I suffer from repetitive strain injury, it started some 9 or so month ago. My left wrist started to hurt, it hurts like hell from time to time, but there is really nothing I can do about it. I went to the doctor and he told me to cool it with ice, Ive never actually tried that but when it hurts the most I use a wrist band which make it feel a little better. I figured I got it cos I often work in front of the TV with the laptop in my lap. I always thought it was a little weird though, cos it was my left wrist that hurt, and not my right, which i use for the mouse. I have not been thinking too much about it, thought it might had something to do with previous injuries.
The wrist had been fine for 3 months, not been hurting at all, but recently I’ve felt it again, and it was almost unbearable over the weekend. Back to work on Monday, and it totally hit me! It’s all about the keyboard! I was working in a PC environment for the longest time and thats when my wrist started to hurt. Since April, Ive only been working with Mac’s and my wrist has been fine. I recently got a new job and I’m back with working on a PC, and my wrist hurts! Silly you might think, but it is actually true! Check out the keyboards…
I’m using a lot of shortcuts when I work, and on a PC keyboard, you have to press down the Ctrl key. On a Mac, you use the Command/Apple key that is located right next to the space key. See how far apart those keys are and imagine how much easier it is to press the command key on an apple while pressing one, two or three other keys at the same time, compared to how much you must stretch out your hand on a PC keyboard. I have large hands for being a girl, I cant imagine how hard it must be for the girls (and guys) with petite hands!
I tried to reset the shortcuts on the keyboard at work, but I couldt figure out how to do it. I think they should invest in a Mac for me. As it is now, I’m using two hands for the shortcuts so I dont have to stretch, and so whats the point in shortcuts then? The whole purpose with shortcuts is to work quicker, but now I have to remove my right hand from the mouse to do a shortcut. Maybe I should do some calculations on how much faster I would get my work done and present for them that they would actually save on buying me a Mac! Is it possible to use a Mac keyboard on a PC?