Hi, I’ve been meaning to make a travel-friendly ergonomic keyboard setup for a couple years ago after starting /r/ergomobilecomputers, so far just been on a raised tablet setup with a regular keyboard (a setup I’ve enjoyed, but will confess I’ve some slight pain from using a standard keyboard with it)
What kinds of recovery stories have you experienced yourself or heard from others in using a certain ergomechkeyboard?
Were there things outside of having a more ergonomic setup that helped (i.e. just better sleep, diet, hygiene, mood) too?
Basically curious to hear some stories of how these things have helped fellow jank-embracers!
I did try searching around the original sub for ‘pain’ and ‘rsi’ but feel like it may be worth asking again on here.
UPDATE: Thanks again for all the stories so far both here and on the related reddit thread! Made me revise a brainstorm keyboard idea that could facilitate redirecting pinky use on the left control key + right arrow keys to something that uses the thumb + index finger instead.
Yeah, that’d be me. Switched to a Moonlander first to manage an RSI, went cold turkey to Colemak too. As someone else said, I wouldn’t recommend switching layouts. I like it, but I don’t necessarily think it’s worth it.
I think the split + tenting definitely helps. Actually, scratch that: I know, because whenever I switch back to my Apple keyboards the ulnar deviation pain is obvious. But I think the fact that the switch slowed me down SIGNIFICANTLY helped, too.
I’m deep in the rabbit hole now, though, on a Corne, as I found besides ulnar deviation, right pinkie overload was the next cause of pain. And wrist rest use (turns out you’re not supposed to use those for typing, just for resting, but no one tells you until it’s too late).
So yeah, lots of factors, you have to honestly assess yours and address them. It’s not a straight line, you kind of have to try and see what works for you.
I’m deep in the rabbit hole now, though, on a Corne, as I found besides ulnar deviation, right pinkie overload was the next cause of pain.
Also two of Corne’s thumb keys are far too much inward 😬, known to cause thumb issues.
I started to get pain in my forearms when learning to touch type, after almost two decades of two finger, hen peck typing 😳
After using a Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard I noticed a massive improvement, within a short space of time, in that forearm pain was eliminated and negative tilt was just unquestionably comfortable. I complimented this gradually with retraining muscle memory for Colemak-DH (functional layout), and correcting my desk height and chair height for correct posture.
The Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard has been “quietly retired” in favour of split bodied, programmable, ergonomic mechanical keyboards that further increase ergonomics and continue to prevent pain in my forearms.
Suffice to say I’ll never go back to a “slab” keyboard nor positive tilting. It’s perplexing to me and an oversight by the peripheral industry that truly ergonomic design for Human Input Devices (term encompasses keyboards and pointing devices) hasn’t become mainstream or standardised, given the medical benefits and general sensibility 🤷♂️
Yes. Besides keyboards, adjusting my desk and chair and even monitor (VESA arm) has been amazing.
On the topic of HID, that also extends to Braille displays and keyboards which are, for some reason, consistently more ergonomic.
Check out the eight big blue keys on the Focus 14, for an example: a proto-columnar stagger.
I had wrist pain for several years (on and off) before I bought an MS Ergonomic Natural keyboard. That and an evoluent vertical mouse eliminated my issues.
I have since moved to a UHK split keyboard and love it.
I had wrist pains every now and then over the years. They never felt bad enough so find a doctor, so it never had a specific diagnosis.
Then I had a worse brush with wrist pain I decided to try several split keyboards (Microsoft Sculpt on and off, Kinesis Freestyle Edge, Ferris Sweep, Kyria) and they didn’t really improve things and sometimes gave me new pains. Only after switching to a Kinesis Advantage2 I saw large improvements and wrist pains mostly going away.
I also started to be more mindful of taking breaks (sometimes it works out, sometimes I am so focused that time flies by) and do some hand exercises during breaks. I also got an easily adjustable standing desk (just a press of the button), so I can tune it to have exactly the right height and switch between sitting and standing.
I could have stopped with a Microsoft Natural keyboard and been fine pain-wise, but I had already started down the mechanical rabbit hole and missed the feeling of mechanical switches. The basic ideas of split, tenting, and reverse tilt helped a ton, but I could have been fine without column stagger or a reduced layout.
I now use a 40-key low profile column staggered split with Colemak-DH and it’s a joy to type on. Learning Colemak-DH was probably the lowest benefit to effort of all the changes I’ve made, so I don’t exactly recommend it. Now that I’ve already spent the time to learn it, though, it’s definitely comfy to type on. If you want a mobile setup though, I think a split board like a Corne, Sweep, or Totem, or one of the many derivatives would be a great upgrade for your tablet setup. There are a few solutions for tenting but you may find you don’t need it - while it was essential for me at first I’m now fine using a split board flat on the desk.
I also found a vertical mouse made a big difference- I used the $15 one from Anker for a few years. Trackballs can be good too. I also noticed holding my phone put my wrist at an awkward angle, so I got a pop socket and that was helpful too.
