Solutions for hand injury from computer use

[Ethan Furman]

Ben Finney wrote:
> geremy condra <debatem1 at gmail.com> writes:
> 
>>> Right. I'm much more concerned about the position of my Ctrl key, to
>>> avoid hand injury from all the key chording done as a programmer.
>> Not saying its a cure-all, but I broke my hand pretty badly a few years
>> ago and had a lot of luck with a homemade foot switch for each of the
>> meta keys. Was pretty fun to do (all things considered) and worked
>> pretty well. I'm sure if you're willing to do some shopping around you
>> could get a prefab one fairly cheaply.
> 
> My current solution is:
> 
> * Never use a notepad on the couch, but only ever at a properly adjusted
>   table/desk and chair.
> 
> * Remap CapsLock as an additional Ctrl key, on every computer I use
>   (nobody has ever minded this, because they don't use that key at all
>   :-)
> 
> * Use my left hand for operating the mouse, since this brings it much
>   closer to the home position on the keyboard, and a standard keyboard
>   design forces the right hand to do disproportionately more work.
> 
> * Use a wrist support, consisting of two plastic discs that are
>   separated and move freely against each other, that allows my whole arm
>   to move for moving the mouse and hence avoid bending my wrist for that
>   operation.
> 
> Quite cheap and simple, and I've thereby had no recurrence of injury for
> the past 3 years.

I'll have to give the left-handed mouse a try... hmmm -- not too bad so far.

I also switched over to the Dvorak keyboard layout.  Made a world of 
difference for me.

~Ethan~