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ErgoMechKeyboards @lemmy.world witch_of_winter @fedia.io

Best Barebones/custom keyboard if I'm starting to get wrist pain/tingling

Hey all, I type all day as many of us do and I've been finding some pain in my wrist and tingling in my fingers lately and want to know the best keyboard I can throw my favorite switches into and try to avoid/mitigate these symptoms. Hoping to keep it under $200 and I've never sodered before but willing to try it if the kits well laid out.

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3 comments

  • Set up an appointment with an Orthopedic specialist and consider occupational therapy. My wrists started killing me a few years ago and I'm now starting to get things together; took so long because I had kids and was laid off. I just took an MRI and have an appointment next week to figure out the next steps.

    With all that being said; I use the Kinesis Freestyle Pro and an external trackpad.

  • No keyboard will fix this issue or mitigate carpel tunnel. You need to start wrist stretches and exercises every few hours to stop it from getting worse.

    I believe this video and a few others are what I found to work in the past. Stretching and strengthening your muscles will be better in the long run. https://youtu.be/n26CXK6xZek

  • It's hard to say what will help each individual because everybody has different ergonomic needs, and obviously, nobody here can provide medical or occupational health advice.

    That being said, some things to think about:

    • If you haven't already, make sure that your desk height and typing style are reasonably ergonomic. Conventional wisdom is that you want your forearms to be about level with the floor and your hands should be floating above the keyboard, not resting on your desk.
    • For issues that are caused by wrist angle, there are two major features a keyboard can offer:
      • Split, letting you separate the halves so that your wrists aren't pointing inward
      • Tented, meaning that you can change the angle of the keyboard so that you can get the most comfortable position rotationally
    • Many ergonomic keyboards also use a column-staggered layout, which should be better for your fingers, but will require some learning curve to get used to
    • Some also have keywell designs that are scooped so your fingers don't have to stretch as far

    You may want to compare different layouts before deciding on a board to try: https://compare.splitkb.com/

    For off the shelf prebuilts, see things like Kinesis, Keyboardio, the Glove80, Ergodox, Moonlander

    For something a bit more DIY, Keebio offers a range of split boards, and some of them are available prebuilt in addition to kit form. Some are hotswap as well. Splitkb also makes really good kits.

    There are lots of other vendors, like Little Keyboards, Beekeeb, Falbatech, BastardKB, ohkeycaps, and others