key travel distance / wrist pain

[TopreFan333]

Been typing for quite a few years just exclusively on the low, short travel Mac "chiclet" keyboards that come with my laptops. No wrist pain to speak of. Now I'm bouncing between a few Topre-based mechanical boards and suddenly I'm feeling more wrist pain than I'm used to. Nothing severe, but still something. Is there any correlation between key travel and RSIs? Or maybe it's keyboard height that's throwing me off -- my Macbook Air keyboard sits very low on a desk, and so do the desktop varieties of the same keyboard. My form is probably fairly crappy as far as keeping my wrists up and all that, but I guess that's less of an issue with a really low-profile keyboard.

[tp4tissue]

It depends on your typing style..

Cherry mx red is more suited to Low-Force styles.

But in THIS case, I think the problem has to do with your wrist distance.. You most likely just need a wrist rest..

DON"T BUY ONE just yet.

Get a towel and roll it up and trial-before-you-buy.

It's especially important that you get the right "Height".

Towel is adjustable.

[steve.v]

Go see a doctor if you have rsi or tendon issues.

[TopreFan333]

Not at that point yet -- but starting to notice some discomfort. I'm actually beginning to think it correlates to my use at home where I have a palmrest and find myself resting my wrists lower because of that. I'll keep experimenting to see what feels better and definitely seek help if I get to a point where it's bad. Thanks everyone

[tbc]

if ypu hace anything remotely described as wrist, hand, or forearm pain.  you should see a physio ASAP; physiotherapist, NOT a doctor (unless you need the paperwork from them first).

why?  chances are, you're not going to be able to fix it on the first try.  you'd feel really stupid if...damn, i got it right now, but it took a month after the damage became permanent 2 months after it really painful.

[jacobolus]

Are you resting your palms/wrists on the table or a wrist-rest? If so, stop it. :-)

In general, it’s helpful to pull the keyboard in close to your body, make sure you have a high enough chair relative to your desk, and then tilt the keyboard such that the plate is parallel to your forearms.

[Axollott]

Im guessing your topres ate way higher than the chiclet and making you flex your wrists. What Jacobolus said is a nice tip. Look at your hand\wrists positions when you are typing. Don't rest your hands anywhere while you're typing, your hands should float above the keys, always keeping your wrists  parallel to your forearms. That's very important. I managed to mess me up once when I changed desk and got rid of my keyboards, left only with my laptop I was resting my lower palms in the border of the laptop while typing. Bad idea. Hope you get better.

[hoggy]

How long have you been typing on the new keyboard?  It's _possible_ it's just the 'change' that's causing this.

[TopreFan333]

I've had the HHKB for maybe 4 months, but haven't been using it a ton. I got a Type Heaven for work more recently and use it pretty much all day every work day. I'm gonna try consciously keeping my wrists up and see how that goes.

[C5Allroad]

Are your wrists resting on the desk, or do you have the "proper" typing posture?
I got a palm rest and solved fatigue when typing.

[TopreFan333]

Are your wrists resting on the desk, or do you have the "proper" typing posture?
I got a palm rest and solved fatigue when typing.

Actually working that out now. I think my desk at home might be too high. I'm also working on keeping my wrists heigher. I never used a wrist rest before recently and I find it tends to encourage me to keep my wrists down (not good).

The other big variable here is key travel. Those Mac keyboards have so very little travel, and now that I'm using mechanical switches, my fingers seem to be doing more work and I do wonder if that's a factor...

[IAmTheGuy]

If you feel wrist pain with a certain posture or keyboard you should change it immediately. 

Don't try to force it.  These kinds of injuries takes a very, very long time to heal (if at all). 

[smknjoe]

I always thought people were sort of being pussies when they would mention RSI from typing until I experienced it myself. Even after it started I wasn't sure if it really was RSI from my new typing set up. As time went on the pain became very uncomfortable even when not typing. So, I reluctantly reverted back to my old set up and t he pain stopped after a few days; maybe a week. I would suggest reverting back to your old set up and adding variables one at a time to try to figure out which new variable, or combination of variables, is causing your pain.

[steve.v]

Karma

[Axollott]

I´m almost sure it ain´t really the keyboard but the overall new and different height than before. The HHKB must be way taller than the apple one, you must be bending your wrists/hands/fingers in inappropriate ways. if you change gear you should adjust the surface's height too.

[TopreFan333]

I´m almost sure it ain´t really the keyboard but the overall new and different height than before. The HHKB must be way taller than the apple one, you must be bending your wrists/hands/fingers in inappropriate ways. if you change gear you should adjust the surface's height too.

That's my hunch too. I'm actually looking into getting a slightly lower desk, or one that's adjustable to compensate for that extra couple inches of height.

[Axollott]

I´m almost sure it ain´t really the keyboard but the overall new and different height than before. The HHKB must be way taller than the apple one, you must be bending your wrists/hands/fingers in inappropriate ways. if you change gear you should adjust the surface's height too.

That's my hunch too. I'm actually looking into getting a slightly lower desk, or one that's adjustable to compensate for that extra couple inches of height.

There are adjustable keyboard trays that you could add to your desk, if that is less of a hassle.