Anyone getting wrist strain from Corsair K95 keyboard ?

[Wolfseye]

Hi guys,

i recently switched from a previous QPAD-MK80 with Cherry MX-Blue switches, because of a few "broken" things, to a Corsair K95 RGB with MX Red switches. For some reasons that I dont understand, companies rather only offer Red or Brown MX switches, instead of offer more choice for their customers. I mean shouldnt be a problem, right ?

Anyways, as much as I like the Corsair, although I really miss my clicky Blue sound, I have increased wrist strain in the 14 days I have that keyboard now. Didnt happen from the start, took a while, but its really annoying and painful. I already bought an external Wrist Rest from TTeSports but that didnt make it better either. Whats really different on the Corsair, compared to my previous one, that the keys are much higher. Could that be the reason of that increased wrist pain ? Sure, on occasion I had that on the Qpad too, but just very rarely, just when I overdid it for a while. But not like this. I wonder what to do now ? I justs passed the 14 days limit, within according to our laws here, I could return it without a reason and get my money back. Now it would be just a question on how tight the Store looks at it. I might be able to return it, but I would still like to find out first what the issue really is.

Because as much as it pains me, I really like the keyboard. Does anyone have experience with Corsair keyboards, maybe even the same pain than I have right now ? I would appreciate some help greatly.

Cheers

Wolfseye

[animal]

I have a K70. Its the first time I get wrist pain without a wrist rest. A wrist rest is a must with these boards. I also think its due to the higher position of the keys.

[Wolfseye]

The K70 should be looking no different from with the wrist rest than the K95 if I remember correct. The higher keys indeed are maybe the cause. Not that I dont find the wrist rest bad or anything, actually I like it. Most Keyboards have too much plastic with these and they break off easily, hence my previous Qpad MK-80. I could have gotten that again, since I was used to it, but I didnt want that thing to break off again so soon (knowing my luck). So I ordered a couple keyboards to test which I can type best with and gave the ones back that I didnt felt comfortable. And in the few days I tested all those, the Corsair K95 seemed the most comfortable, although I am a sucker for the blue clicky sound ^^ which I miss a lot.

But now, after a bit over 2 weeks, I notice that the wrist pain is getting worse, and I wonder if anything I do now with this keyboard, helps to make that better and if my hands ultimately get used to it, or if using this keyboard is maybe a bad idea, given how much strain it gives me. And one thing I dont understand, why is it always only the right hand with the pain ? I never had the left hand with pain, though I type equally with that one. Is it beecause of the additional movement with the mouse on the right ?

I dont know if the Store would take the keyboard back now, considering its roughly past the 14 days we have here to return a online sale without a reason. If not, I wasted a lot of money  for a keyboard I liked and which now in return pains me a lot. I am not only using it for regular typing, I also do a little bit Gaming, although since I am no kiddie anymore, I am not sitting every day here, playing for hours. Occasionally.

[Oobly]

Do you raise your wrists when typing or rest them on the desk? Resting them on the desk causes wrist extension which can result in all sorts of problems. It's best to keep your wrists as straight as possible in all axes while typing or gaming (or using the mouse). In order to do this for extended gaming session I tend to use a high (double height), hard rest, made of wood or similar material and rest the "nub" / "heel" of the hand on it (the hard little bony part at the base of the palm). Never rest the flat of your wrist on a "soft" rest as this will restrict blood vessels and compress tendons and nerves.

[SamirD]

I think the source of this pain may be a lot more subtle than you think.

Think of how your fingers work on blues vs linears.  Your fingers used to feel the 'click' of the blue and stop pressing down and start to come back up before the key bottoms.  But now on linears, they don't know when the key is actuated and probably continue pressing down until that force is abruptly stopped by bottoming--ouch!

I think you can be happy with this keyboard, but you're going to have to retrain your hands (maybe even get some o-rings to make the bottoming easier too).

I think I'd run into the same problem if I started using a linear board.  I'm too used to the 'click' of the M that tells me finger that it's time to go back up.

[Wolfseye]

I tried a number of other keyboards by now, and as for the choice I think I am really good with the Corsair K95. The only thing right now is to decide with which Switches. I find it very disappointing that Corsair pretty much dropped the MX-Blue keys on the Keyboards, and pretty much only left Reds and Browns. I see that more and more. I dont get it. I cant be the only one liking MX-Blues, why do they limit to pretty much Red and Brown these days. Some other companies as well, not all though. But that doesnt help if you dont want those, but the ones with the "other" switches.

I also ordered the Brown version of that Corsair keyboard, which I am test typing on right now. After using the reds for a while now, its (again) quite a difference again. However, I wonder which is the best course for me to go. Or keep both. Brown for typing, and red for gaming since they are the most reponsive there. Is it recommendable at all to use 2 different types of Switches or would it cause too much pain or no real getting used to one, since you use both. Not talking about the actual price point here which I would have to pay for basically twice the same keyboard.

But what would you think, is it a good idea to use both, the brows and the reds, for different purposes or just keeping either the reds or browns and get used to one of those instead.
Would appreciate some more suggestion and maybe even personal experience if someone here has with both those switches.

Cheers

Wolfseye

[SamirD]

I tried a number of other keyboards by now, and as for the choice I think I am really good with the Corsair K95. The only thing right now is to decide with which Switches. I find it very disappointing that Corsair pretty much dropped the MX-Blue keys on the Keyboards, and pretty much only left Reds and Browns. I see that more and more. I dont get it. I cant be the only one liking MX-Blues, why do they limit to pretty much Red and Brown these days. Some other companies as well, not all though. But that doesnt help if you dont want those, but the ones with the "other" switches.

I also ordered the Brown version of that Corsair keyboard, which I am test typing on right now. After using the reds for a while now, its (again) quite a difference again. However, I wonder which is the best course for me to go. Or keep both. Brown for typing, and red for gaming since they are the most reponsive there. Is it recommendable at all to use 2 different types of Switches or would it cause too much pain or no real getting used to one, since you use both. Not talking about the actual price point here which I would have to pay for basically twice the same keyboard.

But what would you think, is it a good idea to use both, the brows and the reds, for different purposes or just keeping either the reds or browns and get used to one of those instead.
Would appreciate some more suggestion and maybe even personal experience if someone here has with both those switches.

Cheers

Wolfseye

If a keyboard is hurting your hands, and you can't find a way to alleviate it (changing hand positioning, chair, desk, etc.), then continuing to type on it is a deathwish for your hands.  I would discontinue at once typing on anything that hurts or strains, I don't care how expensive the switches are or how pretty it looks.  Not worth it.

Having multiple keyboards is absolutely fine.  There's no such thing as a single keyboard that is best for every use, and that's why many of us have different ones.  Perfectly normal. 

[Wolfseye]

Right now it has become a bit painful, but always only on the right hand / wrist. Never on the left. Right now it might be increased because i tested quite a few keyboards in the last three weeks. I use a Razer Deathadder Chroma Mouse the last few years, never had much problems. Just don't see why it's always only the right wrist, never the left.

[SamirD]

Just don't see why it's always only the right wrist, never the left.

Has to be positioning that's somehow stressing the right wrist.  Plus, both hands aren't equally strong or in use--gotta keep that in mind too. 

[Oobly]

The K95 is a full size board. How do you position the board and your mouse? Could be that the typing area is too far over to the left of centre, so you're forced into stronger ulnar deviation for the right hand. Compact boards like TKL and 60% can really help with that by moving the typing centre closer to the centre of the screen / desk.

Also, try "floating" your hands when typing, with your wrists raised and straight. If you have a full size board and type with your wrists on the rest you're probably experiencing both ulnar deviation AND wrist extension with the right hand.

The K95 is targeted for gaming, so that's why they only put "gaming" switches in it.

[Wolfseye]

Well, the Switches with thus board are Brown and Red. They are mostly for gaming, thats true. But i know plenty people that used either switches for their daily routine, which wasn't necessarily gaming. Before i used blue switches on a Qpad MK-80. As for the full size keyboards, i always had that. I also use number keys for certain parts, so I keep a full size keyboard. TKL keyboards are too small for my taste. Have read a lot about the right positioning og keyboard and mouse, and from what I have seen, one is supposed to have the hands on the desk from shortly below the wrists, but not the whole arm til the elbow. I imagine it very hard to floating the wrist the whole time for a longer period of time, like for a gaming session where most keys center around WASD. I always used wrist rests as far as I remember, is that so wrong? But what is the best position of a fullsize keyboards and Mouse on a desk without too much strain?

When I switched from the blue's to the reds, I felt it more comfortable for gaming but less for typing, which is why I also ordered the brown switch version of that keyboard to test. And that tactile feedbacks of the browns feels definition between for typing, like the blues just with less clicky sound.

[Oobly]

There is no best position for a full size keyboard with mouse except to move the keyboard across when you switch from mouse to keyboard. They're just not ergonomic when used together. It's better to use a separate numpad and a smaller board. That lets you position the main typing area closer to the mouse and the centre of the screen.

For typing, it's good practice to keep your wrists raised, but you can use a rest as long as the wrists are straight in all axes and as long as you rest the "correct" part of your hand on it (see below). One thing a rest causes, though is that your hand position often remains static and so you use only finger movements (often including bending the wrist) to type which can be fatiguing, and if your wrists are ALSO bent, can cause carpal tunnel and other repetetive stress related injuries due to the tendons not having a straight path. If you rest the flat of your wrist on a rest it can also restrict bloodflow and put pressure on tendons and nerves and restrict the movement of the fingers. The main muscles that control your fingers are actually in the arm and the movements go through tendons in the wrist.

For gaming it's good to make a taller rest for your wrist (so your wrist is straight) and rest the nub of your palm on it. This is the hard bony part on the outside edge of your hand / palm. That way you keep your wrists straight and don't get fatigued trying to keep your hand / wrist up. Gaming usually allows a "static" hand position, so this works well.

Having your wrists raised when typing also involves more muscles in the arms and shoulders, so the movement is spread across more muscles, reducing stress on the forearm / finger muscles.

Technically you can game with Blues, but the hysteresis (low actuation, high reset) makes double-tapping harder / slower, so linears and "soft tactile" (Browns) have the reputation of being better for games. If you can solder, you can replace the switches in your board with whatever you like

[Wolfseye]

So what do you think is my best cause of action ?

I mean, i could go for a Trackball for the more general work at my PC, i hear that can help a lot with the wrist pain. Of course, for Gaming I need my mouse, I cant play with a trackball.
As far as keyboards go, what do you think is best for me ? Getting a TKL keyboard with Brown switches, having a bit of tactile feeling which I feel is better for regular typing, but also is ok for gaming because I didnt quite like the reds because of how hard I hammered down without that bump that told me fingers to stop pressing.

And as for a Numpad, I should go for a external one ?

Thats a lot change for me, I have to say. Really not what I have in mind but i guess i have to do it anyways. As for hovering with my hands above the keyboard, how far in should the keyboard be on my desk ? I mean, if I hover above it with both hands, i might as well dont need to go far into the desk but just keep the keyboard at the edge of the desk. Do you think that hovering with the hands above the mouse is better than using any way or form to rest my wrist as I did before ? Or does it depend on what I feel is more comfortable for me.

So far I always used Wrist rests, which wasnt easy these days because so few mechanical keyboards come with wrist rests anymore anyways. Which made the choice of the keyboard kinda hard for me. Less and less have one. 

As for a trackball, I saw this one and what I read about it sounded good. Does anyone have experience with that one ?
http://www.amazon.com/Kensington-K72327US-SlimBlade-Trackball-Mouse/dp/B001MTE32Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1446726807&sr=8-1&keywords=kensington+slimblade

Also, since I live in germany and dont really want to shop worldwide, but rather here from german stores, I also dont get that much choice than I would have ordering in the US. There is a lot more stuff we dont have here to order from. That model there however I could get here.

As for a TKL mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX-Brown switches, what would you recommend? Also dont find that many here.

Cheers

Wolfseye

[SamirD]

Have read a lot about the right positioning og keyboard and mouse, and from what I have seen, one is supposed to have the hands on the desk from shortly below the wrists, but not the whole arm til the elbow.

Like Oobly said, as long as the wrists are straight in all axes, even the whole hand until the elbow can be perfectly fine.  That's actually what I do, but I've found that the elbows tend to get sore from the hard desk.

[Wolfseye]

I have ordered 2 keyboards from Lioncast for testing. Since I worked with MX Blues for years, I might as well stay with them. One of the keyboards is a TKL, the other a regular. I also ordered a Trackball for testing. At least for non gaming related use on the Computer, maybe a Trackball will help relax my wrist some.

[SamirD]

I have ordered 2 keyboards from Lioncast for testing. Since I worked with MX Blues for years, I might as well stay with them. One of the keyboards is a TKL, the other a regular. I also ordered a Trackball for testing. At least for non gaming related use on the Computer, maybe a Trackball will help relax my wrist some.

If you continue to have pain, examine your positioning very carefully as I firmly believe that's where the problem lies.