Persistent wrist pain is a real drag.  The wrist is one of those body parts that doesn’t seem all that important (or even injury-prone) but once you’ve hurt it, you realize just how useful your wrist is.  A common injury for wrists (one or both) is repetitive stress injury.  RSI can happen to musicians, athletes, and even computer users.  In fact, computer users frequently complain of wrist pain, usually in the sensitive Carpal Tunnel area, and sometimes leading to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.  If you are a consistent computer user, or you text quite  a bit, you might also be experiencing wrist pain.  Take some time to check out these tips both for quick relief from pain and better use of your equipment as the main culprits are your mouse and your keyboard.

Using Your Keyboard

• Maintain neutral hand and wrist posture. Typing can’t be done without your wrists- it’s important to make sure they are not misused.  Your hands should hover over the keys while you are typing; they should be relaxed, with your fingers loosely curved, as if you were holding a golf ball. Your arms, wrists and hands should form a straight line, and your wrists should always be level with your arms and hands, never flexed or bent.
• Optimize your keyboard placement. You might be surprised to know that your keyboard placement is important when considering wrist pain and posture.  You should move your keyboard so that it sits just below the height of your elbows.  This should be about an inch or two above your lap, which will allow your forearms to remain parallel to your thighs while typing. Center the space bar in front of you and slant the  keys away from your body at a slight, negative slope. great resource is an ergonomic keyboard tray which makes these adjustments so fast and easy and so that the keyboard can be uniquely placed for each user.
• Upgrade your keyboard. Standard-issued ergonomic keyboards are specifically designed to encourage good hand and wrist posture. There are a variety of  styles and sizes of keyboards to fit different typing styles and hand sizes. A popular design is the split keyboard; it is curved to match shape of your hands and encourages a relaxed, natural posture for your wrists. The mini keyboard is designed to be very compact, bringing the keys are closer together to eliminate any straining or reaching for keys. Sample several styles and sizes to find the best fit for your needs.
• Use your wrist rest properly. Most people don’t know how to properly use their wrist rest. Never put weight directly on your wrist; this can agitate the sensitive, carpal tunnel area. You can support your arms and hands on the ball of your hand during any breaks from typing, but don’t use the wrist rests while you are pressing keys.

Take immediate action to relieve your hand and wrist pain, and make important changes to keep the pain from returning or worsening. Install an easy-to-use ergonomic keyboard tray to provide easy positioning for your keyboard and mouse. And try switching a good ergonomic keyboard fits your hand shape and helps you maintain good posture in your hands and wrists. Pain is your body’s way of telling you there is something that needs to change; find the right ergonomic products to quickly reduce the discomfort and fix the cause for the future.