Testimonials, Letters, and Thanks

"It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: RSI Theory & Therapy for Computer Professionals."
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The following comments are from various sources: emails to us, reviews on Amazon, newgroup postings, and so on. Names have been removed, but we can supply them if you email us.

"Impressive and well done!"

"You have put together a nice RSI site! Way to go!!"

"...article was very complete and enlightened me on some aspects of my problems."

"My favorite happens to be "It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: RSI Theory and Therapy for Computer Professionals" by Suparna Damany and Jack Bellis. It's an amazing book and helped me tremendously!"

Profound Mystery...

I'll believe in the paperless office as soon as they perfect
the paperless <What???>

"This book has given me more http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0965510999/rsiprogramcom, understanding and help than any of the medical specialists I have seen. Very informative with lots of helpful ideas and resources, it really is a must for anyone with or an interest in RSI."

"Let me congratulate you on the bit I've read of your book. I've read heaps of stuff on RSI and yours is the first that I've really related to on a personal level."

"Love the book. First time i have found mention of nerve trauma path. That's me!"

This book has lots of useful information on RSI, all in one place. It offers helpful advice on the many things computer users can do to improve their health. It is uplifting, without promising a "miracle cure".

"I had NO idea (and neither did my doctors) why I've been in so much pain for the last 2 YEARS. Physio Therapy has NOT helped at all to date. Thanks again for all the help you're offering!!!!"

"I applaud your approach to RSI sufferers, speaking personally, frankly, and directly to their options for finding/learning/accessing treatments. Systemic problems require systemic solutions, which is certianly what you are pointing to in your work. Bravo!"

"BTW, your book is wonderful. Great stuff! And not a moment too soon. You've come to pretty much the same conclusions we have, actually. It's nice to be able to just point people to the book."

"Have you read "It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" by Suparna Damany and Jack Bellis? If not, I highly recommend it. It describes an area called "Guyon's Canal", in the spot you are describing. Along the pad (palm) of the hand, reaching toward the pinkie, but not quite getting there."

"For the first time in the three years it has been since I knew that I was suffering from RSI, I feel hopeful about getting relief without giving up the computer profession entirely. I've visited several doctors, including a so-called RSI specialist and a neurologist for NCV with no real results -- just prescriptions for wrist splints and advil. I feel like I at least have a plan now."

"I very much appreciate your web site. I have been suffering for years, but in my shoulder, not elbow or hands. Your site provides valuable information, much better than most others which only scratch the surface of RSI. I am still suffering, but hope to start a healing process with some of the information you provided."

"They put out a wonderful book called "It's not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome". Sorry, do not know if it is published in German. I like this book because it explains in simple terms how we hurt ourselves doing repetitve tasks like using the computer. (sigh) It also recommends an exercise program that helps build up your upper body. I just got my book recently, and thought I'd share. I really am finding it a wonderful book! It explains so much about what's been happening to me! I wish I had read it years ago.... (sigh) They have a website with some of the info on it. Best $24 I have spent - that was the cost with shipping from amazon.com."

"Thanks so much for the copies of your wonderful book! I am reading through carefully now - it is an accurate description of what I am still going through. So far, it is very clear and to the point. I especially like the emphasis on the personality/Type A influence on RSI - how true it is! I think that your book will be a push for me to do a lot of things I should be doing, especially to seek a good physical therapist/alternative health person (even though I have been to many) that understands or is willing to learn the techniques described in your book."

"I've read "It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" fairly carefully, and I think it's the best of the half dozen or so books I've read on the subject. After doing a year's worth of Worker's-Comp- physician-directed physical therapy, biofeedback therapy, chiropractic, splints, traction, contrast baths, and amitryptilene, I'm very receptive to the idea that nobody in this field really knows what's going on, although everyone involved has his or her hand on a legitimate piece of a very real elephant."

"Thanks again for your book. I wish I had bought it months earlier. I bought the elbow pad, a 3 inch matress pad, the eyesight book, the Don't sweat the small stuff book, the back air cushion, and the yoga book. The elbow pad and matress pad have helped me. Also great to learn that I am driven by nerve (vs. muscle) symptoms. Before you hooked me up with Suparna, I was extremely tight and could not do the stretches I saw in books. I am much better now. I just started trying to type at work a few weeks ago and I am able to do enough typing now to be 75 percent productive."

"I received your book last week and started reading it immediately. It is a wonderful book, so helpful and informative and this has helped me much more than any doctor I have seen!!! I just wanted to say thank you very much and what a truly great book you have both written!!! It has provided me with a little light at the end of my tunnel, which no one else has been able to do and I feel that should be acknowledged!"

"I want to thank you both for your life (career saving) book. I am 52, in a new career (just 18 months as a technical writer) and had my first full-blown RSI attack about two weeks ago. I discovered your Web site Friday and immediately got the book. In its pages I discovered my exact problem. I'm taking the book to my physical therapist this afternoon. I know full recovery will take a change of all bad my habits, continuous vigilance, and a devotion to exercise and therapy; nevertheless, working over the weekend at home, and now today at work--I can tell your methods work! As you both know, it won't happen overnight, but I am so thankful for finding the tools to mitigate the problem. I have to take a break right now... Just understood the crackle-pop of the small trigger or spasm in my forearm as I massaged the spot."

"I can not thank you enough for your book!!! It truly saved me. After looking through Amazon.com yours was the book I had sent air-mail. And it was really worth it. 1. I like the language. Short, snappy, to the point and most of all up beat - that it is possible to get over it, or at least live with the problem. I like the focus on solutions. The only thing that wasn't helpful was the fact that you mentioned that this problem hits "compulsive" people. Fine. But where do we go from here. I LIKE being compulsive. I like hitting those problems with all I have and then winning thought and feeling, really feeling the problem smash and fall away in pieces. So I'm an adrenaline drug addict. I like living on the edge. I love getting into that trance and there is just me and that problem, no pain - no world. I don't even mind the wall that hits me when I come out. Nobody really talks about it, but let's face it - big problem. What do we do next? Start a 12 Step Program for Computer Druggies? No Way! But what do we do? Normal intelligent people who really love doing what they do? What do we do? 2)I LOVE THE STRETCHES & GLIDES!!! I have 2 copies of the book. One I lend out - the other never leaves my house. I couldn't be without it. I have had blinding pain which was mostly gone after doing all the stretches and glides. I can not tell you how much this has helped me. Thank you so very much. I know how much you put into the book. There is a Jewish saying "If you save one life it is as if you saved an entire world." Jack, thank you so very much for my life."

"After 9 years of 8 hr computer days I developed the usual problems, tried the usual doctors and was soon unable to work. Joined "Sorehands" and someone finally mentioned your site. It was like a light being switched on - here was a full descriptions of my problems and the conditions which caused them. I got the book (delivered less than two days to me in Europe - well done Amazon & UPS ) and got the recommend therapy. Two months later my hands are pain free and fully functional for the first time in a year! My hands were incapictated and doctors could only prescribe pills (useless!) My physical therapist had experience of rsi - and what he did was exactly as recommended on your site ( he had simply worked out over the years what worked ). He worked on my forearms, elbows and shoulders and this totally healed my hands ( no work on the hands! ) My final session ( twice weekly for two months)is next Friday and the only residual discomfort I have is in the inner elbow area - my PT reckons this will clear in a couple of weeks. For me, the significance of your book is the confident and specific account of cause, course and treatment of computer related rsi. Most commentators "hedge their bets" with "ifs" "ands" "buts" and "maybes". It was a beacon of light in a sea of confusion.

"Like most new RSI sufferers, I was totally confused as to what was happening to my body, which seemed as though it was falling apart as fast as I type. I ignored the warning signals and it hit me like a brick, with 3 damaged cervical disks, lateral epicondylitis in both elbows, wrist pain, numbness and pins and needles in both hands, and searing pain in both shoulders and forearms. After reading your book, it all became clear to me what was going on with my body. It seemed as though every symptom you described was happening to me. The reason your book helped me so much was the explanation that all the different RSI diagnosis' were symptoms, not causes; that the entire upper extremity needed to be treated as a whole, and not each individual symptom alone. Your book was 100% correct in my case in that my doctor's initial diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome was wrong. After months of tests, my biggest problem turned out to be nerve compression. Your book completely clarified how the myriad of RSI symptoms can appear seemingly out of nowhere, and exactly how the body is being affected, and how it is reacting. After reading your book, I was able to calm down, and focus on getting the correct diagnosis so that I could start the long road to recovery. Thanks again Jack and Suparna, for an amazing explanation of RSI! You'll never know how much your book saved my sanity."

"After being told by other 'specialists' I had fibromyalgia and that this pain was all in my head and I would have to live w/ it, a friend of mind introduced me to Suparna Damany. She has used the exact techniques she outlines in her book and after 7 months of therapy, I am finally getting better. Of course not every case is the same, but the road to getting better is definitely shorter the quicker you start therapy. After reading this book, I had immediate emotional relief because I knew it wasn't in my head and there was a good chance I could go back to being pain free. Her book is also excellent for the person(boss, spouse)who doesn't understand what you're going through. The reading is easy and it makes total sense. I cried after and during the reading of this book knowing that not only was this thing real, but that someone actually could treat me and possibly make me better. This book described me to a TEE! Read this book BEFORE you get surgery or quit your job or just give up and live with the pain. The only thing I am surprised at is why there aren't hundreds of physical therapists who understand repetitive stress injuries. There aren't! Suparna Damany is one in a million!

[Reply to another sufferer] It is interesting that the core of your treatment was skilled physical massage, trigger-point myofascial release and stretching excercises. The two books most often quoted on this site [Sorehand] are the Bellis/Damany and the Quilter/Pascarelli works, both of which recommend exactly this approach. (I prefer the Bellis/Damany book, it is very clear on cause, treatment and prognosis {http://www.rsiprogram.com.}) Treatments such as surgery, splints or NSAIDs seem to provide at best temporary relief and Feldenkrais/Alexanders seem to be best in conjunction with other treatments rather than complete treatments in themselves. My questions are as follows: Is the Bellis/Damany model now considered mainstream treatment for "straightforward" (i.e. no spinal complications ) RSI?

"What makes Its Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome standout from other books on RSI is that it provides a complete explanation of what causes RSI, differentiates between the causes and the symptoms, and describes how to treat RSI using real methods that had been used successfully on patients. Anyone who uses a computer regularly should read this book, and especially anyone who is experiencing discomfort as a result of their computer work. The book is very readable and understandable, and the authors manage to impart a bit of welcome humor which adds to the reader's enjoyment. I highly recommend it.

"As a computer professional for the last 15 years or so I have come to understand, first hand, the concepts presented in this book. Presented here is a method to repair and prevent damage caused by repetitive strain injuries in the work place that involves no drugs or surgery! This book is a must read for anyone who works with computers on a regular basis, whether they are currently feeling painful symptoms or not. The simple stretching and ergonomic suggestions in the book will help keep the strain injuries away, and the comprehensive diagrams for self administering many of the muscle based massage technics can be quite helpful to those with pain who do not have the time for regular Physical Therapy visits for similar or even less effective treatments. Once the pain is gone, the previous ergonomic and stretching methods can be used to help keep one relatively pain free depending. of course on one's future vigilance. As someone who relies solidly on my hands and ability to perform detailed work each day for my profession and my hobbies, this book is a godsend. When my own painful symptoms began appearing, my fears of surgery and possible loss of mobility were left behind by this new method to resolve problems that many computer users face. To go one step even further, It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is written in language that does not require a medical degree to understand and gain benefit from it. Did I mention that no surgery is involved? :) All in all an excellent resource."