Does typing or keyboarding cause carpal tunnel pain? It sure is possible.
It all depends on how you hold yourself when you are working at the keyboard.
If you type with your wrists bent up OR down the muscles in your forearm get aggravated. That means having your keyboard at a comfortable place.
What’s a comfortable place?
- Your arms should hang straight down from your shoulders toward your waist. Your elbows should be as close to your waist as possible.
- Your hands should be straight out from your elbows. Do you know what a 90 degree angle is? The bend in your elbow should be that or slightly more open.
- Your wrists should be straight as though they are part of your arm.
You may have to adjust the height of your typing desk or chair or both in order to get your arms in this neutral position.
Why does working in a non-neutral position aggravate your arms?
Because your muscles are happiest when you work in a neutral position. Bodies are built to work and move in certain ways and sometimes we curl our arms and backs and necks into horrid postures!
Out of neutral = PAIN!
Aggravated muscles press on nerves and nerves get really crabby when that happens so they cause hand pain. Aggravated muscles also develop
trigger points that cause hand pain and arm pain.
Have you ever seen or used one of the old typewriters? Those tall things with stepped rows of keys?
The typists who used those didn’t get carpal tunnel syndrome.
Why not?
Because they were constantly moving. Fingers flew! Arms moved!
They weren’t stuck in just one position for hours and hours and hours barely moving like we are with the keyboards of today.
And one more thing.
When you think of the typists of old what posture comes to mind? They weren’t slumped and slouched and collapsing.
Are you?
Poor posture–slumping and slouching–causes strain on the muscles of the upper body and neck. It causes muscles and bones to press on nerves.
When upper body muscles are strained and nerves are pressed on the end result is PAIN in your hands and wrists.
Research indicates that typing or keyboarding doesn’t cause carpal tunnel pain BUT…
The research didn’t say what type of keyboard was used. A laptop is a much different animal than a separate keyboard.
And it didn’t talk about the posture of the typists. Were they slumping? I bet not. If they were they would have had carpal tunnel pain caused by typing.