Ergonomics

What solutions have you found to help alleviate carpal tunnel symptoms, backaches, etc?

Note that this is not a thread about how to prevent you from using a computer to solve the problems associated with it, this is a thread about how to supplement day-long coding, researching, and reading marathons. Simple stretches every hour or so are definitely one solution, but then, so is "working out", "going to the beach with friends instead," etc.

Ergonomic keyboards, DVORAK layout, chair-mount mouse pads, chairs with lumbar support - what have you found works for you?

Other urls found in this thread:

logitech.com/product/trackman-marble
my.mixtape.moe/zvgsie.jpg
epiguru.com/2012/07/how-to-make-an-ibm-model-f-pc-at-keyboard-usable-on-a-modern-computer
twitter.com/AnonBabble

Regular exercise

Got this glorious trackball, will never go back to a regular mouse.
logitech.com/product/trackman-marble

Also, a mechanical keyboard. Nothing crazy fancy as OP's pic, just an Unicomp Ultra Classic, but even that is a gazillion times better than any rubber dome junk.

So I heard, there were no real science done on the subject of ergonomics.

There might not be any science on it, but how low my chair is so that my wrist has to bend maybe 30 degrees down to use my mouse is painful after say 8 hours of computer use with only bathroom/food breaks. It has also semi-permanently kinked my wrist - when I lie flat on my back, my right hand's wrist will not touch the floor, it's kinked in that same position.


Nice, user.
I've seen the trackball mice which use your thumb to scroll the ball around rather than the fingers - I wonder which would be best? I've tried the "sideways" mice and those do not help

The lack of a scroll wheel kills the entire experience for me. I bought one cheap to try it out. Every time I decide I'll use it I never end up using it for more than a day.

Poor man's wrist rest: my.mixtape.moe/zvgsie.jpg

Masturbate with other hand
cut back on auto fellatio

Legit answer
I built a height adjustable desk
bought 11 different mice (prefer vertical)
bought 8 different wrist braces


logitech has a $20 trackball with scroll wheel around the ball

>>>/reddit/

...

...

>>>/reddit/

nice, but catches all possible dirt and hard to clean. fun to type on.
too lazy to stand 95% of the time
best investment. make sure it has no arm rests or ones that adjust to move down to the seat level. steelcase chairs are very nice and well worth the money if you can afford one. aeron on the other hand is a scam and they're shit that will fall apart or get ripped apart by your fat ass catching something sharp on it.
never, ever.
not worth the time investment after 20+ years of qwerty


also turning down your monitor's gamma/color temperature is one of the biggest ergonomic improvements you can make.

I've never had carpal tunnel and I don't get backaches or any of the problems I see everyone around me have. I'm on the computer from I wake up until I go to bed, full NEET style.

What I do is having regular bodily awareness. I adjust my position, stretch, relax often. As soon as I feel a bit of strain in my wrist I stretch my hand and fingers, give them a shake. If I feel a strain building in my back I take a little walk and stretch my back muscles. And so on. I've never needed any kind of ergonomic shit, in fact I feel it makes it worse if anything.

I observe that the people who get carpal tunnel like problems often doesn't do this.

Force yourself to use a standing desk. It's great for posture and blood flow. I've also noticed it makes me more attentive and less lazy.

Another good thing to do is reduce the blue light that your monitor emits. You'll be able to fall asleep quicker after using your computer.

I'm sure you can't be asked to take new pics, but if you have old ones on hand from the build, that'd be cool to see.

Guess trial and error is what it will take, eh? Worth it in the end? Which vertical mouse did you like?

Damn. Informed researched decisions each purchase? Which did you think was going to be the best in terms of design and ended up letting you down? Which did you settle on? If you don't mind me asking - for everyone's benefit, really.

I use a rolled up towel under my neck to sleep at night. Way more comfortable than the $120 tempurpedic pillow I bought, so long as you are lying flat on your back while you sleep (If you sleep on your side, it's terrible).

To prevent you from favoring one side in terms of weight? I guess that would make sense...I was considering getting one of pic related, but I'm not sure if it's just a joke. I do find myself wanting to rest my elbow on something at or slightly above mouse height.

I will definitely investigate these. Hopefully they have a more "supportive" series.

Absolutely redshift/flux are an absolute godsend.


Yes. I have to rub my hands and wrists for hours across a couple of days once I get a bad cramp for it to fully go away. My problem is that when fully immersed in a project it is very easy for me to go without eating, sleeping, using the restroom, etc. This is just how I work. I am not half involved in what I'm doing, and half paying attention to myself. Not ideal, I know. Even if I set a timer to stretch regularly I know I would not follow it.

I'm much like you and it's more of a subconscious habit than anything. I use those spaces for thinking and planning, it's still a fully immersed flow. Still, from what I've observed some people just have this and some don't, so I don't know how you should train yourself to do it.

Exactly, if you lean on one arm all the time it can cause pain/stiffness in your elbow and shoulder all the way up through your neck. It's more natural to have lower armrests and not cramp up.

Thank you both for your input; It is good information to keep in mind.

I never had any problems with my wrist, but after typing longs sessions for days my fingers on my left hand start to hurt. Especially my pinky, since I have remapped caps-lock to ctrl and use ctrl-h instead of backspace.

I was sitting on an armrest-less chair for a year and it was horrible.
Shoulders got tired really fast from keeping arms up constantly.
Trying to rest my hands on the table was not helping, and even made things worse, I started to get cramps in my wrists.


Don't see the balance issue, if your keyboard is centered properly, your weight should be distributed equally.

This is an ergonomic keyboard.

The IBM Model F.

How the fuck does that have USB?

...

I'm guessing it doesn't. See lower right corner.

Whew.

Was your keyboard at the right height? If you sit up straight, with your keyboard at elbow level works best for me. If I had to reach up it would be uncomfortable. My desk has a pull out keyboard tray. Sitting up completely straight, no backrest, no armrests is very natural, you just have to get used to it. Being aware of your posture really makes a lot of difference to your well being in the long run, and everyone's different so experiment and find what works best for you.

Letter keys centered between the hands. Mouse goes to the left of that position; not on the right of the keypad and forcing you to bend your right arm outwards.
Vast improvement to your life and free (unless you bought a shit non-ambidextrous mouse like a huge faggot)

So, either be left-handed or just get a keyboard without a numpad?

My keyboard has no numpad.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yg3s77nAMQ

web.archive.org/web/20160615015207/epiguru.com/2012/07/how-to-make-an-ibm-model-f-pc-at-keyboard-usable-on-a-modern-computer

I sit on an exercise ball.

Is dvorak better than colemak?

Retraining your muscle memory for a mouse is a lot easier than writing left-handed


You get a free pass then

I don't think so. I am trained in both Dvorak and Colemak. I get about 60wpm in Dvorak, Colemak and Qwerty.

The important thing is to make some kind of change the moment you feel any kind of discomfort. Don't bear with it. And yes once you're actually hurting, you should go to reduced use for a while -- postpone the day-long coding marathon until tomorrow.

I mostly just change my posture and never have RSI pains. I had some related issues (body forgetting that posture changes require bloodflow changes) and set up a standing desk at home, and that seems to help. I still sit at work.

I pour dollar bills into my tools because I like good tools and have dollar bills. Otherwise I don't have any ergo shit. Straight mechanical keyboard, normal (gaming) optical mouse without mousepad.

oh and dvorak's a scam but if your touch-typing is self-taught, I recommend learning dvorak just so that you can incidentally learn to type properly. Then re-learn qwerty because 1. dvorak is a scam, 2. it's annoying to set things up for dvorak, and you'll have to re-learn it because proper typing will overwrite your adhoc muscle memory and leave you feeling like a stroke victim without dvorak.

Don't say "oh I type 120wpm, I'm fine."

I type 90wpm in Dvorak, I'm fine

Why don't we Stenotype?

I've never gotten CPS either despite two decades of obsessive computer use. Granted I can't touch type so maybe that's why. Is it because I have god tier wrist genetics or I just haven't done it enough?

My posture was always bad though and the constant sitting probably contributed to it. I'm a lazy fuck who doesn't stretch but slouches instead, so that's probably why.

Like I decided to try an exercise ball and it's actually more comfortable than my shitty old chair.


What's an easy way to convert a cheap IKEA desk to standing? I can't afford to blow a lot of money on something that may or may not be a gimmick.

Cinder blocks.

Walking.

Also,
"xcape allows you to use a modifier key as another key when pressed and released on its own."
github.com/alols/xcape

There is only one mouse(that's not a random chink brand) that has the thumb, it's amazing, I have it but it's shit, don't buy it.

Logitech and their double click issue strikes again and often with the m570.

CST will be my next move.

"CAD users love it because you can drag a line one pixel even on today's high resolution displays of 1920X1080. "

I was having severe back pain from sitting in shitty chairs so I started doing basic yoga daily for my legs glutes, back, arms etc and it's probably the best decision I've ever made. I've been doing a lot of squats and basic workout types maybe 3 times a week as well. Yoga takes maybe 15-30 mins a day depending on what I'm willing to do. You will feel like a total faggot doing it but at the same time it's relaxing and you feel great for days after

I honestly think ergonomic keyboards and "good typing habits" do more harm than good. I never learned to type "correctly," so I move my hands/forearms around the keyboard a lot. I never get wrist pain unless I'm doing something that requires a lot of precise mouse usage. Meanwhile "proper typing" encourages you to keep your hands still and only move your fingers. Where I spread the work out across more, stronger muscles, the "correct" way puts all the stress on your tiny finger and wrist muscles and joints.

I use programmer DVORAK, Logitech Trackman Marble, make sure I have keybinds for everything, wear wrist support throughout the day and splints during the night and making sure to stop as soon as I start getting pain.

I started doing this too - I'll take maybe 30 minutes every few weeks and do a dedicated lower back and neck routine and that takes care of it. I think the real problem is not exercising the small muscles that keep everything in place for such long periods of time. Of course, the muscles involved in holding your head facing perfectly straight and forward are going to do fine with their essentially daily isometric workout, but everything else will suffer.

Sitting is the new smoking, as they say....


Literally millions of people with tendinitis, carpal tunnel, arthritis, etc. who are now able to use computers regularly due to ergonomic advancements would disagree with you.

Any particular maker to stay away from/recommend?

The evidence show that carpal tunnel syndrome comes from genetic predisposition and repetitive strenuous wrist activity. This pressing a lever every day in a machine shop. This idea that you can contract it from mouse usage is a persistent myth.

Think of pressing a lever every day on the job in a machine shop*

I think you can become immune to carpal tunnel stuff if you start with "bad" computer habits at a young age.

Can't you just get one of those forearm workout grips and just use that as your stress reliever?

I can follow this reasoning, however, while not disagreeing, is it a fair statement to make that bad posture and skeletal positioning causes excess stress at certain points? Could this theoretically simulate strenuous activity?

Like how slouching purportedly puts extra strain on the neck, which causes pain? Something that I can probably find empirical evidence to support, but anecdotal may suffice.

Pic related is an exaggeration, but illustrates my current mouse-usage situation, where the chair I am using is well below the surface which my mouse rests on. It feels strenuous, and has been repeated daily for many years.

I used to have back trouble, but then I piicked up jogging. It really helps more than you would think.

Why arent you using the most ergonomic keyboard in hisotry

version with sound

We don't have IDs here, dumbfuck

Too expensive unless you really need it. The Kinesis is like 1/5th the cost and doesn't require you to learn new typing techniques.

You can't get carpal tunnel unless you're a secretary.
Checkmate autists.

I used to have back trouble, but then I piicked up jogging.
Now my ankles hurt like hell.

SS + GOMAD do it faggot

What?

/SS/ AND GONADS
DO IT NOW FAGGOT

As a general rule, if it's cheaper than 15 pounds it sucks.

>>>/fit/

criminally underrated post. Just do some fucking back excercises like rows and deadlifts with proper form 2x per week, then foam roll your back afterwards and you'll be fine. Thinking you can maintain proper posture with degenerated muscles is wishful thinking.

Fuck off, casuals.

MY BACK

I have an embody chair, it retails for 1.-1.3keur in germany
got it a couple years ago, so there might be better/cheaper chairs on the market now
however it was very much worth it. you barely notice youve been sitting for 12 hours

Anybody every try an ergodex?

is there a version of that with a higher weight capacity?

An input from finger top pressure seems like it would force you to groom your fingernails more than typically.

I just have a big enough desk to rest my elbows on