[blackeyeblitzar]

Does anyone have experience with carpal tunnel or RSI and mechanical switches? I’ve heard some people recommend ZSA keyboards for ergonomics but I’m unsure if mechanical keys are healthy compared to the softer keys of older ergonomic keyboards like the ones Microsoft made.

[morjom]

Membrane "switches" have a pretty high actuation force all things considered (40-100g+), which is what the older MS keyboards use. There are plenty of mechanical switches that require less force to actuate, and Hall Effect switches can even have an adaptable activation point.

[blackeyeblitzar]

I’m not familiar with Hall effect switches - any recommendations on a keyboard for ergonomic use?

[morjom]

Hall Effect switches are a pretty recent (re)addition to the keyboard market, so it might be difficult to find an out of the box ergo keyboard with HE on them.

Most of them are on gaming keyboards due to the possibility of getting super small actuation and rebound windows for faster input.

So you'd probably need to do some DIY (there are switches available for purchase, might have to do more reasearch).

[Yizahi]

Microsoft Ergonomic prevented RSI not because of keys, but because of the front raiser bar. It allowed wrists to be more line up with hands, which prevented damage to the nerves in the wrist joint which is really RSI. I wish more keyboards had this feature.

[sitzkrieg]

i developed rsi pretty bad in like 2018 and went all in with an ergodox and it didnt help really. true ergo + better posture and actual breaks (and some time off) is the only thing that worked for me

but i will say split keyboard is very nice but ortholinear seemed to reintroduce some strains

i use a normal keyboard with good floating hand posture when typing a lot w no issues these days

[blackeyeblitzar]

What do you mean by true ergo and better posture?

[foobarbecue]

Yeah, I've always wondered if there's any basis for the idea that mechanical keyboards prevent RSI. This article doesn't help -- it says that the mechanism by which mechanical keyboards prevent RSI is "hard to explain without getting too technical" and then stumbles over some strange "gym mat" analogy that made no sense t ome.

[coolThingsFirst]

carpal tunell is 2015 news or so bottleneck is thinking not typing in programming

[blackeyeblitzar]

It’s still relevant for those who have injuries or pain. It’s not a thing just for programmers.