In my last post I mentioned wearing wrist supports to sleep. I thought I'd share which ones I use. They're called SmartGloves. I like them because the material is soft, stretchy, washable, and best of all, flexible. These aren't designed to prevent you from bending your wrists, they're more of a guide. It's uncomfortable to bend your wrists with these on, so you'll notice when you're doing it. But they aren't so restrictive as to be annoying. Sometimes I've woken up to find a hand has fallen asleep because of the position I put it in. But for the most part they are fairly comfortable, and they never chafe.
I've found that angling the keyboad helps me type with straight wrists. Most keyboards, for some insane reason, come with optional lifts to angle the keyboard toward you. This is backwards ergonomics. You need the keyboard angled away from you in order to achieve natural positioning for your hands. Experiment a little by putting a rolled up towel under one side and see what works best for you. We're all built a little differently.
4 comments:
I use my keyboard in my lap most of the time because I can position it any which way that is comfortable for me at the time...but my mouse I use all over the place...it's a wireless mouse so it's been all over the arm of the office chair, my leg, the desk, the keyboard tray, etd. I also use a wacom pen tablet. I've found that I have pain in my hands, not my wrists, when I use the pen tablet but haven't been able to figure it out. Perhaps it's because it's so structured in the way that I have to use it within the 6x8 space of the tablet. I dunno. Interesting about the rolled up towel. Should I ever actually pull out the keyboard tray and use it, I'll try it. :)
Funny KG, I was just reading about he Wacom pen tablet and they were all touting how you can ease your mousing injuries by using the pen instead. Ha! Sounds like you get different pains instead. I acutally use a keyboard with a touchpad on it. It's helped with my mousing pains tremendously.
GenerallySpeaking, if it's still occasional then it's still early. You're smart to take care of it before it gets any worse.
I've had two surgeries. On my left wrist for carpal tunnel release and on my right for tendon release in the thumb area (dequorvain disease and I did not spell that right haha) .. anyway, I use a split keyboard angled away from me at work. this laptop kinda kills me some days but I work on keep my wrists straight and my posture up. It's a challenge but I do it. the carpal tunnel has come back, I have it in both hands and the tendonitis came back as well...both hands again. On a good day, my pain levels are 6 outta 10. On a bad day, I'd say 20 outta 10...I like those wrist braces you mentioned, they work very well.
I like the idea of your blog here, found you through T.
Wow sodapop, you've had it pretty bad! I guess I've been lucky, considering the numeous hours I spend in front of a computer. I've been using a split keyboard for years, it really helps. I think I'll go into a little more about equipment to help. 20 outta 10, that's a lotta pain, sorry you have to go through that.
Thanks for stopping by!
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