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by gcv 5130 days ago
I suggest building some muscle in your arms. It's amazing how much strength does to combat the physical horror of sitting at a keyboard all day. Wrist curl, reverse wrist curl, overhead press, bench press, deadlift, pull-up. All these helped me immensely.

PS: steve8918 is right about the mouse. Build some strength, and stop flicking your wrist sideways to reach the mouse. A laptop's trackpad is a huge improvement.

4 comments

If you go the weight route, make sure you don't just train grip strength (wrist flexors) but also balance a bit with wrist extensor exercises or you'll just move the pain around. It can be as simple as wrapping a rubberband around your fingertips and expanding your hand a few times.

I found this balance issue important when I started working on my deadlift and my grip got a bit out of control. Also, if you have wrist problems, you might consider avoiding alternated grip deadlifts and just pulling hook grip.

This is what worked for me too. Natural keyboard, moving mouse position, seating position, etc. all helped a bit, but after a day or two in gym my wrists simply stopped hurting and felt "healthier". When I stopped gym for 2 months and the pain returned, once I resumed my gym routine the pain stopped again within one or two sessions.
Can't agree enough to this! If you can't make it to the gym there's always the ever-dependable push-up. It is a really simple equation - good exercise routine -> better exercise posture -> better general posture -> no annoying pains.
This was the only thing to really help my wrist pain. These days I use a regular old mouse and I don't experience any pain, and all it took was some weight training two or three times a week.