[c3y]

I have similar issues, that continue to develop as I get older, and it's been a significant journey to mitigate!

- I used that Microsoft ergonomic keyboard that was ubiquitous, the name of which I can't remember, for years, but eventually the floaty keys bugged me. I have a recently-acquired ZSA Moonlander mk I [1] now, which I'm finally mounting the learning curve of. This helps //a lot//, along with:

- Proper desk/surface height. I chronically let either my forearms rest on the edge of the desk, or my wrists sit on the keyboard/laptop, and this has a measurable effect on my wrist and hand strain. It's been difficult to adopt the muscle tone for letting my hands 'float' over the keyboard after so many years, but not having that strain on my muscles/nerves from the constant pressure on my forearms makes a huge difference; likewise, not having my wrists resting on the desk/wrist pad lets my fingers travel more naturally.

- I do a lot of stretching and exercising to help strengthen my wrists and I check, a lot, that their natural position is one of alignment with between my hands and forearms. Minimizing left-and-right pivoting especially has helped a lot; most of my strain from laptop keyboards tends to be when I carelessly let pinkies dictate how my hand moves when I need to hit Return, or whatever. I still need to zero in on the best desk hit to facilitate this, but being conscious of it is a start.

- A coworker recommended an RPM Power Powerball[2]; I haven't used it extensively, but it is //immediately// a pretty clear and major wrist workout, so I can very much see how it would have a positive impact. Anecdotally, he said all of his forearm and wrist issues subside when he's good about using it for ten or fifteen minutes a day.

1. https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/ 2. https://rpmpower.com/product/nsd-powerball-autostart-pro-fus...

[jimothyhalpert7]

Thanks! Does that mean that you're only able to work in a very specific environment?

I'm considering ordering a new laptop, and am very sad to think that i won't be able to use its laptop/portable functionality, since more than 30 mins without a special keyboard results in pain.

[c3y]

I'm lucky enough to be working from home -- though in the office I had an adjustable desk, which I definitely miss. Being able to fine-tune the height was very nice. I tend to end up working on my laptop keyboard anyway, at the dining room table or whatever, just to switch things up even though it's hard on my hands; the Moonlander is pretty portable though, so I can take that upstairs or to whatever table I'm at. My work computer is a MacBook so it's definitely doable with the laptop!

The other thing I didn't think to mention is that I've used a variety of wrist and arm braces to varying effects -- the one I like best offers mild wrist support and also stabilizes the thumb joint, which was giving me trouble. However, if I get a lot of ulnar neuropathy bothering my pinkie and ring finger, I've an immobilizing elbow brace to sleep in which tends to help as well.

Anecdotally, that thumb joint (I think it's the CNC joint or something like that) gets very unhappy with me when I text on my phone too much, so it's not just computer usage that causes problems!