The Art of Avoiding Carpal Tunnel

Spending eight hours a day sitting at a desk with your eyes glued to a computer screen and your fingers hovering over a keyboard can, without a doubt, put definitive strain on your eyes, back, shoulders, hands and wrists. Because of this, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is an obvious occupational hazard that has found itself right at home in corporate America. Now, if you are a court reporting student like me, you are lucky enough to follow these eight hours of strain and discomfort with an evening full of practice, hovering over yet another set of keys. Yes, it is no surprise that court reporters are just as susceptible to CTS as the next office professional. Fortunately for me, I get a double dose of risk thanks to my full time work coupled with my full time school schedule. It should come as no surprise that avoiding this pesky little problem is and should be a priority. So what to do about it?

For starters, take care of your body, especially if you hope to have any kind of longevity in the court reporting profession. It is best to wise up quickly and start practicing good habits now that can help to ward off this nasty little pest. I, myself, have finally starting heeding the wisdom of other court reporters and practice regular exercise, massages, and finger stretches and exercises. Given that court reporting is actually quite physical, you won't regret it. I happen to be a devoted fan of walking and yoga. Both are obviously great for the body, but also the mind. (FYI: Relaxing and clearing the mind is by no means overrated. We don’t want to be a bunch of crazies now, do we?!) There are also some fantastic yoga poses that can really help specifically in the area of CTS. I recommend using the power of Google if you are not familiar with them. I have also FINALLY started to do regular massages focusing primarily on my arms, hands, neck and shoulders. I must admit, it’s rather nice being able to condone this as a “professional necessity”. I back this up with the story of an ex-court reporter I met a couple of years back who is actually no longer able to work as a CR due to this very problem. Ironically, his wife is also a CR and she has been working as one for the past 30 years. Then again, he reminded me that she has also been getting monthly massages for the past 30 years. (Just saying!)

I also try not to neglect my hand and finger stretches. My latest and greatest new favorite finger exercise actually comes by way of my masseuse:

Simply place a rubber band around the tips of your fingers and then open and close your fingers.
This super easy exercise helps to stretch out the backside of your hand. With any kind of typing or writing you are really only working the muscles on the inside of the hand. So it makes good sense to work out and stretch out the backside occasionally.






While the verdict is out on whether or not all these habits will ultimately help one avoid Carpal Tunnel or not, they certainly can't hurt. My own conclusion, however, is that the real art comes in being proactive about taking care of yourself and developing good habits now.

“First we make our habits, then our habits make us.”
Charles C. Noble

Ten Random Things I’ve Learned During Court Reporting School:

1. The admissions department flat out lies when it comes to telling students how long it will take to get through school.

2. They strategically overlook the 95% failure rate too. (But in their defense, I probably would have never enrolled had I known that little tidbit of info.)

3. I will never again have long nails.

4. A caffeine addiction is essential to a healthy work – school balance. It is widely rumored that Starbucks is now listed as my emergency contact at work.

5. Taking care of my body with regular massages and exercise is time and money well spent. Never underestimate the value of good hand and finger exercises either.

6. Never head to a depo without an extension cord, cough drops, energy bar, and some extra cash (for that rare occasion when a law firm doesn’t validate). You never know when you might need one of these valuable items. Trust me…mooching money off a court reporter you are interning with so you can get out of the parking garage is the last thing you want to have to do (hypothetically speaking, of course).

7. You can meet a fellow court reporter or student and be instant friends in 2.5 seconds flat.

8. Anytime someone finds out you’re a court reporter the response will ALWAYS be the same…”Oh, so you are the person that types on that funny little machine.” This is usually followed up with “so you must type really fast.” If only I had a dollar for every time I heard that.

9. Two things: You can’t trust spell check! Attitude is everything!

10. Court reporting school is probably the single most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life, but it is also the one thing that has shown me just how strong, disciplined, determined, and successful I can really be.