Rolling up my Sleeves, continued 30
It’s been about a year and a half since I wrote about my wrist pains that would often occur at work, which was being caused by something I bet many of us deal with from time to time… Repetitive Strain Injury. So, I’ve been wearing these gloves when I’m at work on my normal Apple keyboard. I knew that they helped to some degree because on the days that I forgot them, my wrists would begin to hurt after a hour or two of coding/writing emails. Not much fun.
A few months ago, I attempted to start typing with Dvorak, which started off with requiring myself to do it for about three hours each morning to start the day and then switching back. After about a week and a half, I forgot to continue doing it. The Dvorak keyboard sits next to my desk… whispering to me, “play with me”... but I haven’t had time to get back into it.
So, the strain continues from time to time. Over the course of a few months, I began to notice that most of the strain seemed to be in my right wrist and I started to wonder if the mouse movements were a bigger culprit than the keyboard itself. So, I spoke to a guy at Macforce (a cool and local Apple dealer) about the mouse pad that he was using. He said that it really helped him out and so I bought myself one.
It’s a Belkin WaveRest™ Gel Mouse Pad and cost me less than $30 USD. It’s been a few weeks and I’ve noticed that I can go almost the entire day without the gloves that I wore before. So, I think that there is still some strain occurring, but a lot less than before. So, I’m hoping to give Dvorak another shot and hope that combo helps alleviate a lot of pain that I’ve been experiencing at work.
If you’re experiencing wrist pains and it’s focused on the hand that you use your mouse with, you might consider something like this to help out.
I’m sure that I’m not the only one that has/is experienced motion strain at the computer.. so, what has been your experience and have you had any success making improvements to your work space to help?
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MS Natural 4000 wired USB (with reverse tilt) on the desk and a Wacom in a keyboard tray in my lap have worked wonders for me. The keyboard tray is critical—this way both input devices can be centered around your body.
I do have that same mousepad; it’s nice if I really need to grab the mouse for some reason (book in lap, etc.).
Just keep trying, for me the culprits were emacs and no arm rests. If I have arm support and no emacs I can type whole day again.
Watch how you leave your hands/wrists when you sleep. I used to sleep with my wrists bent which caused all sorts of pain, just making sure that I don’t fall asleep with my wrists bent has alleviated all pain.
I use these too—they’re great. Also use a Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard. Took a couple weeks to get used to, but it changed everything.
FWIW I noticed some time ago that a lot of my RSI troubles had been coming from the fact that my keyboard, whilst appearing “central” to me, was in fact quite far to the left in order to compensate for the mouse and numpad being on the right.
Nowadays, I am forcing myself to shift from a comfortable mousing position to a comfortable typing position depending on what I am up to. This movement involves sliding the keyboard and mouse about 4 inches to the right when typing, and 4 inches back to the left when mousing.
Anyone for a keyboard with the numpad (only the numpad, not the cursor keys) on the left?
Switching the cap-locks and ctrl key helped a lot for me. I use vi and screen a lot, and used to get pain in my left pinky. Using cap-locks as a ctrl key has eliminated that pain.
I switched to a shorter keyboard - no keypad - to get the mouse closer in. I also have an Evoluent vertical mouse, which helps a TON with my wrists.
Hi Robby,
I sympathize with you, and just thought I should add my experience as something to possibly consider for anyone with the same problem.
I too is suffering from RSI on a fairly regular basis, but the weird thing about my troubles is that they come from a trapped nerve in my neck, which can suddenly cause severe wrist pain. Sort of like I just smashed my hand into a brick wall, although I’ve done nothing of the sort.
My solution to the problem is a quick visit to the Osteopath and then the rest of the day off, and I’m “good as new” the next morning. I’ve also got Apple’s new thin keyboard and I feel it has helped my tired hands/fingers as well.
Just my 1 cents worth.
I have to encourage you to stick with Dvorak. I felt the same pain that you felt about one year ago and now type naturally with Dvorak. The chronic wrist and forearm pain that I used to feel with QWERTY are now gone, absolutely gone.
I admit that for about a month I felt as if I couldn’t type at all, because I was in between QWERTY and Dvorak, but that passed and although it all took longer than I had hoped, it was all worth it.
I’ve found the Logitech Marble Mouse great. And I use it with my left hand, which only took about a week to master completely.
I’ve found that exercise like yoga, tai chi and even violent sport like squash is surprisingly effective at getting the body as a whole loosened up and healthy.
Ditto what edavey said—I had RSI so bad for a few years that I started looking into other professions, but regular tai chi & related practice has immensely improved things.
Robbie – I had the same problems, similarly only in my right hand. After some reading, I switched to a track ball. 1 week later, problem solved, never returned. I highly recommend it!
To echo David’s encouragement, Robby, do give Dvorak another shot. The only way I was able to do it was by going cold turkey, inspired by Geoffrey Grosenbach about 4 months ago. July was a VERY hard month, but now I touch type better than I ever did in QWERTY, and my hands thank me constantly for my temporary inconvenience. There were times when I had to resist the urge to go back, but I hung in there and plowed through, and am so glad now that I did.
I use a Logitech thumb-based trackball rather than a mouse, which has been great for resolving prior wrist pain. I also use the MS Ergo 4000 board, which is comfortable, but really wide. So my shoulder actually gets more tired than anything having to move so far to the trackball. That’s why the Apple wireless board is enticing, but I imagine the reduced width would result in new typing-caused wrist pain.
As for Dvorak, I don’t personally buy it. My supposition is that if you’re typing enough for Dvorak to make a difference, you have a workflow problem. Meaning you need to find a way to reduce or interrupt marathon typing sessions. Split up your day with paper-based pseudo coding, white-board-based designing, and generally planning before attacking. Though we are hackers, it is possible to limit one’s time at the workstation and still be productive – likely more productive.
(Of course, YMMV, everyone works differently, yadda, yadda, yadda.)
@raggi
Every day I wish for such a thing. They don’t make left-handed thumb-based trackballs to the best of my knowledge.
For the longest time I had such bad wrist pain I was unable to touch type at all…. Just resting in the home position hurt.
Dvorak and the MS Natural Ergonomic 4000. Just like Even said, the reverse tilt really makes a difference.
Just yesterday I was starting to research solutions for wrist pains like this. Didn’t realize that so many people suffered so young. Lots of different solutions here but nothing consistent yet.
Hey all,
Thanks for the suggestions so far. (keep them coming)
I’ll have to try and work on the Dvorak again and see how that works out. Oddly enough… a few hours after I posted this, I began having some more pains after excessive typing on the keyboard. So, I’m thinking the mouse only speeds up the pain. ;-)
Why aren’t our bodies designed for this sort of work. :-p
i’m sold. i think i need one of these.
sad that i lost my dvorak enthusiasm.
When my mousing wrist started hurting I moved my mouse to my other hand. That worked out really well for a while. A few months later that wrist started to hurt. For about a year I toggled back and forth.
Today I type dvorak (not really sure that helped at all for me) and have two pointing devices hooked up to my mac. A left handed mouse on the left, and a trackball on the right. I switch between the two casually throughout the day and it seems to work out really well.
I decided to try Dvorak after hearing a discussion about it at RailsConf last spring. When I got back to work the next week, I spent a day typing in an online tutorial. (aaaa ssss oooo nnnn etc etc etc). The next day I switched over cold-turkey, and have been using it with increasing speed (and lack of discomfort) ever since.
The other thing I did was get a TypeMatrix keyboard: http://www.typematrix.com/
I really like this keyboard. The only disadvantage is that now when I have to use someone else’s computer, I have to remember to slant my fingers outward when reaching for the upper 2 rows. Oh, that, and QWERTY, which I seem to have lost the ability to touch-type :-(
If you’re looking at trackballs, I really have to recommend the Kensington Expert Mouse (http://us.kensington.com/html/2200.html). The ball itself is about the size of a billiard ball (maybe a little smaller), compared with most other trackballs (Logitech in particular) with marble-sized balls.
I give the Expert Mouse credit for saving my right wrist from gradually increasing pain in my wrist and fore-arm.
Two things that did it for me. Arm rests and a mouse without a scrollwheel. The last one is a bummer but it killed me.
I strongly recommend the Kinesis keyboards. I have no affiliation with the company, and have used them for the last 7 years. I even carry one around with my MacBook—that’s how much I like it..
I also strongly recommend Kinesis keyboards. I do not own one, but I borrowed one from a friend for a couple weeks and after getting used to it my hands and wrists totally relaxed and my speed increased a bit. Kind of like playing a guitar with super low action, same affect.
Please consult a doctor if you are having chronic pains.
I’ve had similiar symptoms and it’s now the fourth (4) year when I’m regularly visiting a physiotherapist.
I also I recommend that you take a break of 5-10 minutes after every 45-60 minutes of intensive sitting. Take a real break: step up and get a glass of water or thé for example. It will clarify your thoughts also.
I began drinking Yerba Maté during my breaks. It is thé that you drink with a pipe. :)
I have to throw in another vote for Kinesis keyboards. I got mine when I was starting to experience frequent pain and it has made a huge difference. It takes a few days to get back up to speed, but is fantastically worth it.
They are expensive compared to most keyboards, but quite a deal if you make your living typing. They also have a switchable QWERTY/Dvorak model, which is my preference.
Hi Robby,
Sorry to hear about your pain and I hope its been getting better. I can’t really help you at all since I’ve never had that problem; but one thing that jumped out at me in your article is that you say you practiced dvorak for a while every day and then switched back to qwerty! From my experience of switching over to dvorak, that is absolute madness. You have to go cold-turkey; yes your productivity will drop way down at first but it will improve (albeit slowly). Learning a new keyboard layout is really more about un-learning the old one. Your brain is programmed to think “Q = left pinky, upper row,” etc. and you have to switch all that around. If you don’t go cold-turkey, you are essentially sending your brain mixed signals and because qwerty already has strong neural pathways in your brain, you will never learn dvorak.
Hi Robby,
Sorry to hear about your pain and I hope its been getting better. I can’t really help you at all since I’ve never had that problem; but one thing that jumped out at me in your article is that you say you practiced dvorak for a while every day and then switched back to qwerty! From my experience of switching over to dvorak, that is absolute madness. You have to go cold-turkey; yes your productivity will drop way down at first but it will improve (albeit slowly). Learning a new keyboard layout is really more about un-learning the old one. Your brain is programmed to think “Q = left pinky, upper row,” etc. and you have to switch all that around. If you don’t go cold-turkey, you are essentially sending your brain mixed signals and because qwerty already has strong neural pathways in your brain, you will never learn dvorak.
A while ago i started suffering from wrist pains. I tried everything i could, from keeping my hand straight to wearing a wrist band. Trouble was, none of these helped in the long term.
Interestingly though when i decided to concentrate more on my posture as well as general fitness, amazingly the pain started to subside.
Weird or what? :)