Had the Carpal Release surgery on both hands, done by the best in the buiz. Cost me 17k and was an instant fucking miracle.
Symptoms: dead give away is the pinky ring and half of your middle finger go dead numb when you sleep and you wake up with them feeling like your hands were just dipped in molten brass, that is to say, they hurt. You also get a weird THWANG! spasm once in a while for no apparent reason. Reach for that coffee pot? THWANG! You get the idea.
Gell pads neither help nor prevent RSI's, they just feel nice. The legs on your keyboard are EXACTLY the wrong thing to do, you need to angle your keyboard DOWN not up.
I had it so bad that I had HandsFreeMouse that was opperated by my feet. No shit. I did the cortisone injections, NSAIDS up the wazoola, the whole nine.
Sugery saved me. Only thing I can't do is spend 6 or 7 hours on my handle bars any more, so for long distance I go recumbent now.
Questions? I been there, maybe I can help.