Hi Les, A number of years ago I started getting quite annoying pain in my upper right arm and shoulder - not quite the same area as you. The occupational health department of my employer at the time arranged for an ergonomics health professional to visit me at my desk. Out of that he recommended a track ball (to reduce repetitive arm movement), a document holder (to reduce head movement) and some changes to the height of my chair and keyboard (to correct my posture).
My employer provided me a Logitech Trackman and a cheap plastic document holder - the chair and keyboard platform were already adjustable. After using the trackball for a short while, the pain went and has never returned and I continued to use the trackball for a couple of years. I found the document holder more trouble than it was worth and never really persisted with it. Today I work from home and about a year ago I went back to using a small wireless mouse that I keep as close to the edge of the keyboard as possible and no pain has returned. The lesson for me was more about posture than devices; reduce repetitive neck, arm and wrist movements; to regularly get up out of the chair, walk around and stretch a bit - and oh, a trackball device can't hurt :). Hopefully your employer (unless you're self-employed) will support you like mine did and pay for professional advice and act on the recommendation. It is in their interest to do so as it is an occupational health and safety issue and unaddressed could get more expensive for you both. Good luck, Chris -----Original Message----- From: ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com [mailto:ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com] On Behalf Of Les Hughes Sent: Wednesday, 6 July 2011 9:52 PM To: ozDotNet Subject: Keyboard & Mouse Ergonomics + Qwerty/Dvorak/Colemak Hey All, This is kind of long (eeep), but here goes: Lately I've have been getting a little tense in my mid-right back area and right wrist which I believe is been caused by a lot of the mouse work I've been doing over the past few weeks in which my right arm is constantly extended out around 30-40 centimetres from the home position on the keyboard. I thought here would be a good place to ask for advice in how everyone else, whom, like me, spends upwards of 60 hours per week behind their battlestations. (check: http://www.reddit.com/r/battlestations for info on 'battlestations') The main areas I am currently looking at are Keyboards, Mice, and Keyboard Layouts. Keyboards ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I currently use a Microsoft Ergonomic 4000 Keyboard ( http://www.microsoft.com/australia/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/images/products/nek4k/mk_productdetails_nek4k.jpg ) and am starting to think that the space between the right control key (below the right shift and enter keys) where the arrow buttons and numeric pad are just get in the way. So far I am thinking about moving to a smaller keyboard to limit the space I need to move for the mouse, ideas so far are the - Truly Ergonomic keyboard @ http://www.trulyergonomic.com/images/Truly_Ergonomic_Keyboard.jpg & http://www.trulyergonomic.com ) - Kinesis Freestlye VIP @ http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/images/freestyle-vip_648x339.jpg - http://www.kinesis-ergo.com Mouses - mice, mices :P ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am leaning towards a trackball, but have also considered something more vertical: - Kensington Expert Trackball @ http://www.smartmadesimple.com.au/Products/images/Zoom/z64325%20Expert%20Mouse.jpg (favourite so far) - Logitec M570 @ http://www.logitech.com/assets/32954/4/logitech-wireless-trackball-m570.png - EZ Vertical Mouse @ http://www.auzspec.com.au/media/274270427lMSEZ1L.jpg Keyboard Layouts ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Perhaps a religious battle, but: I was thinking if I am going to go along the whole self improvement route with better devices, why not visit my keyboard layouts? Most of us use QWERTY: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QWERTY Much of my reading seems to point towards qwerty being a terrible layout, and something that should have died with the typewriter (it's keylayout is meant to slow you down, and has more to do with stopping those thingies on the typewriter from getting stuck together... those who have used typewriters will know what I mean) Besides QWERTY, there are a few others that seem to be gaining traction, they are: DVORAK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout#Dvorak Colemak: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout#Colemak Colemak so far looks the most appealing to me if I were to change, http://colemak.com/ has a good explanation of the keyboard, but seems to be down right now :/ The questions: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Has anyone gone down the ergonomic path, and what did end up doing? - Are there any recommended keyboard/mouse combinations that you think are worthwhile? - Does anyone think a smaller kayboard is better development with a numeric pad on the left or a USB external one? - Trackballs: yay or nay? - Has anyone changed their keyboard layout, and if so, would you recommend it? ------------------------------------------------- Hopefully this isn't too early for the week (not friday), but I'd be really interested in any feedback anyone has. Thanks heaps :) -- Les Hughes l...@datarev.com.au
