Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is a common condition affecting the median nerve in the wrist, causing tingling, numbness, and pain in the hand and fingers. This compression often results from repetitive hand motions and prolonged, awkward wrist positioning, frequently exacerbated by long hours of typing. Proactive adjustments to your workspace, equipment, and habits are the most effective way to prevent the chronic strain that leads to CTS.
Optimizing Your Workstation Ergonomics
The foundation of pain-free typing begins with a correctly configured static environment. Your chair height should be adjusted so your feet rest flat on the floor or on a footrest, ensuring your knees are roughly level with your hips. Proper seating stabilizes your core posture, which prevents slouching that can indirectly increase strain on the wrists and hands.
The desk height is optimal when your forearms are parallel to the floor while typing. This allows your elbows to maintain an angle between 90 and 110 degrees, keeping your shoulders relaxed and close to your sides. Position the top of the monitor at or just below eye level to prevent craning your neck or hunching your shoulders. This setup minimizes tension that could affect the arms and wrists.
Maintaining Healthy Hand and Wrist Technique
The single most important factor in preventing CTS while typing is maintaining a neutral wrist position. This means keeping your wrists straight and aligned with your forearms, avoiding any bending up, down, or side-to-side. Bending the wrist, especially upward (extension), increases pressure within the carpal tunnel, which can irritate the median nerve over time.
Practice “floating” your hands over the keyboard, using the large muscles of your arms and shoulders for movement, rather than flexing or extending your wrists. Avoid resting your wrists on the desk or a wrist rest while actively typing, as this can compress delicate tissues. Use a light touch when striking the keys to reduce repetitive stress on tendons and ligaments. Center the keyboard directly in front of you to prevent awkward reaching or angling of the hands.
Incorporating Regular Breaks and Stretches
Even with a perfect setup and technique, repetitive activity requires regular interruption to allow tissues to recover. You should aim to take a short break every 30 to 60 minutes to stand, move around, and improve circulation. Micro-breaks are also highly beneficial, such as following the 20-20-20 rule, where every 20 minutes you look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
During scheduled breaks, performing specific stretches helps maintain flexibility and reduce tension in the forearms and wrists. A wrist flexor stretch involves extending one arm forward with the palm up, then gently pulling the fingers down toward the floor with the opposite hand. To stretch the extensors, extend the arm with the palm facing down, and gently pull the fingers toward the body. Wrist rotations and tendon gliding exercises also promote mobility and reduce stiffness.
Selecting Supportive Keyboards and Accessories
Strategic hardware choices can further support proper hand and wrist alignment. Split ergonomic keyboards are often recommended because they allow the hands to rest in a more natural, shoulder-width position, reducing forearm pronation. Some designs also feature a slight “tenting” angle, which elevates the center of the keyboard to minimize the need to flatten the wrists unnaturally.
For mousing, consider switching to a vertical mouse, which rotates the hand into a neutral “handshake” position, significantly reducing wrist strain. If you use a wrist rest, remember it should only be used as a support during breaks from typing, not while actively moving across the keys. Selecting a keyboard with low-profile keys or responsive mechanical switches can also reduce the force required for each keystroke, lessening cumulative strain.