This is very timely advice.

I've known this instinctively all my life and was told this at a young age. I knew when I got the RSD that it was no less true than before. Indeed, it's probably more true now.

My big problem is that my biggest trigger is exercise. Almost any use of my hand at all can bring on the pain and symptoms. If it would merely hurt when I used it then I could quit and I'd learn the specific triggers very quickly but the pain doesn't come for 24 to 48 hours usually. This means that it's scary to do anything rather than painful so it severely limits activity.

What makes your thread so timely is that yesterday I felt good enough to do some work for the first time in a little while. I started with cleaning the gutters. The aluminumladders are light enough to handle with one hand and I climb them with my right leg.

Today I wake up and my right leg is sore from overuse. This is pretty frightening for me since I used to be able to run long distances or use my legs for hours at extremely difficult tasks and just climbing up 125' over a twenty five minute period has made it sore.

This seems to be a warning that I'm not getting nearly enough exercise. It's so hard when you don't know what the effect of your actions will be. The doctors are always sating not to worry about the pain since it can't make you worse but there's always that little gnawing doubt that they are wrong.

But you will lose it if you don't use it and of this there is no doubt.

Maybe I'll try to go swimming today, afterall.