Rethink Using Wrist Rests

by da4id • 4 years ago

20 9 4 years ago

sokoloff• 4 years ago

I give Kinesis Advantage keyboards credit with allowing me to continue my career unimpeded which was in serious question for a time, with wrist pain severe enough to interfere with sleep, even with NSAIDs and ice. (Obvious-tip: don’t let it get that bad before taking action!)

There are other good ergo keyboards as well, but Kinesis have been excellent for me and durable over a couple decades.

huy-nguyen• 4 years ago

I’ve used a Kinesis Advantage 2 for a long time and just upgraded to the new Advantage 360 + new palm rests, which actually achieves all the recommendations in the article. The heels of my palm (not wrists) rest on the large, nice, highly padded fabric palm rests. The 2 keyboard halves can be freely moved around, rotated laterally and tented (with 3 settings, up to 25 degrees) to ensure my hands, wrists, arms and shoulders maintain natural alignment. I also set my keyboard tray to be slightly below my elbow and the keyboards are placed on a negative incline so that my arms extend in a downward slope away from the elbow and my shoulder is not hunched. This setup allows my hands, arms and wrists to feel completely relaxed at all times.

victorclf• 4 years ago

Kinesis is great. The Freestyle with VIP3 fixed my RSI pain and it's so comfortable and durable after so many years.

syntheweave• 4 years ago

There are a lot of shaky ergonomic concepts that have successfully marketed their way into our brains because they are associated with an expensive solution. Some of them are worthwhile, but it's hard to tell. When you want a bandaid, you're inclined to try anything with a reputation.

Every time someone shops for standing desks, I mention my floor desk setup. A floor desk with height and tilt action(plus some peripherals) is a fraction of the cost of a regular desk and chair, and lets me change posture frequently. If I need more surfaces or a mix of angled and flat, I can fit in a second desk. Unless ceremonial reasons or a dirty floor require you to be in a more elevated pose, it is the superior.

Yet every time, they invent a reason to not want it. After all, they aren't there to solve their aching back, they are buying a standing desk.

1MachineElf• 4 years ago

I share the exact same sentiment because using a wrist wrest for a year actually gave me carpal tunnel. Just like how it's cautioned about in this article.

I was using the wrist wrest the wrong way, however, just about everyone marketing wrist rests shows them used the wrong way, so it's a bit more than just "user error" at play here.

As the article goes into, the best way to type is with hands hovering over the keyboard. I accomplish this by using a chair with high adjustable arm rests. If the arm rests can pivot inwards like on the Herman Miller Mirra, then a standard keyboard will do. If the chair's arm rests are only height adjustable, then I use a split ergonomic keyboard. Either way, my hands are kept floating above the keyboard.

If I did still use a wrist rest, I would have it spaced far enough away from the keyboard such that it would effectively be a forearm rest. Doing so would use up more desk space than I'd be comfortable with, hence why I skip wrist rests entirely.

eurasiantiger• 4 years ago

Most ergonomic issues are due to maintaining static positions for extended periods of time. Change your posture every half an hour.

atoav• 4 years ago

I would go one step farther and say most ergonomic issues stem from an insensitivity to feel what hurts and/or tenses your body and which motions bring relieve.

I sit in front of computers (much) more than the average person, yet I have never had any complaints at all. Whenever something feels tense I adjust. And this is not just about the hands, it is about the eyes, how you sit etc.

Many people make the mistake of following some ergonomic advice and not listening to their body. Just because one specific pose is recommended does not mean you should force your body into it for hours. Quite the opposite, you should probably find multiple good poses and cycle through them, and stand up or look at far away things once in a while. You should be able to feel where you have the tensions while you are doing it and do the countermotions that help you stretch the muscles that need stretching etc.

solarmist• 4 years ago

Yes, this. I can't sit still for more than 10 minutes at a time because something gets uncomfortable. I don't get up, but I'm constantly shifting in my seat.

How do people do it? I see people doing stuff like this all the time too. Than complaining about aches and pains in their bodies. Its mind-boggling to me.

gombosg• 4 years ago

Wrist rests work great for me, maybe everybody's body reacts differently.

What helped me a lot was 1. learning touch typing (a lot less strain on fingers & wrist), 2. using vim shortcuts which leads to less mouse usage (I'm just a basic user using basic shortcuts but even then it's noticeable) 3. exercising multiple times a week.

Rethink Using Wrist Rests

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