[CipherThrowaway]

Seems like a bizarre omission from the article given the number of tangents and topics covered. My guess is that going down the traditional medicine route lead to him being told there was no organic basis to the pain.

As someone who went through a similar experience, I would not be surprised if the author's pain is/was entirely psychosomatic (this doesn't diminish its severity or significance). Probably a direct result of burnout.

[FreeFull]

I strongly doubt that it'd be purely psychosomatic.. Spending 14 hours a day hammering away at a keyboard will physically damage your wrists.

[CipherThrowaway]

The question here isn't about damage but about what mechanisms in the "pain pathway" are responsible for OP's specific experience of this pain. One day he has sudden, debilitating pain - in both wrists - in the absence of a traumatic event. He's conspicuously omitted any kind of medical diagnosis, and the whole thing is part of an existential crisis on the tail end of an insane, psychologically unsustainable workload. Not a typical presentation of RSI, that's for sure.

[Aeolun]

Psychosomatic pain is the worst. At least there’s generally something you can do for actual physical pain.

[CipherThrowaway]

Yeah, I agree. In some sense, tendons remodel more easily than the brain. Somatic pain disorders can easily ruin someone's life.

[jxnlco]

author here: i definitly agree its a bit of both. but i will say, taking 2 years off work, still hurts if i build furniture or have to hammer something or turn a lot of screws

[saos]

You recovered?

It sounded like rheumatoid arthritis.

[CipherThrowaway]

I recovered, but it took a long time.

I don't know about RA. OPs blog post sounds a bit too optimistic for someone living with untreated RA for 3 years.