Wrist Rest?

[babyhands]

Hey Guys!
So I am a programmer and am typing a lot during the day, as long as having my wrist rest on my keyboard. I had some pain from my mouse hand, so I got one of those mouse pads with the wrist pad at the back, and I actually slide it under my gaming mouse pad and use it for work. So its like using my old mousepad with a nice support for my wrist. Anywho, are they actually worth it for the keyboards? I just don't wanna be getting carpel tunnel, and sometimes my wrists do hurt, so I am wondering if they will help! Those of you who actually use them, how are they?

[daerid]

Before a wrist rest or anything like that, take a look at your technique. It is absolutely vital that your wrists aren't bent when typing. Also, make sure your shoulders are relaxed and elbows are bent at a right angle. Use a keyboard tray if the desk is too high. Ideally you wouldn't let your wrists actually rest on anything, but that can pose problems too if you're using excess muscles to keep them elevated (I did that for a while and my arms started cramping up). But by far the most important is keeping your wrists straight. It can be a bit difficult if you have short fingers. In that case I would highly recommend an ErgoDox (the next GB should be between 1-3 months per MassDrop).

I've been programming professionally for about 14 years now, and the only time I've had any wrist trouble is when I switched from a Das Keyboard to a Microsoft Natural 4000 for a short while (ironic, I know). Currently I use the cheap foam Grifiti pads from Amazon, they work great (not very durable, but they make up for it by being cheap).

[Danule]

I find using a wrist rest to lightly rest my hands on between typing can help.  It also helps keep your arms and hands evelated so you dont bend at the wrist.  Currently I am using the filco TKL leather wrist rest and it is very nice.

[babyhands]

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I took a quick picture so you guys could see what it looks like. Does this look like a problem?

[Danule]

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I took a quick picture so you guys could see what it looks like. Does this look like a problem?

your wrists are bent you should have them hovering flat over the keyboard )your forearm and hand should be flat).

[babyhands]

It seems that a wrist wrest would help solve that then, because right where the wrist is bending is where the wrist rest will be. It seems like it would elevate my wrist and make it flatter (not sure if this makes sense or not). It is a shame that having the keyboard on your lap forces to sit far away from the screen, I have the keyboard on my lap just to try it and it seems like my shoulders are much more relaxed and my wrists are flatter. I have to elevate my wrists so they don't sit on my legs, but it is still pretty darn comfortable.

[Danule]

You could try elevating your wrists without a wristwrest but it could make your shoulders sore after long periods of time.