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Comment by Accacin | Hacker News Reader

There seems to be a lot of people with wrist issues here, so I thought I'd ask. I get a lot of pain in my right shoulder and right wrist after using a keyboard for a while. I've noticed it more when I have to use my little finger (e.g. curly bracers, etc.)

I'm currently trying out a split keyboard (freestyle 2, wanted something cheaper to see if the split helped), and it definitely has. I went back to my Ducky 5 for a few days and felt it.

I'm currently learning to type Dvorak, which feels nice but I'm not using it enough so far to know if it's an improvement. I'm really liking the look of the Kinesis Advantage, has anyone with similar wrist pain noticed that it made a difference?

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You should absolutely go see a doctor. The problem with ergonomics is that everything is bullshit. For instance, you know that famous thing where all your joints should be at 90°? Yeah, not so much. My cubital tunnel symptom was because my hands were too bent. Putting my keyboard deeper into the desk helped. Similarly, your issues with the shoulders don't sound like anything garden-variety, but then again they might be.

If you would like to hear anecdotes, here's mine. I was a horrible typer (spacebar with my index finger etc.). I learnt Programmer's Dvorak, which helped me type more sedately/less spastically. But it was still on a full-sized keyboard. More recently, I switched to the Ergodox EZ, and I definitely prefer it. It sits shoulder width apart. I found out I prefer NOT to have it tented, as my desk is too high already, and it would lead to pain on the top of my wrist. I also changed my keyboard layout to basically ignore half the keyboard, and just stay on the home row as much as possible. Fn keys, the thumb cluster etc., I try not to use at all. All of these things helped. But what helped most was going to a doctor, she measured my nerve speeds, and recommended a strap to wear at night. So, go to a doctor!

To be clear, my shoulder isn't really painful just tight. It's the same with my wrist, everything in my right hand feels tight.

For example, on my left hand I can stretch my fingers back without feeling any tightness, and on my right hand I can feel a stretch when I do the same thing.

I will go to a Doctor, I think I've been putting it off too much thinking adjustments made at home would cure it. Sadly, some have made it much better but it still ultimately returns, just slower than before.

Just the right side? Are you sure it isn’t mouse/trackpad causing the trouble?

That sounds like a likely pain point here to me too - I've settled on using a Logitech MX Ergo trackball sitting between the two halves of my split keyboard. No more stretching to move the mouse!

I've experienced some such issues, too. And indeed, I think it was mouse related, but maybe not so much the mouse itself as the fact that it was too far out.

I've switched to more compact keyboards (a MS sculpt ergonomic) and it went away.

I've had good luck with switching the mouse between the left and right hands. It takes a few weeks to get used to, but helps a lot with spreading the strain a bit more evenly between the two hands.

I had that too when I switched from a 14" ThinkPad to a 13" XPS and happened to use a chair which was slightly low compared to my desk.

Switching to using a external keyboard fixed that.

But I also happen to hardly use my pinky finger (which turned out to be somewhat of a problem when I switched to a split keyboard which works best with 10 finker/touch typing). On reason for not using the pinky finger is that it's noticeable shorter to the point that the "home row" of my pinky finger is one row below that of my other fingers...

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