Path: utzoo!utgpu!utstat!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!ukc!edcastle!dcl-cs!gdt!gdr!exspes
From: exspes@gdr.bath.ac.uk (P E Smee)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Avoiding Wrist Damage when Typing
Message-ID: <1989Oct27.093157.2810@gdt.bath.ac.uk>
Date: 27 Oct 89 09:31:57 GMT
References: <15349@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> <1932@dover.sps.mot.com>
Reply-To: exspes@gdr.bath.ac.uk (P E Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol c/o University of Bath
Lines: 50

In article <1932@dover.sps.mot.com> talent@dover.sps.mot.com (Steve Talent) writes:
>
>I developed problems in my fingers from improper typing posture.  The
>condition is commonly called "Trigger Finger" - I forget the medical
>term.

In the UK, at least, it's RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury), or RST (...
Trauma).  It can also do your wrists in, which is the flavor of the
problem which tends to strike me.

>I now type with my wrists flat and the problem rarely occurs.  Sit upright
>with your elbows about the same height as the lower edge of the keyboard.
>Your forearm will be inclined 3 to 5 degrees from horizontal.  One reason 
>I believe I developed bad typing posture before is that my chair was too
>low relative to the keyboard.  I had to reach up to the keyboard and because
>of arm fatigue I would rest my wrists on the table.

Another way of looking at this, which is what I was taught when I was
working my way through school as a typist, is that the TOP of your keys
should be level with the top of your 'normal' desk surface, or an inch
below.  (Assuming you have your chair 'normally' adjusted for working
comfortably at your desk.) Proper 'typist' desks have a 'well' which is
lower than the remainder of the desk surface for putting the typewriter
in, to achieve that result.  Goes without saying, then, that the normal
programmer's habit of putting the terminal on the normal desk
worksurface is unhealthy.  You should have a separate lower surface for
the terminal.

Can also aggravate the situation if you have to lean over to look at
your screen.  The screen should be raised above the keyboard so that
you can sit up straight with the keyboard at the right height as
described above, and have the screen somewhere near eyelevel or a bit
below.  Sitting on top of the system unit and a couple of phonebooks is
about right.

Finally, the faster you type the more likely you are to suffer RST.
It's more likely if you 'punch' the keys, less likely if you depress
them smoothly.  It's actually the sudden (small) jar when the key
bottoms out which (my references say) causes the damage.  So, slow
down, take advantage of any facility your system offers to allow you to
get your input in with less keystrokes -- abbreviations, speedtype,
aliases, function keys, command completion, ...  Of course (and
unfortunately) this is not possible for keyboard data-entry people, who
generally have to work to very high character per hour rates; and who
are most likely to suffer from RST.
-- 
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