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Ask HN: What ergonomic solutions are you using?

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Re: Ask HN: What ergonomic solutions are you using?

#21
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you do this out of medical necessity or is it simply what you've found to be most ergonomic? I find this configuration very interesting. Had not heard of this before, but would be very interested in trying it out.

Neck problems made it inevitable, after a traffic accident several years ago. I'm okay walking, pretty much, but not sitting.

However, it's been great for my shoulders, arms and hands as well. Having your upper arms pinned, comfortably by gravity and still helps a lot.

Re: Ask HN: What ergonomic solutions are you using?

#23
post #4

Something that has made my wrists a little more comfortable during long typing sessions is putting down the little feet on the back of my keyboard. Even though this "feature" was designed to improve ergonomics, and many people I know use it, it can make your wrists uncomfortable and is not usually smart to use.

Afaik these feet were designed to help people with less typing skill to easier read the keys. For ergonomics the keyboard should actually be tilted backwards to reduce strain on the wrists.

Re: Ask HN: What ergonomic solutions are you using?

#26
I’ve found ergorest forearm supports work, along with a keyboard without a number pad to reduce mouse reach.

I’ve swapped between various split keyboards over the years, starting with the beta version of the Microsoft Natural keyboard - sadly most of these have a number pad and that creates a mouse reach issue for some. These days I use a ten key less gaming keyboard.

Also small free weights to exercise arms frequently during the day at the desk seem to help.

Re: Ask HN: What ergonomic solutions are you using?

#27
As someone who first had carpal tunnel symptoms at the age of eight I have spent a fair amount of time on this problem.

Check the temperature of your working environment. Cold joints can be the cause of or exacerbate various issues. Wearing gloves may help if you can’t control the climate. A personal heater can be another good option, but make sure the heat is indirect (pointed at a wall for example) to avoid other issues from prolonged exposure.

I use a keyboard arm with negative incline positioned at a height so that my elbows are at 90° and my wrists point slightly downward. (Height of the keys relative to the wrist rest should be as close to equal as possible.) This is the opposite of what most people do with the terrible kickstands that come with keyboards. I find that the more negative incline I can get the better. My current setup allows for 20-30° Of downward wrist incline. A typical keyboard tray or palm rest will not do this, as the height from the desktop must be adjustable and it must hold the keyboard in place. Mine grips the keyboard to hold it in place.

I personally find that a trackpad is good at preventing some rsi because you can use it in a variety of positions and it forces you to stretch all of your fingers when it is below the keyboard. For my keyboard arm I designed and 3d printed a mount for an apple magic trackpd that holds it below the keyboard making it much like a laptop. This had the added benefit of keeping my fingers on home row which is more efficient.

Remapping modifiers on the keyboard is extremely helpful for reducing strain on some fingers. Things like spacemacs or ergodox which use thumbs are great. Vim keybindings help a lot too and I have almost everything vimified.

Having a large (40”+ for 4k) monitor prevents you from leaning in to read small text or “hunching over” the keyboard. (poor elbow and back alignment) The same can be done by using a larger font or lower resolution at the cost of more keystrokes for navigating long files or between apps.

Taking breaks and changing positions frequently helps of corse. (Use a sit stand desk, try kneeling on a soft mat occasionally if your desk goes low enough.)

Drink a lot of water. Hydration helps almost any bodily issue to some extent and I find that my productivity is significantly impacted by dehydration and greatly increased when I drink a lot. Soda is fine but offset the dehydration from it with extra water. This has the added benefit of forcing you to take breaks.

Re: Ask HN: What ergonomic solutions are you using?

#28
- 1 large 34 inch screen (height adjustable)

- good chair for back strength (takes some time to sit on this a whole day): Löffler Rodeo, https://www.pape-rohde.de/produkt/872/loeffler-sedlo-1-m-sit...

- Trackball mouse: Logitech M570 (makes work even faster and you are more accurate)

- Kinesis Advantage 2 Keyboard + wristpads

Best start for me was the chair + getting away from bad isolated window

Re: Ask HN: What ergonomic solutions are you using?

#29
- Kinesis Advantage USB keyboard. (The only ergonomic layout keyboard with mechanical switches when I bought it).

- A trackball that is 'semi-vertical' in orientation. I use logitech's M570. I am considering switching to a fully vertical orientation trackball or a vertical mouse.

- A significant help was having an ergonomic specialist visit my desk at work and help me understand how to sit correctly, how to adjust the chair correctly, at what height the monitor ought to be set up etc. Most of my pains went away after this.

- Another factor to bear in mind is that no amount of 'conscious effort' will help maintain posture as much as a few minutes of exercises done regularly. When I do some basic compound movements even with light-weights, my posture naturally gets better without me even having to think about it.

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