Editor Ergonomics [was: Important features for editors]

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Sun, 07 Jul 2013 22:34:46 -0700, jussij wrote:

> On Sunday, July 7, 2013 12:41:02 PM UTC+10, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> 
>> I am not an ergonomic expert, but I understand that moving from mouse
>> to keyboard actually helps prevent RSI, because it slows down the rate
>> of keystrokes and uses different muscle groups.
> 
> After 20+ years of coding using the Brief keyboard mapping I have so far
> I've gotten by with no perceivable RSI.
> 
> On the half dozen occasions that I can recall experienced wrist pain, I
> remember the pain being worst when trying to interfacing with the mouse.
> 
> So at least for me the mouse does not help.

Chances are that you had one of those ridiculously high mice that force 
your wrist to bend upwards ("dorsiflexion"), or otherwise were bending 
the wrist inappropriately. When mousing, your wrist should be as close to 
straight as possible. It helps if your mouse has a low profile, so that 
you can rest your wrist and forearm on the desk and control your mouse 
with your fingers without bending the wrist.

Assuming that you're keeping your wrists straight, then shifting from 
typing to mousing should reduce the chances of RSI because you are using 
different muscle groups. But if your mouse position is worse than your 
typing position, yes, that will probably cause problems...


-- 
Steven