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Posture Tips
for the Hands & Arms

This is the start of a series of posture tips for the hands and arms. I'll keep going until each aspect of the computer work station is adjusted to meet your individual needs.


#1: Shoulders Relaxed

If you work with your shoulders elevated, you will go home with your shoulders elevated. Then you will sleep with your shoulders elevated. And you will wake up with them like that... and soon, you won't be able to let your shoulders relax. Eventually, the muscle fibres responsible for holding the shoulders up learn that posture and come to assume that it is normal. Then it gets difficult to get back to having (correctly) sloped shoulders.

In the workplace, once you have got your chair adjusted properly (see previous Posture Tips), the goal is to work in a comfortable, supported posture. This is the same posture you use when in conversation. If your back is unsupported once you start using the keyboard, there is likely something encouraging you to lean into the task.

With the shoulders, the natural position has the shoulders sloping down from the neck. If you find that your shoulders are elevated then something is encouraging them to creep up.

  • lower keyboard height
  • mouse to beside keyboard
  • adjust chair height if keyboard/desk are not adjustable
  • lean back
  • don't cradle the phone
  • lower arm rests of chair


#2: Arms at the Sides of Your Body

In most activities, the upper arms should hang at the sides of the body. Would you walk down the street with your elbows sticking out? (maybe in some areas of the city). When in conversation, sticking your elbows out could be construed as aggressive. Normally, your arms would hang comfortably at the sides of your body.

Arms hanging comfortably at the sides of your body is the position they should be in when working on the computer as well. This will reduce the work load on the trapezius and other shoulder, neck and upper back muscles. Holding your elbows away from your body requires continuous tension in these muscles, creating a build up of lactic acid and other by-products. This is what gives that burning feeling in the muscles.

With the shoulders, the natural position has the shoulders sloping down from the neck. If you find that your shoulders are elevated then something is encouraging them to creep up. Arm rests on chairs are the most common culprit of poor arm and shoulder position. Unless you have had a significant shoulder or neck injury, you have all the structures you need to support your own arms and have had for the last 10,000 years. Removing the arm rests (if they interfere in any way) will allow your shoulders to relax and let the upper arms hang at the sides of the body.

The other culprit drawing the elbow away from the body is the mouse. With the standard configuration of the mouse on the right side of the keyboard, the right arm must reach over the cursor keys and the number keys to use the mouse. This creates continuous contractions of the shoulder and neck muscles - straining the joints and putting pressure on nerves (which in turn increases muscle activation in the lower arm). Moving the mouse to the left side allows use of this tool without moving the elbow away from the side of the body. It also transfers some of the workload away from the right arm, which is highly overused in our society. Using the mouse with the left hand is no more difficult than with the right, but there is a short learning curve. (Within 2 weeks of regular use, your muscles and brain patterns will have adapted.)

In the workplace, once you have got your chair adjusted properly (see previous 7 issues of Working Well), the goal is to work in a comfortable, supported posture. This is the same posture you use when in conversation. If your back is unsupported once you start using the computer, there is likely something encouraging you to lean into the task - any of the keyboard, the mouse, the monitor or the documents.

  • Remove arm rests
  • Adjust keyboard height
  • Mouse to left side of keyboard


#3: Forearms parallel to the ground

For those who can touch type (i.e. type without looking at your fingers), the activity of typing is considered a "medium" motor task. That means that the activity does not need continuous visual monitoring. I could, for example, type the remainder of this sentence with my eeyes closd (thankfully, there is spell check!.) - with a reasonable outcome. For people who can touch type, the forearm is held parallel to the ground. This makes the most efficient use of the arm muscles.

People who cannot touch type must continuously or frequently look at their fingers/keys.The need to continuously visually monitor the activity makes it a fine motor task - it could not be done with the eyes closed with any expectation of a reasonable outcome. The key issue (pardon the pun) is the need to watch the fingers. This brings the head down to see the fingers, alternating with a more upright position to see the screen. For this reason, the keyboard is raised approximately 1-1.5" for non-touch typers so that the head does not tilt over as far to monitor the fingers. Raising the keyboard in this situation is not license to elevate the shoulders though. When the keyboard is raised, the elbow is allowed to flex slightly (1 or 2 degrees), which raises the hands.

  • Support feet with the ankles forward of the knees
  • Three finger gap behind the knee
  • Front of seat pan should not press into back of leg
  • Adjust depth of seat pan
  • Add a pillow or foam to build up backrest and fill in the gap





#4: Wrists Flat

Regardless of typing ability, your wrists should be flat when you are actively using the keyboard. This position allows the tendons responsible for finger movement to work in a straight line. When pausing it is acceptable to let the wrists fall into a slightly extended posture for short periods. You should never type with the wrists in an extended posture. This is often seen when the palms/wrists are locked onto a palm rest, on the desk surface and/or when the keyboard is too low. This position forces the tendons to work around a corner at the wrist, causing irritation that could lead to tendonitis. The keyboard should be either flat or in a slight negative tilt - with the edge closest to you slightly higher than the back edge. This helps to correct the built in angle of the keyboard. The keyboard tray should never be allowed into a positive tilt. A positive tilt (front lower than back) encourages wrist extension, straining the tendons and increasing pressure in the carpal tunnel. A palm rest should only be used for the fleshy part of the hand to fall onto when resting between bouts of keyboarding. When selecting a palm rest (not a wrist support - the correct terminology describes how it should be used!), look for a product that is flat and soft. I often recommend the "gel" products as they conform more to the tissues and distribute pressure. This will better distribute pressure if you forget to hold your wrists in a flat posture. At the mouse, a mouse pad with a palm support is recommended. Because mousing is a fine motor task, the hand should be supported. To keep the wrist flat in this context, the pad under the palm is referred to as a support.

  • Adjust keyboard height
  • Use palm rest at keyboard for pausing
  • Use palm support at mouse for control
  • Nagative tilt on keyboard helps to flatten wrist



#5: Wrists Straight

This is the fifth a series of posture tips for the hands and arms. I'll keep going until each aspect of the computer work station is adjusted to meet your individual needs.

The greatest strength in the hand (and the greatest endurance and least risk of injury) comes when the wrist is straight. That means that the longest finger - the 3rd digit - should form a straight line with the forearm. The most common position that computer users face is called ulnar deviation, which is when the wrist bends to the side, bringing the little finger closer to the arm.

The problem with keyboards is that they are based on the design of a typewriter (and user) of the 1950's with little consideration for the fact that our population is considerably bigger physically. In order to place the fingers on the "home row", with the fingers perpendicular to the line of the keys, the arms must rotate in and the wrists must ulnar deviate. This means that the tendons responsible for finger movement are not working in a straight line. This puts them under more strain, making them more likely to become irritated.The newer split keyboard reduce the amount of ulnar deviation.

Select a split keyboard with your hand size in mind. The original Microsoft Natural (and subsequent copy-cats) are well suited to larger hands, but take up more space on the keyboard tray. The Microsoft Natural Elite works well for most smaller and medium sized hands and is only slightly larger than rectangular keyboards. Care should be used to avoid supporting the hands on the palm rest - the wrists should be flat and unsupported during the activity of typing. The other issue is that the alpha numeric portion of the keyboard should be centred on the body, not the whole keyboard. This way the hands are equally balanced on either side of your midline.
  • centre on alpha numeric part of keyboard
  • use split keyboard
  • use mouse with left hand to balance hand position
  • use palm rest at keyboard for pausing only

More Posture Tips Focusing on the Head & Neck...