I'm surprised that none of the doctors suggested taking a break. That's the first thing the doctor I saw recommended: get up and walk around for a minute or two every hour. That was in my first year of professional programming, over ten years ago, and the problems never came back.
I think there are some doctors who make a blanket assumption that patients never successfully maintain lifestyle changes, so you might as well jump straight to drugs or surgery. That is probably 95% accurate, but I believe the 5% who are able to improve their lifestyles deserve consideration even if that means treatment is delayed for the 95% who won't, and there are plenty of doctors who agree. It was just the author's bad luck that all the doctors he saw ruled out lifestyle changes because of ignorance or cynicism.
On another note, an important thing for people working at computers to know is that typing may not be the culprit. Simply sitting at your computer can damage your body if you're tense, have bad posture, or maintain the same posture for long periods of time. The problems I had originated in my neck, not my hands or arms.
Also, for years I only had good posture when I was paying consistent attention. When my attention to my posture lapsed for too long (at the keyboard or anywhere else) I would sag back into my bad posture. I made a breakthrough when I discovered that a session lifting weights or kettlebells makes it easy for me to maintain good posture for the next couple of days. My "good" posture now is better than my old "good" posture, and if I've been in the gym recently, it comes naturally instead of requiring constant effort. I invested a significant amount of thought and effort into developing decent weightlifting form, but the effect on my posture is a physical aftereffect of the lifting itself -- knowing isn't enough, and apparently simply being in shape isn't enough, either, because my posture starts to slip after just a few days. My slack posture now is a little better than the sagging posture that used to come naturally, but it's still pretty bad.
I think there are some doctors who make a blanket assumption that patients never successfully maintain lifestyle changes, so you might as well jump straight to drugs or surgery. That is probably 95% accurate, but I believe the 5% who are able to improve their lifestyles deserve consideration even if that means treatment is delayed for the 95% who won't, and there are plenty of doctors who agree. It was just the author's bad luck that all the doctors he saw ruled out lifestyle changes because of ignorance or cynicism.
On another note, an important thing for people working at computers to know is that typing may not be the culprit. Simply sitting at your computer can damage your body if you're tense, have bad posture, or maintain the same posture for long periods of time. The problems I had originated in my neck, not my hands or arms.
Also, for years I only had good posture when I was paying consistent attention. When my attention to my posture lapsed for too long (at the keyboard or anywhere else) I would sag back into my bad posture. I made a breakthrough when I discovered that a session lifting weights or kettlebells makes it easy for me to maintain good posture for the next couple of days. My "good" posture now is better than my old "good" posture, and if I've been in the gym recently, it comes naturally instead of requiring constant effort. I invested a significant amount of thought and effort into developing decent weightlifting form, but the effect on my posture is a physical aftereffect of the lifting itself -- knowing isn't enough, and apparently simply being in shape isn't enough, either, because my posture starts to slip after just a few days. My slack posture now is a little better than the sagging posture that used to come naturally, but it's still pretty bad.