There seems to be a lot of people with wrist issues here, so I thought I'd ask. I get a lot of pain in my right shoulder and right wrist after using a keyboard for a while. I've noticed it more when I have to use my little finger (e.g. curly bracers, etc.)
I'm currently trying out a split keyboard (freestyle 2, wanted something cheaper to see if the split helped), and it definitely has. I went back to my Ducky 5 for a few days and felt it.
I'm currently learning to type Dvorak, which feels nice but I'm not using it enough so far to know if it's an improvement. I'm really liking the look of the Kinesis Advantage, has anyone with similar wrist pain noticed that it made a difference?
I use a Kinesis Freestyle, but yeah I agree. It's hard to overstate how much better my wrists, elbows and shoulders feel after switching to a split keyboard years ago.
Since you are specifically asking about split keyboards: I use a Kinesis Freestyle 2 and have done so at work for years. I use regular keyboards at home.
- not really any difficulty in terms of muscle memory remembering how to switch between regular and split keyboard
- it did take me some retraining because before using a split keyboard I had actually typed 6 button with right hand instead of left
- it does make a notable difference in terms of wrist pain after extended usage
Overall, I can recommend it, especially if work is paying for it. I don’t type enough at home to really justify one though as I don’t start getting wrist pain unless I’m at the desk for 6-8 hours.
I’m another supporter of split keyboards. I used to get terrible shoulder pain before switching. I’m using the kinesis gaming keyboard, which has been great aside from some minor firmware wonkiness.
A properly designed split keyboard is aimed at improving the placement of the wrists though.
I found a minor but noticeable benefit many years ago switching to the Kinesis Advantage. I've recently switched to the Truly Ergonomic keyboard; I've yet to decide if it's better or worse overall than the Kinesis.
I highly recommend the Kinesis Advantage2 keyboard. I was experiencing shoulder, forearm, and wrist pain with almost every other keyboard I tried. It's expensive and takes some getting used to, but I have not had shoulder, forearm, wrist pain, or pain in the joints of my hand since I started using mine. Now that I am used to it I can't go back to using a more traditional keyboard.
I've been looking at the Kinesis keyboards to try to get some relief from wrist pain. Which do you use? Have you tried the MS Natural, or did you go straight to Kinesis?
$300 is _nothing_ if you type for a living and it can save you from chronic wrist pain. I've had my Kinesis for a year. I was suffering from a good amount of pain, especially in my pinkies. It evaporated in about two days once I started using my Kinesis. Now I only get pain if I switch back to my old keyboard (it comes back in a few hours) or if I type for 8 hours straight or with bad posture.
I used the microsoft natural keyboard for years and now the kinesis freestyle. I don’t know why split keyboards aren’t more popular. Proper ergonomics are important or your career could be interrupted due to RSI.
A Kinesis Advantage2 (almost 500 dollar in the EU, but read on). I had a flare up of wrist pain again. Decided to invest in a good ergo keyboard. Started with a Kinesis Freestyle Edge RGB (pretty good), then Kyria, Ferris Sweep (meh), and then I did what I should have done in the first place: buy a Kinesis Advantage2. It immediately felt great and after some weeks my wrist pain was gone. Concave key wells are just fantastic!
Since then, I also got an Advantage360 Pro (> 500 in the EU) and replaced the controller of the Advantage2 with a KinT [1], so that I can program it with QMK. I can now keep similar configurations between the 2 and the 360 Pro (which uses ZMK).
The perfect keyboard for me has been the Kinesis Freestyle Pro. Split keyboard with all the keys you would want plus 10 macro keys on the left side you can map to anything. There is absolutely no way I could go back to using any other keyboard after using this for a few years now. Shoulder and wrist pain completely gone.
Kinesis can strain your thumbs. I used one for 14 years. Still got major wrist pain and really bad thumb pain. Microsoft Sculpt Mobile and that style of keyboard ended up being my best option.
Do you happen to have an opinion on the best split keyboard for someone who uses and likes a Kinesis Advantage but would like a more portable alternative?
Or even suggestions on what I'd need to google to find opinions of people in that group?
Seconded. It's almost painless split keyboard for normal user but also has great software and some advanced features. Kinesis Freestyle Pro is almost same.
I picked up a Kinesis a few month ago and it's been a life changer. I've struggled with shoulder pain since as far back as I can remember. I'd done PT, dry needling, massage, etc etc. I'd even sprung for a personal ergonomic assessment. I'm a cyclist and and keyboard jockey, so most of my waking life is spent in positions that seemed to make it worse. At times it prevented me from sleeping, doing things I enjoyed, etc. I wear a 42 jacket, so I'm not crazy wide or anything.
I'd never seen anything that suggested that split keyboards were a good solve for the shoulder pain but I'd reached that point of just throwing shit at a wall because it was that, or find a new career and hobbies. Moving my keyboard so my forearms can sit slightly wider than perpendicular to my chest has almost completely resolved the shoulder pain and the impact was almost immediate.
I'll echo this - I was at a point where I was starting to miss work because I had so much wrist pain that I couldn't type, and then I switched to a Kinesis. A month later I was back up to full speed and haven't had any pain since. I don't know how it stacks up against competitors, but the thing quite literally saved my wrists, I highly recommend trying it if you're having trouble.
Definitely has a bit of a learning curve, though, for a few weeks I had trouble remembering which keys were where.
I also highly recommend a split keyboard in general: my shoulder issues are noticeably better when using them.
A split keyboard may not help with wrist pain. Personally I was able to get rid of any wrist pain by strengthening through climbing.
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