weaning myself off using a wrist-rest -- any advice?

[TopreFan333]

I've read a lot on here (and elsewhere) that it's bad to have your wrists down and bent, resting on a wrist-rest. And sure enough, when I use one for too long, I find my wrists and hands hurt a bit. And yet, when I try to keep my wrists up in the air hovering up above the keyboard, I find that my shoulders get very tired. Do other people experience this as well? Is it just something to "push through" and get used to?

As far as my setup, I'm sitting fairly high up, and if I sit up straight, my elbows are right around the height of the surface my keyboard sits on, which seems about right. I just did some quick measurements, and my desk and chair are roughly in line with the recommendations here: http://www.thehumansolution.com/ergonomic-office-desk-chair-keyboard-height-calculator.html

Also, is it considered ergonomically correct to rest one's elbows on the armrests of an office chair to help keep the hands above the keyboard with the wrists straightened?

[davkol]

when I try to keep my wrists up in the air hovering up above the keyboard, I find that my shoulders get very tired. Do other people experience this as well?

Do you keep your elbows in front of your body? If so, that might be a source of fatigue. I let them hang freely.

Also, is it considered ergonomically correct to rest one's elbows on the armrests of an office chair to help keep the hands above the keyboard with the wrists straightened?

The armrest shouldn't be hard.

[romevi]

What helped me a lot is using a typewriter for a while, since they're pretty high and don't usually have any compatible wrist rests. Not sure if that's something you can consider, but throwing it out there anyway! 

[LuX]

It sounds to me like your keyboard is too far away. Try to place it so that your elbows hang directly below your shoulders and keep your shoulder relaxed. I also think it's much more ergonomic to keep the keyboard below your elbow level as that reduces the strain put on your forearm muscles.

I don't think an armrest is good, nor needed anyway. If the height isn't set up perfectly it can stiffen your shoulders upwards, and armrests will also reduce your arms mobility encouraging to use wrist movements. Ideally you should't move your wrists much at all.

More to romevis point; put some material below the keyboard so that the height of the keyboard to the table is high enough that you cannot comfortably type on the keyboard without hovering. There's nothing wrong resting your arms while your not typing, so find a good comfortable spot to rest your hand on somewhere else or just let it hang straight down if your chair allows that.

[kurplop]

Also, is it considered ergonomically correct to rest one's elbows on the armrests of an office chair to help keep the hands above the keyboard with the wrists straightened?

I haven't seen any studies on the long term use of armrests, nor would I likely trust them, but I've been using modified armrests for about 4 years with great success.

There are at least 3 things necessary for comfortable armrest use:
1. Soft armrests. I tossed the stock, removable armrests and replaced them with oversized, super-padded ones.
2. Adjustable armrests. The armrests height, relative to your seat, must be right or they will ineffective.
3. The keyboard height. I use a keyboard tray to position the keyboard in the most natural position. The tray isn't necessary but the keyboard's position relative to your chair is.

Armrests are like most ergo practices; very subjective. When I moved my office location a few months ago, I used a chair without armrests for the about a  month. My speed and accuracy went down dramatically and typing was much less comfortable. I realized then just how much I rely on them.
 

[TopreFan333]

Thanks everybody!

The armwrests I have are the ones on my Aeron chair, and they're pretty soft. In absence of the wrist-rest, I'm going to experiment with adjusting them or maybe just keeping my arms up on their own (like a typewriter, lol). Davkol, your suggestion of bringing the keyboard closer in already feels a bit better.

[jacobolus]

Sit up straight, pull the keyboard to near the edge of the table / tray, and scoot your chair forward, until the keyboard is about 5–8 inches in front of your stomach.

With your upper arms hanging loosely at your sides, there shouldn’t be too much strain on your back/shoulders/upper arms, even without resting your elbows/forearms/palms on anything.

Ultimately though, listen to your body, and do what’s comfortable for you.

[pepmaster]

This thread is actually interesting. I've been strongly considering getting an armrest because what I've read so far, is that a wrist rest is always encouraged because it's the best posture for your hands. Reading this thread has actually got me wondering if maybe it's not all that needed as long as you keep your posture and hands on check? Am I understanding that correctly? Any feedback is appreciated! Thanks!

[nemui]

This thread is actually interesting. I've been strongly considering getting an armrest because what I've read so far, is that a wrist rest is always encouraged because it's the best posture for your hands. Reading this thread has actually got me wondering if maybe it's not all that needed as long as you keep your posture and hands on check? Am I understanding that correctly? Any feedback is appreciated! Thanks!

As it is with most ergonomics, YMMV, but the wrist rest is generally supposed to be just that - a rest for when you're not doing heavy-duty typing. I've found that in my case, typing while resting my wrists on a rest (or anything really) increases the strain on my wrists and after just a very short while they start hurting. This is true even when my rests are adjusted so that they support my wrists in the neutral position. Floating the wrists completely alleviates this problem. Again, YMMV, and I'm no doctor, but maybe there's merit in trying the floating wrists method for a while first before committing to that wrist rest.

[Zustiur]

To break the wrist resting habit I removed the rest and placed the keyboard right on tge edge of the desk. There is nothing to rest on while typing so I am forced to hover.

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[xtrafrood]

Ideally, you want to keep your elbows in a natural position and not out in front of you or behind you.

[Parzival]

Raise your chair/lower your desk so that your arms are naturaly floating instead of resting on something

[ndakota79]

So what about gaming?
I like resting my left palm on a wrist rest, since my left hand is constantly lying on wasd.

[ThoughtArtist]

Remember... No pressure on wrist. Base of palm ONLY (Where all that padding is!).

"Wrist rest" is such a bad name, a bad idea. That's one of the areas of your body you never want to use to rest on.

[xtrafrood]

Play a game that requires your hand to hover on the F row as well as wasd + 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

You'll probably be fine unless you're gaming professionally or you want to game professionally. Or you won't be fine and your hand will fall off (idk - I'm not a doctor!)

[Questengine]

My preferred posture is no arm rest, with the keyboard with wrist rest on my lap.  My elbows fall at my side and any arm rest would get in their way.  Might not be for everyone, but maybe give it a try.