Using the
keyboard for long hours without any awareness of the angle of your wrists &
the position of your neck can cause slow damage to the muscles & tendons in
your body. Sore wrists & neck off computing for long hours, are so common.
People almost think its normal!
Short term
wrist or neck pain that you ignore can end up being long term Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or a Cervical Disc
Disease that takes years to develop but once present can be very difficult
to reverse. To avoid future problems & be safe, a little knowledge &
care would go a long way.
How to use a
Keyboard tray?
If you don't
already use one it is a great idea to get a Keyboard tray attached to your surface. This will provide a large amount of
flexibility in positioning of the keyboard, so you are not forced to use only
the surface which may not be the best angles for your joints.
The ability to
move the keyboard further away under the desk when not in use & pull it out
as far as you need when in use, is quite helpful. The tilt of the keyboard tray can also be
adjusted - tipping it away from the body, will help you to create an open angle
in the elbow-wrists sloping downwards, easing off stresses. Apart from this,
adjusting the height at which you need the keyboard according to your body
height, chair height & table height, helps to achieve Ergonomic Body Alignment described below.
Ergonomic Body Alignment for Computing:
● Neck straight- not poking forwards
& out
● Shoulders relaxed & pulled back,
not rounding forwards or hiking upwards into the ears
● Elbows close to the body & at a
90 or more open between 90-120 degree angle
● Wrists straight-not bent upwards for
sure, bent downwards a little bit if possible
● Wrists not turned in or out
● Back supported neatly into the
backrest of preferably an Ergonomic Office Chair
After setting
yourself up in this alignment, if your feet dangle- use a footrest
to fill the gap.
If you are
using a Laptop, a Laptop Stand will help you to improve your head-neck alignment and the keyboard,
mouse can be placed on the Keyboard tray.
A keyboard tray usually has an attached adjacent section for the
mouse, so you don't have to reach further out to use the mouse & it is at
the same height as the keyboard. The repetitive action of keying & mousing
will be less stressful on the muscles & tendons that are producing these
actions, if you position your joints in alignments of decreased stress.
