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To: ak267

I don’t know if you have carpal tunnel symptoms, but FWIW, here’s my experience with typing on a computer keyboard to completely avoid carpal tunnel:

When typing, keep the angle formed between the back of your hands and your forearms either 180 degrees (straight) or not much less, but preferably more than 180 degrees. To clarify, place both hands on the keyboard on the home row, with the tips of the fingers touching the keys on the home row, the normal starting position for typing. Move both wrists up while leaving the fingertips on the keys. That’s the comfortable angle you want between your hand and forearm.

If you lower the wrists and lift your fingertips off they keys, that’s the painful hand-forearm angle. Twenty years ago, doing heaving typing, I started getting carpal tunnel symptoms and figured this out by accident through just doing what was less painful to be able to work. People tip their keyboards up facing them, and they position the keyboard lower than their elbows. Both of these keyboard positions force the hands to bend back. You want your hands to bend forward, so keep the keyboard no lower than your elbows; higher than your elbows works nicely. You can also tip the keyboard away, i.e., top rows of keys lower than the spacebar.

I have never experienced any problems since adopting these positions, even to the point of typing all day. If one is tired, not hunching forward with the head and neck is important to avoid a stiff neck.


37 posted on 06/06/2011 11:14:41 PM PDT by PieterCasparzen (Huguenot)
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To: PieterCasparzen

You want your hands to bend forward, so keep the keyboard no lower than your elbows; higher than your elbows works nicely. You can also tip the keyboard away, i.e., top rows of keys lower than the spacebar.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Did that by accident today (tilted keyboard away) and I did notice a major improvement....thanks.

I temporarily stopped lifting weights as well.


53 posted on 06/07/2011 6:42:24 PM PDT by ak267
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