of using this torture device, your knees begin to hurt. The sideways movements required aren't comfortable to a human. Avoid... (~$200!!)
2. BodyBilt Chair -- This is the best thing you can do for your body, seriously. We traveled up and down the west coast visiting numerous stores in Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco looking for the "Ultimate Chair." It had to be totally adjustable, support the back properly, yet be comfortable and allow some freedom of movement. The BodyBilt was the only chair that is really in it's class. The only kicker is the price -- $700 - $1000. Now, that seems like a LOT of money to spend on a chair, but, you're sort of buying your long term health, and, unlike computers and technology, a comfortable chair, barring wear-and-tear, isn't something you really ever have to upgrade. You can configure the bodybilt to fit you exactly, check out all the options over at
BodyBilt's website.. I don't have the money for this quite yet, but ever time I sit in his chair, it seriously positions me at just the right height and helps me maintain the correct posture, that my wrists don't even NOTICE I was using a computer. Most importantly, the HEIGHT of the desk you're working on can make the biggest difference. You almost want your wrist to be at a 90 degree angle or greater, meaning your chair should be sitting up pretty high with the desk lower.
3. Frequeny breaks. Stop browsing every 20-30 minutes and rest your arms for a few minutes. Do stretches. This has helped both of us quite a bit with our "mouse arm."
4. Keyboard. We've been through quite a few of these keyboards actually. The one my roomie is currently using is
The Acer Ergo With Integrated Touchpad. The touchpad in the center can be used by either hand, and helps to get some of the "mouse wear" shared, plus it uses different muscles. Another keyboard we have, and have used/tried is the
Kinesis contured keyboard. It's difficult to get used to, and neither of us are convinced that it helps. It seems the touchpad and Acer keyboard are better since it's quicker to find the keys, and the touchpad is centrally located for use with either hand.
5. Dragon Naturally Speaking. We've just started to experiment with this, but so far, we hate it. Just takes too much effort to make it work, but if we optimize how we use it, then it may be of some value. At this point, it isn't.
Hmm.. I might want to start another thread, since we're still looking for another touchpad device that is small and USB...