[consulting] OT: Keyboards and RSI

[leighm at linuxbandwagon.com]

My two cents -

Recently started expiriencing severe upper back pain, the kind of stuff 
that keeps you up
all night and gives you headaches, i dont some reading on some basic 
desk layout and with
in a couple of days most of the pain went away

- correct monitor position (im fairly tall guy, so had to lift the 
monitor up to stop from
hunching downwards)

- layout the keyboard in a fairly flat, neutral position

- posture!


Quoting eric Farris <eafarris at gmail.com>:

> On 8/10/06, Mark Fredrickson <mark.m.fredrickson at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I've decided to give the pain in my left arm the boot, and I'm in the
>> market for a new keyboard anyway, so I thought I would see anyone had
>> recommendations for an ergonomic keyboard.
>
> Disclaimer: I'm not a health professional.
> Claimer: I've been at this a while, and have had similar trouble.
>
> Here are the things I've found have helped me be able to work all day
> without (much) pain:
>
> * Good posture. You're mother knew what she was telling you. Do it
> now. Sit up straight. I've found a foot rest is better for me than my
> feet flat on the floor, too.
>
> * Ergnomic equipment. I tell people that I use exactly two Microsoft
> products: their keyboard (an MS Natural Keyboard Pro) and their
> trackball (an MS Trackball Explorer). Both of these you'll have to pry
> these from my cold, dead hands. I positively *love* them both.
>
> * I much prefer a trackball to a mouse. I'm convinced (though, see the
> disclaimer above) that people have trouble because of the repetitive
> strain on their elbow/shoulder from mousing. A trackball keeps those
> joints in place.
>
> * (and here's my big one) Learn And Use your Keyboard Shortcuts!
> Again, see the disclaimer, but the switch from keyboard to pointing
> device back to keyboard has *got* to be expensive in terms of
> repetitive stress on the arm. I used to wonder why old-time Unix
> suspender vi-emacs guys didn't seem to have the same levels of RSI as
> the secretaries that play with MS Publisher. I am totally convinced
> it's because the old-timers kept their shoulders and elbows in the
> same place, as their fingers never had to leave the keyboard.
>
> Also, learning your keyboard shortcuts will make you much more
> efficient and productive. Learn to navigate vi with hjkl (use nethack
> for practice :) ). Make use of cmd (or ctrl) xcv for cut-copy-paste.
> On a Mac? go get Quicksilver, and stop mousing around to your Dock or
> Applications folders. There's a reason that stuff exists, and I
> believe it not only makes your computing faster, but safer, too.
>
> -- 
> e
> www.eafarris.com
> _______________________________________________
> consulting mailing list
> consulting at drupal.org
> http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting
>
>





--
Roses are #FF0000,
Violets are #0000FF
all of my base,
are belong to you

----------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.