After years of extreme pain caused by ...poor working conditions ..., I ended up disabled. I found this book four years later. In that time, I had seen two M.D.'s, three chiropracters and two orthopedic surgeons. I was diagnosed as having a pinched nerve.

After reading this book, I made an appointment with Dr. Pascarelli. I was the last new patient he took before retiring.

He diagnosed me as having thoracic outlet syndrome, and wrote up a script of physical therapy treatment for me, which I took back to Ohio and showed to the doctor's here. I still live in constant pain because of permanent muscle damage in my upper back because this wasn't diagnosed sooner, but at least the pain is bearable. I also have problems using my arms and hands. But, today I'm partially disabled instead of totally disabled.

Maybe, if one of the doctor's that had examined me before had Dr. Pascarelli's knowledge, I wouldn't be living in pain today. Or, if I had the knowledge this book provides....

If you use a computer, read this book and follow the advice. You don't have to end up living in pain.

This is the most comprehensive book I have ever read on repetitive strain injuries. I have been suffering from various RSI's in my wrists/elbows/arms for about a year now, and was very frustrated that none of the numerous doctors I saw seemed to be able to help me, or even understood what was wrong with me. Just one chapter into the book, I felt a great sense of relief that the author *understands* not only the injury, but the frustration and anger that patients suffer. There are detailed descriptions of the various types of RSI's, how they are caused, and what you can do about correcting the problems that caused them in the first place. Along with this are valuable instructions on workplace ergonomics, suggestions for helpful ways to make everyday life easier, pain management, and a resource guide at the end of the book, with suppliers of helpful tools as well as legal resources if your injury is work-related. An excellent book, I highly recommend it.

This book was a gift of serendipity. The information in it allowed me to communicate to my DR's and the State Workers' Compensation Division exactally what my injury is. Because of prolonged computer "leashing" I developed a bi-lateral Ulnar nerve compression. I sought "compentent" medical treatment for 4 months until I read this book. I found such treatment because this publication empowered me to ask the right questions. I will not relate details but I was severly abused in the Medical system (yes I am FULLY insured) prior to having the information Ms. Quilter provides in this excellent book. If you have sore hands, numb hands or, as I did, muscle loss in your arms or hands, BUY this book! I have been given full Workers' Compensation, and have been blessed to find the upper extremity Orthopaedic Surgens at the University of Pittsburgh because of the drive this publication gave me and refusal to stop looking for the best help for my injury.

I read this book because I had severe RSI and wanted to recover. The first thing I read in it was that I had a chronic case and would never recover. This was followed by an avalanche of anecdotes about people who are radically crippled for life. These were intermingled with depressing advice about how to "handle" your newfound, chronic handicap. For example, Quilter says that people with RSI can still work any job, as long as they work at their own pace. So far, so good. Then she says most employers won't let you work at your own pace and goes on to suggest that you must change careers unless you want to do even more permanent damage to yourself. Great, just the kind of upbeat advice I needed to hear.

I suggest that unless you want to scare the pants off of someone who does not take their RSI seriously, you should get the original Pascarelli and Quilter book for overall information and the Damany and Bellis book for a concrete and helpful recovery plan.

This is an amazingly dystopic book, absolutely full of horror stories and unhappy endings. There's a chapter on how to have a sex life despite RSI, how to sue for loss of a career, the testimonial of a man who was paralysed from the waist down but found RSI more disabling etc - but nothing concrete about what RSI actually. OK, so now I know that if I have tendonitis I'm more likely to get carpal tunnel syndrome and the rest of them but this book doesn't give me information on what tendonitis (or the others) actually is or how to make much of a change. There are quick mentions of various treatments but there is no discussion of their relative merits. The author tells us about her own exercise program (30-40 minutes a morning with weights and 1 1/2 hours of ballet four times a week plus walking and stretching) but there are no specific exercises that can help you avoid recurrance or assist in healing.

Please also notice that Deborah Quilter is not a medical professional but a health writer who has had RSI herself.

There is a good, explicit (but short) section on how to change your typing which I haven't seen other places.

Ms. Quilter's book is good when it comes to advice on selecting a doctor and therapist, and also dealing with the guilt and depression associated with RSI. But I found it enormously lacking in not only the causes of RSI, but of what the specific injuries are and how you can recognize them. Emil Pascarelli's work, even though it is now five years old, remains the No. 1 source guide for anyone who has RSI.