
Ask HN: How do you avoid RSI injuries - chrisacky
I&#x27;m finding using the modifier keys a challenge. Using my pinky to CTRL + C, CTRL + V etc, is causing discomfort ranging from mild to a chronic daily strain which is sometimes bad and at best can be ignored. I&#x27;m starting to get twitches in it also.<p>I&#x27;m curious what strategies you have used to avoid similar.<p>Looking at any solutions ranging from:<p>- Finger Exercises.<p>- Hardware solutions<p>- Software solutions ( ie rebinding keys )<p>- Foods
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mtmail
related: "Ask HN: What do you wish you knew before you got RSI?"
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23561926](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23561926),
"Ask HN: How do you take care of your hands?"
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21046033](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21046033),
"Ask HN: Best Mouse for Avoiding RSI"
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20689309](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20689309)

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catacombs
Switch Caps Lock to CTRL. Also, learn to touch type so you can place your
fingers on the keyboard properly.

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brudgers
1\. Laptop in lap and ass in comfy chair...the kind of chair that you would
sit in to binge watch Netflix in your living room. It's just another screen.
The ergonomics allow shifting my weight and adjusting my relationship to the
screen and the angle of my hands to the keyboard. My favorite is an Ikea Poang
chair with footstool.

2\. Keyboard with Ctl and Alt on both sides of the space bar. Then I can use
one hand for Ctl and/or Alt and the other hand to press a key.

3\. Item 2 is an optimization for Emacs picked up from Xah Lee's
_ErgoEmacs_...which means I try to use Emacs key bindings whenever practical.

4\. Laptop has a touchpad. I don't use mice because that screws up two handed
Ctl and Alt shortcuts. Pointing sticks are also good if you have a Thinkpad
(and Thinkpads are the best because not only are their Ctl and Alt keys on
both sides of the space bar, they are symmetrical (my Dell has an Fn key
between Ctl and Alt on the left side of the space bar)).

5\. Barring a laptop, I like the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000
keyboard...again in my lap. But my Unicomp EnduraPro has symetrical keys,
buckling springs, and a built in pointing stick which means I don't need a
mouse and so it's even better.

6\. One of the big things about putting a keyboard in my lap is it avoids
pressure points where my wrist rests on the edge of the desk. This is the
biggest source of discomfort for me going back more than twenty years. The
first solution was a plastic folding table as a desk with a ~1" radiused edge
back in the early 00's. But keyboard in lap is simply better and laptop in lap
and ass in comfy chair is even better.

7\. One of the big things for me is recognizing when I'm having discomfort
early -- it's amazing what I am able to ignore if I try -- and adjusting my
position slightly for the next few days. That took a long time to learn
because I was trying to sit at a desk with a keyboard and mouse on the desk
and that's fundamentally broken...which reminds me that standing desks have
most of the same issues _for me_ as sitting desks in terms of keyboard
position and the display position is worse...again, for me.

8\. When I notice pain I stretch my arms and wrist tendons. The arms by doing
whatever feels like it's stretching, the wrist tendons by extending my arm
palm down and pulling back and upward on the fingers with the other hand.

Being mostly self-employed for the past thirty years, I don't have the
privilege of claiming RSI. Sometimes it just hurts and so I do what it takes
to reduce the hurt and keep working. But that also means I can work in a comfy
chair with a keyboard in my lap without a manager managing me for the sake of
conformity.

Good luck.

