I've been having elbow pain recently and decided to do an audit of my desk ergonomics. It turns out, my desk was too high to enforce proper typing technique. I've been looking into some split keyboards, as well as vertical mouses.
What have you guys done as professionals that sit at a desk most of the day to improve your ergonomics?
My standing desk: https://www.fully.com/jarvis-adjustable-height-desk-bamboo.h...
My adjustable chair: https://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/office-chairs/...
My adjustable monitor arm: https://www.fully.com/accessories/monitor-arms/esi-edge-max....
A popular alternative are the Steelcase chairs, which are less expensive and (supposedly) comparable quality.
Was thinking the same thing. Also what about the $300+ Monitor Arm. First time seeing someone pay an arm and length for an arm.
- Proper desk height for standing and sitting to ensure arms are at 90* angle.
- Extended height monitor arms to ensure screens are up at eye level. This has been great for my posture.
- Split keyboard (kinesis) to ensure my shoulders are in a neutral, not rolled inwards position and my wrist angle is also neutral. I broke my collarbone when younger, and it’s very easy for me to not keep my shoulders neutral.
- Extended palm pad for keyboard to keep my wrists neutral. With larger hands my palms are pretty far from the keyboard, which makes it easy to have my wrists lower than my hands. I have the V3 attachment to the kinesis keyboard.
- Regular exercise and strength training.
- Avoiding working on my laptop as much as possible. The angle and ergonomics are just not nearly as good as my desktop setup.
I’m kind of going off topic, but one other thing I’ve also done is reduce my coffee intake and replace coffee with plain water. It’s certainly helped my ability to think on my feet and avoid “brain fog” where I’m trying to think of a concept, a name, or just quickly answer or recommend something on my feet.
All the products made around ergonomics are total BS, full stop. Your body is not built to sit at a desk all day, and you can't fix that with an overpriced keyboard. Take breaks from time to time and go walk around a bit.
Get yourself setup so there's no pressure on your arms and legs and call it good. Don't waste your money on ergo BS.
I agree with the quoted parts, but disagree with the rest. In the time you do spend typing, an ergonomic keyboard (one of the few that actually deserves that title) can be beneficial. It sure is for me.
In 2008 I had very severe carpal tunnel syndrome for over a year. Then I found a clinic that had specialized in pain patients. They found out that the muscles my neck where shortened and weak. Neck is connected to shoulder is connected to arm is connect to wrists leading to my symptoms. Got a lot of exercises to lengthen and strengthen my neck. That fixed the wrist pains. Whenever they rise again I start do these exercises and it goes away.
My current construction site are the muscles that connect the legs to your hips/lower abdomen. They shorten too, due to the constant sitting position plus going by bike to work. This leads to back pains/slipped disks. Need to lengthen them as well.
My exercises are hard to describe in words. I spend a week in physiotherapy at that clinic with 3 sessions a 1.5h a day, where they show you the exercises and correct your position.
I'll try to find videos for you.
I also started using an Ergodox at my desk and that's helped a lot. Wrist pronation was really killing me, and now that's just not a problem anymore. I liked that so much that I got a second one for travel.
Also, make sure that your monitors are elevated to the right height so that you're not looking down. It'll help a lot with any neck pain you might be experiencing.
1. Lower your typing surface.
2. Raise your seat.
#1 can be handled with a clamp-on keyboard tray (get one with negative tilt), and for #2, try a drafting stool (don't buy until you sit on it yourself).
I had the same problem. For my office, I have both the tray and the stool, and for my home office, I just have a normal chair + a rolling adjustable desk surface that goes low enough to be used as a typing surface.
I also use a split keyboard (Kinesis makes great ones) and I'm in the market for a vertical mouse right now.
Don't listen to the people who say ergonomics is all bullshit and you just need to stand up (or exercise or whatever). Your equipment makes a difference.