[fooblat]

As a full time developer who used to suffer terrible RSI pain, I solved the problem without changing keyboard layouts. After consulting with my doctor and an ergonomics expert, I realized my problems were cause by the setup of my workstation and the bad posture habits I had developed.

1. I would rest my palms as I typed. This turned out to be a major source of pain. Retraining myself to "float" my hands over the keyboard was a massive improvement.

2. My desk was too high / my chair was too low. Setting up my desk so that my keyboard is as close to my lap as possible was the next big improvement. When in a seated position, my hands are very comfortable when resting on my thighs. Putting my keyboard in a drawer that is just above my thighs helped a lot.

3. I also switched to a trackpad instead of a mount and a split keyboard. I found this allowed a more comfortable angle for my hands and less temptation to rest my wrist while mousing.

After making these changes, I have been pain free for over 10 years.

[eggie]

Did you consider using an isomorphic layout like the typematrix? I find the anachronistic skew in keyboards to be a source of discomfort.

[fooblat]

I have only recently learned about isomorphic keyboards and I am indeed curious to try one.

[lbj]

You hover? Doesnt that just move the strain to your upper arms?

[fooblat]

The key to this for me is having the keyboard as close to my lap as possible. The effort to hover seems to go up with the height of the keyboard relative to my thighs.

[lbj]

Right, that makes sense, thanks.