It’s been about two months since I have made a post here. There’s a reason for that, I promise. First, there was Christmas and New Year’s, and second, on returning to work in January I had a bad flare-up of carpal tunnel. The last two months I’ve been relearning how to type and I took a necessary break from any computer activities not strictly work-related.
Time for some backstory: I first suffered from severe carpal tunnel symptoms over three years ago. At the time, I played a disgusting amount of League of Legends as my primary hobby outside of work. I believe this is at least part of the reason I got carpal tunnel so young (23ish, I think.) Women also get carpal tunnel three times as often as men1.
I had to quit League (for the better, probably, since my life has dramatically improved since) and I invested in my first ergonomic keyboard. I didn’t half-ass this; I went straight from a standard, shiny RGB Corsair gaming keyboard to the best ergonomic keyboard on the market.
The learning curve on this keyboard was steep. Now, I distantly recall it as a period of typing with agonizing, pain-staking slowness. However, after a few month of dedicated use, it resolved my carpal tunnel symptoms completely. Yippee!
With a couple key modifications, like rebinding space to backspace, I also found it moderately comfortable for casual video games. I was never able to adapt to playing League of Legends on it though.
So, I’ve been using that keyboard for three years with no issues: what changed?
After much reflection, I think that the primary cause was still too much gaming and poor chair ergonomics. Genshin Impact’s new Nod-Krai region had been enthralling to me, and after a long evening of grinding, I woke up with bad elbow pain in both my arms and numbness in my pinky fingers. This is slightly different than carpal tunnel – from what I could find online, my symptoms matched cubital tunnel syndrome better. I’m also uncertain if muscle strain from the gym and rock climbing were contributing factors.
For a while I debated trying a different keyboard – the Glove60 and it’s flashy trackpad was particularly enticing – but I decided to stick with my guns. Most of the updated reviews I read still recommended the Glove80 as the premium ergonomic keyboard.
However, complaining to my coworkers about my carpal (or cubital) tunnel syndrome, one of my coworkers asked: “have you ever heard of DVORAK? I’ve heard people with RSI swear by it.”
DVORAK… hmm, it did sound vaguely familiar. And I was desperate. So, lo and behold the beauty of the DVORAK layout:
DVORAK is named after the man who proposed it. It is a keyboard layout designed to minimize finger and wrist movement. It is also supposed to be easier to learn – more intuitive – than the QWERTY layout, which is a relic of typewriters.
I used this website to practice DVORAK, and swapped my keycaps to match. Just like switching to a new ergonomic keyboard, the first week was grueling. I even found myself developing headaches from the constant focus required to “overwrite” the mechanical habits of my fingers reaching for the wrong keys. I would only progress to the next lesson once I could finish the current one in less than 10 minutes.
Now, after a month of dedicated practice, my typing speed averages around 60wpm. I suspect it will be another few weeks or months until I’m back to about 100wpm.
My RSI symptoms have largely subsided, with some minor aches persisting in my left forearm.
Overall, I’m not convinced adopting DVORAK was the sole factor that improved my RSI. Or at least, I don’t think I can isolate my improvements to DVORAK – I also completely quit video games, came up with a new stretching routine, etc. However, I do enjoy the “feel” of DVORAK much more than QWERTY, and would strongly encourage giving it a try.
