Have experienced soreness or numbness in your hands and wrists after a long week in front of a computer? Your typing may be irritating the susceptible carpal tunnel area in your wrist. Try these tips to improve your keyboarding and prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) or other serious injury.

• Optimize your keyboard and mouse position. If you keyboard is too high or too low, it is difficult to keep your wrists and hands in a stress-free position. Your keyboard should an inch or two above your lap, allowing your forearms to remain parallel to your legs. Adding a slight negative tilt away from your body will help your wrists and arms relax. An adjustable keyboard tray makes it fast and easy to adjust the position and angle of your keyboard.
• Correct your wrist posture. The goal is to keep your hands and wrists relaxed at all times. Your hands should lightly hover over the keys while you are typing, with your fingers loosely curved.  Keep your hands and wrists straight while typing, forming straight line from your elbow, through your wrists and down your middle finger.  Always hold your wrists level with your hands and arms; never bend them upward or to the side.
• Never reach to press a key. Stretching or straining while typing is the easiest way to cause pain and injury. If you need to use a hard-to-reach key, move your entire hand and arm at the elbow. And for a two-key combo, such as the Shift key (or Ctrl or Alt) with a letter, always use both of your hands in combination.
• Upgrade your keyboard. Ergonomic keyboards are designed to encourage good hand and wrist posture. Try out the many different ergonomic styles and sizes to find one that fits well and benefits you the most. The split keyboard is gently curved to follow the natural shape of your hands and wrists, keeping your hands more relaxed while typing. The ergonomic mini keyboard has a compact design that places the keys are closer together, keeping you from stretching or straining while typing.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and other typing injuries are serious and can impact your daily life. Start now by changing your habits to prevent further discomfort. Try using a keyboard tray to optimize your keyboard and mouse position.  And upgrade your system to an ergonomic keyboard for better hand and wrist support. These small changes can help improve any discomfort and protect you from injury.

Filed under: Category Business, Health | Tags: carpal tunnel,Carpal Tunnel Syndrome,ergonomic keyboard,keyboard tray,mini keyboard,wrist pain by christy