Ergonomics, Posture, Office Equipment, & Health

RSI - Repetititve Strain Injury :) The bain of all computer users.

I don't have anything practical that would help you but I do believe there is a course in the web design track that teaches how to make a good design work flow which includes things like seating posture, seat height and desk space.

If your body is getting aches it's probably a sign you need to take more breaks.

At my university there was a notice recommending that students took a break from the computer for 10 to 15 minutes after every hour. Sometimes I just get up for a few minutes from the seat just so I can say I haven't just sat on my bum all day :)

Hi Dustin, lately I have also had this issue coming up. Because of the increment in the amount of coding I do. It is true that prolonged typing can cause Rotator Cuff tendonitis, RSI as mentioned , Carpal tunnel syndrome and other things, so it is good you are taking it seriously. My suggestions for you are the basics:

1. Take breaks
2. Do wrist - hand - finger stretches on some of your breaks
3. Keep a proper hand placement, make sure your wrists are in a comfortable position or there is some sort of cushion below them if needed. Do not strain your wrists or hands in general as much as possible.
4. Don't keep your hands in the same position for long amounts of time.

Now some less common things you can do

*Create custom keyboard shortcuts for the frequently used words or text something like the chrome extension - Auto Text Expander for Google Chrome™ might help save you from typing more.

*You can also use voice commands but that one is a bit troubling to use because most don't work very well, but that is another possible option too :) Something like Vocola might be a good thing to try.

It's also been shown that prolonged periods of sitting is detrimental to your health, so actually taking the time to stand up and move around periodically is good too. While it's still fairly rare to find employers providing sit-stand or standing/walking desks, you should use one if you can, and encourage your employer to investigate switching if they don't.

Hi Dustin,

I'm sorry to hear about that :(

What works really well for me is using a Standing Desk. I move around a lot more because of that. Regarding battling RSI, Dave McFarland has a pretty sweet setup at work and he can probably let you know more about it.

Best wishes - I hope you recover quickly!

Ryan

I've had trouble with RSI in my career. So has my wife -- who did a lot of research on the subject and completely revamped her work setup years ago. I followed her lead and have had very little RSI problems for years.

But first let me note that everyone’s different and what might work for one person, might not work for another. For example, my wife uses a trackball which has helped wrist problems she’s had over the years, but when I tried a trackball my wrist felt like it was on fire.

Here's what has worked for me:

1. Ergonomic keyboard: I use a Kinesis Advantage Pro Keyboard. It's a pretty strange keyboard and took a while to master but it offers some big benefits: the shape lets me keep my wrists and forearms slanted naturally instead of having to rotate them to accommodate a flat keyboard. There are other keyboards that help relieve the unnatural wrist position of traditional keyboards.

2. A MorencyRest board. This strange thing attaches to my desktop and lets me rest my arms on it as I type. It relieves my shoulders from having to hold up my arms as I type.

Here are a couple of (not very good) photos:

1. I also use a wrist rest which attaches to my mouse. It helps keep my wrist from having to bend to operate the mouse. My wife replaced her mouse with a trackball and has good success eliminating wrist problems.

2. A good chair. Good back support is really important.

Finally, getting up, stretching, standing frequently, even for just a few minutes every half hour is important. Set up a timer by your computer so that every half hour it goes off.

I also do morning hand exercises using hot/cold contrast baths — this helps me stretch the tendons in my arms and wrists. Alternating between hold and cold baths is a common therapy for wrist injuries (see the list of resources below).

Here are a few useful resources:

• http://ergo.berkeley.edu/services/computer_use.php
• http://www.altmd.com/Articles/Hand-Therapy-for-CTS
• https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/computerworkstations/

Good luck and take care of yourself!

Great question, Dustin Matlock! I have a standing desk at home and at the office and I generally alternate between that and a swiss ball. As far as ergonomic keyboards go, I have the Kinesis Freestyle which has really helped.