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Full-time Geeks Shouldn't Ignore Physical Impact of the Craft

blog.louisgray.com

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Re: Full-time Geeks Shouldn't Ignore Physical Impact of the Craft

#51

Post by lostmypw »

krakensden wrote: post #43
mike_esspe wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if not using mouse helps against the syndrome? I'm coding only on notebooks + touchpad for last 10 years, and never had a problem. Though reading stories from people with syndrome makes me worrying :)

Aren't touchpads worse than mice? I can't use one for more than ten minutes without the joints in my fingers lighting on fire.

How do you use your touchpad?

I'm wondering this because I might be using the keyboard and touchpad in a different way than others, but naturally for me, as in: the path of least resistance.

For scrolling, my right forearm points at the touchpad in a 45 degree angle, my middle finger touches the pad and I move my whole hand at the wrist to scroll. So all the middle finger does is touch the pad and raise again.

I use my right index finger for pointing. To move the cursor up & down I do the same as for scrolling, only with my index finger. For left & right I do what would look like pushing a marble to move the cursor left and the reverse to move it to the right. So my index finger really points (mostly) to the left side (depending on forearm position) and expands in it's natural path.

Regarding heavy keyboard use you often hear about the emacs pinky when somebody over years strenuously used their pinky to hold the control key down. Well, I've noticed that I press control with the finger nail of my pinky and alt with the nail of my thumb. I'm sure it's unusual and it looks a bit funny, but it's completely natural to me and not strenuous at all.

I wonder how you do those things differently.

Re: Full-time Geeks Shouldn't Ignore Physical Impact of the Craft

#52

Post by gommm »

kristofferR wrote: post #15
ldayley wrote: post #5

I wish that the Dvorak keyboard layout would get more attention and support. Prevention > Cure.

Why not Colemak instead? Colemac is both more similar to QWERTY than Dvorak (so a lot of keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl+Z/X/C/V still works and also easier to learn) and more efficient.

I switched to Colemak when I was starting to have wrist problems and since then my wrists feel fine... So I really recommend it.

Re: Full-time Geeks Shouldn't Ignore Physical Impact of the Craft

#53

Post by docgnome »

nwhitehead wrote: post #31

I'm not a fan of wrist supports for everyday use. My strategy: 1) Kinesis keyboard 2) trackball on left and right side of keyboard, to balance mousing 3) lift weights 3 times/week 4) fish oil supplements once a day (mild anti-inflammatory) 5) standing desk Having trackballs on both sides of the keyboard while standing lets you CODE LIKE A BOSS.

I second the Kinesis suggestion. I bought one for myself and my work just bought me one. Best Keyboard Ever.

Re: Full-time Geeks Shouldn't Ignore Physical Impact of the Craft

#54

Post by hessenwolf »

georgieporgie wrote: post #9

Upon graduating college and entering the workforce, I was debilitated by awful wrist pain. It was so bad, I could barely shift my car on the way home. Over a decade later, my wrists hardly ever bother me. Physical therapy taught me to regularly stretch my wrists, and how to strengthen them. I began pursuing other activities which further strengthened my wrists (rock climbing is particularly great, so long as you avoi…

I second yoga. I have dreadful problems with my neck and back, and my arms - I am one of those who sits like a pretzel for 8 hours working on a problem.

Yoga works out all of the auxiliary, odd little muscles, and the stretches are great for my posture. And the girls in the class are beyond hot.

Re: Full-time Geeks Shouldn't Ignore Physical Impact of the Craft

#56

Post by seclorum »

donw wrote: post #30

Wrist supports are one of the worst things you could buy for yourself. All you're doing is further weakening the supporting muscles, and making the injury worse. Buy yourself a set of climbing shoes, a chalk bag, and a membership to a climbing gym. Your wrists, not to mention your whole body, will get a lot stronger, and RSI will become a thing of the past. Completely anecdotal, but I used to climb a lot, before movi…

You know what really works? Swap your keyboard and mouse every month. The subtle changes in geometry and force between 3 or 4 sets of keyboards/mice somehow prevents RSI from becoming chronic.

I once suffered terribly from RSI, until I got a small collection of input devices and established the habit of changing them every now and then. For the last 10 years I've been swapping between an Apple wireless keyboard, a Vivanco generica, and a Logitech keyboard every few months, different mice too. It feels great..

Re: Full-time Geeks Shouldn't Ignore Physical Impact of the Craft

#57

Post by khafra »

chipsy wrote: post #39
georgieporgie wrote: post #9

Upon graduating college and entering the workforce, I was debilitated by awful wrist pain. It was so bad, I could barely shift my car on the way home. Over a decade later, my wrists hardly ever bother me. Physical therapy taught me to regularly stretch my wrists, and how to strengthen them. I began pursuing other activities which further strengthened my wrists (rock climbing is particularly great, so long as you avoi…

The fastest and easiest route to overall strength I've found(and regularly recommend in these types of threads) is isometric training on bars and doorframes. Daily 5-second holds at max power, done a few times from a few different angles, are sufficient to build strength from the toes through the fingertips, including the joints as well as the muscles. Each time I do it the body naturally buckles in a slightly differ…

Got a link to some diagrams showing what "isometric training on bars and doorframes" means?

Re: Full-time Geeks Shouldn't Ignore Physical Impact of the Craft

#58

Post by kahawe »

donw wrote: post #30

Wrist supports are one of the worst things you could buy for yourself. All you're doing is further weakening the supporting muscles, and making the injury worse. Buy yourself a set of climbing shoes, a chalk bag, and a membership to a climbing gym. Your wrists, not to mention your whole body, will get a lot stronger, and RSI will become a thing of the past. Completely anecdotal, but I used to climb a lot, before movi…

How much serious and good advice were you expecting from someone who says "Sleep Is a Waste Of Time".

And as an alternative to climbing: learn to play guitar or bass!

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