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carpal tunnel prevention: what do you guys use?

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I got it in both hands at the ripe age of twelve, no explanation other than previously mentioned bad genes. At onset, I'd wake up in the middle of the night yelling in pain before I was even awake.
Surgery fixed it for about two decades but recently it's started acting up again. I set my mouse sensitivity super high so I don't have to move it much, and I go back and forth between three different scroll wheels to mix it up.
 
Be active. Pick up stuff - put it down. Stretch.

THIS. I pick up heavy things and put them down. Since I started this, all the ailments from working 12 hour shifts sitting at a desk have disappeared. Well, except for the boredom of work.
 
stretching really only works preventative. Once it hurts from over-use, taking a break is the only thing you can do. No computer at home. Thats why I didn't go into computers.
I can't say I've ever felt pain from typing. My hands just get really stiff and I need to stretch.

I don't see the point of those gel wrist pads or whatever. My friend had one for his keyboard and it drove me crazy. Any time I used that computer, I would take the stupid wrist thing off and put the keyboard on the very edge of the desk so my hands are not resting on anything. Anything rubbing my wrists bugs the hell out of me.
 
What I've been doing: instead of getting into crazy wrist rests, pads, or insane "ergonomic" products that feature an asinine design, I've been focusing on positioning of what I use.

At my desk (at home), I made a KB/M tray that slides out.
Based on where my computer chair is at, my eyes stare out to about the middle of the top third of my monitors. My arms/wrists mostly fall naturally to my KB&M. The arm rests are dropped/raised to the point that basically sitting relaxed will naturally have my elbows find the supports, but only when I want that.
If I drop my elbows/forearms to rest, the angle betweeen forearm/upperarm is a, I dunno, 100º ? It's a little more open than 90º.
When I'm gaming, I adjust my chair so I have a good sitting position and gives my elbows a chance to stay on the rests and keep fairly close to that when actively engaging the KB&M. If I get this all setup right (hard to really describe exactly what I strive for without writing up a lengthy article), I don't feel any soreness/fatigue in any part of my arms.
If you regularly feel fatigue, that's a sign you're stressing things you shouldn't.

For reference, I use a Logitech G700. I'm right-handed, btw. The way I hold it, my palm/wrist is in a naturally "open" grip, and only a little bit of the outside of my wrist makes contact with the surface. If you hold your right hand out, palm facing down, the "right side" of the bottom-facing portion of your wrist is the only part that should ever make contact with surface. If you have the entire portion of the wrist making contact, in time, you will most likely develop some shade of CTS, as that is how you create the pressure on the nerves that leads this the problem. Essentially, the wrists should be "slightly tilted" in that the outer portions are at the lowest and the inner part is elevated.

For me, it helps to combine that style of mouse use with good ergonomics of arm and back positions, to make it natural and reactive (for gaming).
 
I am problems with my left wrist but it isn't ct. My problems are with my wrist, ring and pinky finger which isn't ct. I have to take 1800mg of gabapentin/day for it to be tolerable.
 
I think a lot of the times wrist guards make people lazy about their posture and they end up hurting themselves anyway. As long as you keep your wrists straight you should be good. Although maybe I shouldn't talk... I started having issues with my wrist about 10 years ago and fixing my posture helped a ton then. Now, I need to use a split keyboard for it to be tolerable and even then I'm getting pain. Apparently, having ehlers-danlos syndrome makes you prone to wrist problems : (
 
So it appears everyone in my office is developing carpal tunnel, I guess I should do something before I get it too.

I have wrist guards for my keyboard/mouse. At home I have wrist guards for my keyboard/trackpad. What else is there?

Have you considered getting a mechanical keyboard?? they're much easier on the fingers for typing. 😀
 
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