HEALTH, EQUIPMENT

How I'm dealing with my RSI, part 2

Oh boy, time has flown by since my last post on this topic (How I’m dealing with my RSI), and now I’ve updated my workstation setup with a few key (ha) changes!

⚡ Lessons from pain & suffering

Starting in early August, my workload doubled. I was doing a ton of wireframing and extensive documentation writing and on top of that was rushing to make a deadline. By the end of week one of August, my hands and arms were a total wreck.

In desperation, I switched over to using my laptop (a Lenovo Legion Y540) for work, as I noticed that when I used it on weekends, it never bothered my hands or arms. After that I began to analyze my workstation and put a few pieces together…

🔙 My previous setup

  • My mechanical keyboard
    • However wonderfully clacky it felt to type on my mech (described in New keycaps, new me), the ergonomics was not cutting it when I was clocking in a heavy workload.
    • As a frenzied student and later as a designer, I have typed on laptop keyboards forever and have never experienced such pain as I have after using mechanical keyboards for a long period of time (had a similar experience in 2018 where I had to switch to more linear switches to reduce some of my pain while typing). This is probably due to the fact that, after typing on membrane keyboards, I’ve developed the habit of “bottoming out” on the keys. When carried over to mechanical key switches, this can result in excessive force (aka repetitive stress injuries) exerted by the hands. At least this is what the internet tells me!
    • All of this was worsened I suspect by the relatively high elevation of the board itself combined with the high profile (Cherry) keycaps. It forced my arms to be elevated more than they would normally, which wasn’t resolved even with various wrist supports. This was jacking up both my wrists and forearms.
  • My trackball mouse
    • Let me just say, my trackball mouse is still great and a whole lot more comfortable to use than most traditional mice, but it did result in my hands and arms being held in a mostly rigid horizontal position when using it (lack of natural pronation of the hands, wrists, and arms). I tried propping my trackball at an angle using a small cushion, but this still wasn’t comfortable enough.

🌟 My new setup, part 2 (yes I use 3 different mice)

  • Logitech MX Keys (amazon)
    • What I love: Super slim profile makes it comfortable for a laptop-keyboard-familiar typist like myself. The scissor switches are tactile enough to be comfortable and reminds me of typing on a Thinkpad laptop :)

  • Keymecher wired USB touchpad (amazon)

    • What I love: I can quickly move the cursor around with any finger or hand orientation and also use Win 10 gestures which are super convenient.
    • Placement: I use tend to move this around throughout the day depending on my needs!
      • Left of keyboard - When I’m just scrolling through documents or casually browsing.
      • Right and on top of keyboard numpad - When I’m using a design tool like Figma.
      • Below keyboard and centered - For either of the two purposes above haha. So far I’ve been enjoying having it located below and centered against my body, but when I want to do a lot of typing, I move it aside.
  • VicTsing wireless mouse (amazon)
    • Actually I’ve had this mouse for a couple of years now and I’ve used it mainly for my laptop, but I find that it’s a fantastic choice for when I want to design with more precision/control than the touchpad offers.
    • Has pretty great ergonomic form factor - it’s small, so I only ever move it around with the tips of my fingers (I don’t rest my entire hand or wrist on it).
  • Kensington Orbit Trackball Mouse with Scroll Ring (amazon link)
    • I’m still using this mouse! It’s just not my primary anymore.
    • I keep it either left or right of keyboard, whatever I feel like haha. Lately I’ve been trying to switch to using this mouse a couple of times a day, just to break up the routine for my muscles.
  • PhysioNatural Wrist Ice Pack Wrap (amazon)
    • What I love: It comes with two gel ice packs, so I can swap one in when it starts to melt. I’m using it throughout the day, wrapping my hands, wrists, or forearms whenever I take a break and feel a bit of inflammation coming on.
    • Unfortunately the design only has a velcro piece on one end, but I added a velcro strap through the thumb loop to give it more stability.
  • Custom Youtube playlist of mechanical keyboard typing ASMR
    • Since I don’t really type on my mechanical keyboard much these days, I’m compensation for the lack of auditory sensation by listening to a playlist of clicky clacky typing when I work haha.
    • A couple of my favorite channels for this fix:

🤔 Why 3 different mice? Am I just really extra?

  • I’ve found the most success dealing with my RSI by just trying to switch things up. Because if the injuries stem from making the same repetitive movements in the same position over and over, I need to avoid doing that. I need to stretch, move around, get up to drink some water, change my posture, go on a walk with my wife and our dog, cuddle our cat, play guitar, and hell yeah, switch between using three different mice haha. So far it’s working pretty well :)