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Comfortable Computing - Using Your Body Well at the Keyboard
Honor your body while using the computer
Here are recommendations Kathy gathered from a conversation with Sandra Saunders, Licensed Physical Therapist, Certified Hand Therapist, Virginia Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy in Richmond, Virginia.
It is important that you treat your body well while using the computer or keyboard. You can prevent pain and even injuries by adopting these techniques.
Prepare: The first step is to prepare yourself prior to using the computer. Move back from the computer and check your body’s alignment before you begin to type.
- Use the backrest of the chair (use a pillow if necessary).
 Make sure that your feet are flat on the floor (or use a foot rest to adjust them).- Leave a 2” clearance in back of the knees between the edge of the seat and the bend of the back of the knee.
- Sit up straight and “think tall”. Imagine a small hook at the back of the crown of your skull. Let this hook be pulled straight up until you feel the back stretch-- then relax into the straight spine.
- Arms should hang loosely at the sides and the elbows should bend at 90 degree angle.
Use Wrist rests by resting the fleshy heel of the hand (the “true anatomical wrist”) on the rest. The cushion of the hand will allow the nerves and tendons to be protected.
Don’t allow the wrist or the arm to rest on the edge of the desk – pressure there can damage the nerve or tendon, or reduce the blood flow to the hand.
Monitor screen should be vertical and parallel with the head and the chin. Use whole glasses (readers) not bifocals. If you must use bifocals, lower the monitor so that the head does not need to tip back to view. Eyes seek to view straight ahead.
Typing copy should be at a parallel to the monitor. Use a clip or a piece of tape. This will reduce the amount of bending the neck back and forth.
Mouse use: Let the weight of the hand rest on the heel of the hand on the back of the mouse – not on the desk below. This will reduce pressure on the wrist. Use the Intellimouse if possible, since it requires less physical pressure.
Exercises to encourage health while working at a computer or keyboard.
Each day before you begin to type and at break:
- Do 10 Shoulder retractions—sit up straight and try to put your shoulder blades into your back pockets.
- To stretch the muscles in the hands, wrists and arms:
- Begin with the right arm. Extend the arm directly in front of you, palm up, fingers pointing toward the ceiling. With the left hand gently press fingers toward the right shoulder. Be sure to keep the right elbow straight. Then flex the right hand down, fingers toward the floor. With the left hand gently press and stretch the fingers toward the armpit. Be sure to keep the elbow straight –you should feel a stretch all along your arm.
- Repeat with the left arm.
- Stretch the small muscles of the fingers. Curl each finger then press on the outside of the knuckle closest to the tip of the finger—stretch it back at an angle over the back of the hand (hyper extends).
 (See Illustration.) - Stretch the shoulders—set shoulders by placing shoulder blades in your back pocket and relaxed, then pull arm across the left shoulder with the right hand. With the left hand press the right elbow to the body. You should feel a stretch in the back of the right shoulder. Reverse arms and stretch the left shoulder.
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