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Preventing RSI?
conJunk asks: "How do you protect against RSI? I try to practice good typing habits, but without the aid of wrist splints, I tend to get cold wrists. The splints are great, but they slow down my typing by a fair bit. What do you all do?"
...but I have typed/moused daily for the past 12 years of my life and have never had any RSI problems. I'm a fulltime programmer and program as a hobby too, so you can imagine the amount of time I spend behind a keyboard.
My secret; don't use wristsupport of ANY kind. The majority of RSI problems stem from straining your wrists, so don't strain them. My wrists are usually floating because I support my arms at my elbows if needed; the area of motion allowed just by skin flexibility (not even adding flexibility in clothing layers) around the elbows alone is enough to reach the entire keyboard and mouse physical space.
At home I have a custom-built desk which lowers the keyboard and mouse to a comfortable position (just above my lap) where I don't even need to support anything; now I'm able to use all the muscles in my arms for the required motion; which is far easier.
Often I see colleagues using wrist supports for their keyboards, where they quite literally push their wrists into the support and produce all motion from flexing the wrists; a sure way of getting RSI.
Just try keeping the wrist afloat and everything will go much smoother. Perhaps even try raising the keyboard from your desk a bit if that makes it easier.
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I've never understood those gel pads. What good does a pad positioned an inch or so below your wrist do? :)
The most important thing, in my opinion, is a chair with arms. If your elbows are properly supported, your wrists don't need to be, because they'll be in mid-air. If your wrists are resting on anything, you're doing something wrong.
I suspect the split-style keyboards are good, but I've never bothered with them. But I can see the attraction.
Why can't I mod you -1 Moronic?
IANADoctor, but it seems to me that cold wrists can be a sign of the blood flow being cut off, or nerves being pinched, both real, and possibly dangerous problems. Even if not, cold extremities are annoying and do make typing harder than it needs to be.
A hundred years of typing pools, and several hundred years of piano playing tell you how to sit and work, and it is no accident that proper typing posture is the same as proper piano posture.
I just Googled up an interesting site that discusses both issues.