Hacker News Reader

Comment by spooneybarger | Hacker News Reader

I use a layout like this and I'm slower than on a traditional qwerty layout. OTOH, I also have far fewer RSI problems.

Speed is rarely a consideration in the community.

Changing keyboard ergonomics is absolutely not the way to deal with RSI. You should instead go to the gym and do proper physio exercises

If you have small hands and you are stretching for delet/backspace and a small kb allows you to hit this key without strain, it absolutely helps with strain on fingers.

I tried many things over the years including other ergonomics and gym etc.

Changing to a smaller split keyboard helped the most and I have not had pain since.

Granted mine has about 50 keys or so so it's not as extreme.

If you hand is in a position that is putting any of your anatomy at a weird angle no amount of exercise is going to sort that out.

It’s the opposite, actually

Going to a split, key well board, solved my wrist issues. I had severe issues on a traditional row stagger keyboard and they have just gone. The only time I feel discomfort is when I type on a row stagger keyboard again for two weeks (e.g. when taking my laptop with me during a trip).

It's not mutually exclusive but getting into the right posture is key. Otherwise you're just fighting against it constantly. That's why most doctors advise for change of habits as the first thing to look for. This is sometimes difficult as we want to keep doing the same things but changing keyboards ergonomics is a thing you can try. In fact my doctor was the one to suggest that for me.

Most keyboards have not spent a single thought on ergonomics, unlike chairs where it is common. There's not a lot of real research in this area and there are contradicting theories (some physicians even say that creating muscle in certain areas like the neck is not worth in the long term). Microsoft ergonomic keyboards have some studies behind and many people report success on split and column staggered keyboards.

I’ve never come across a doctor who doesn’t start by advising physio exercises

> You should instead go to the gym and do proper physio exercises

wish more people would heed this advice. my wrists are jsut as good as when I was in my 20's. in my early thirties I was starting to develop issues. they went away as soon as I started deadlifting and pullups regularly.

People will do anything to not address the fundamental weaknesses that are the true causes of their issues. They have wrist pain so they try and fix their wrist with crazy setups, even though they have huge tightness in their traps and never do any strength training. It barely needs anything either, just light strength, high reps low weight. Your wrists can take any keyboard and setup if you don’t avoid physio

And the best thing about doing this is that you can also change your keyboard to something else and use a different keyboard layout as well. They are not mutually exclusive.

I don't know about the gym, lifting weights is just another way to ruin your body imo.

Yoga, climbing, martial arts, swimming; there's no end of fun activities that lead somewhere while keeping you in physical shape.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com