• Raise your monitor.  This is an oft-overlooked tip.  Regardless of what kind of computer you're using, be sure the screen is at eye level and roughly 20 inches from your body.  To achieve this, try a monitor lift as a very cheap and easy fix.  Your neck and eyes will thank you as experience less neck pain and strain.
• Try an adjustable, ergonomic chair.  While it may be quite pricey to buy one, many offices have them if you just ask.  Plus, it may be that your current chair is adjustable.  Be sure to adjust the height, back support, and arm rests.  Your feet should rest flat on the floor, your back should be well-supported {you can even try portable lumbar support}, and your arms should be able to slope slightly downward to reach your keyboard without cocking your wrists.   
• Ask for a wrist rest.  Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a common office injury and be easily avoided by practicing good wrist positioning.  However, a wrist rest is poorly named- it's really meant to rest the palms of your hands in between periods of typing. 
• Try an ergonomic keyboard.  There are more options out there than you can imagine, so finding a good fit is just a matter of preference and trying out a couple.  Ergonomic keyboards can be especially helpful as an add-on to your docked lap top.  They are much more comfortable for long periods of typing and can be moved closer to the body while your screen is elevated.
• Request a document holder.  It's such an easy fix, but elevating notes or documents that you frequently reference truly keeps you from straining your eyes and your neck.  Who likes to go home with a crick in their neck?  
• Lastly, try a sound machine, or even this free online generator, for fewer distractions.

Pregnant & Feeling Pain in your Hand and/or Wrist?

Being pregnant goes hand in hand with a lot of strange feelings, awkward experiences, and unknown pain.  As wonderful as growing and bring a child into the world truly is, the actual process of being pregnant is physically hard and taxing on your body.  One of the most common complaints of pregnant women is that of swelling and water retention.  Usually, we hear about it in the feet and ankles {for me, especially when flying!!}, but hand and wrist swelling is quite common as well.  Interestingly, I recently read in Your Pregnancy, Week by Week that it is water retention and swollen hands and wrists that causes 1 in 4, or 25%, of pregnant women to feel Carpal Tunnel Syndrome symptoms during their pregnancies.  By way of review, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome {CTS} is when you feel pain in your hand and/or wrist which can extend into the forearm and shoulder caused by the compression of the median nerve in the wrist.  CTS symptoms include numbness, tingling or burning of the inner half of one or both hands, with a numb or useless feeling in fingers.  Pregnant women usually feel these symptoms in both hands, probably due to equal swelling and water retention in both.   

Tips for Reducing Wrist/Hand Pain

The good news is that treatment is rarely required for pregnant women in that the symptoms generally go away after delivery, presumably when the body quits retaining water and swelling.  The bad news is that you have to ait until you have the baby to feel better, and many of us need to work on a computer or use our cell phones regularly, both of which cause pain. Since no pregnant woman needs to suffer from unnecessary pain, here are some tips and tools for reducing wrist and hand pain.  

• Correct your posture.  You may not realize that there is proper and improper hand and wrist positioning.  Essentially, DON'T bend or cock your wrists.  DO everything you can to avoid cocking or bending of your wrists.  If you feel pain as you are typing, texting, or mousing, stop what you are doing and re-position yourself.
• Try ergonomic products.  In particular, an ergonomic keyboard is designed to better your hands, while an ergonomic mouse makes mousing more natural and less straining for your wrists.  Regardless of what keyboard and mouse you're using, be sure to keep them side-by-side and on the same surface to reduce movement and therefore injury.  So, lastly, a keyboard tray will store both and at a lower spot so your arms, wrists, and hands can work more comfortably.
• Wear a wrist splint. If you're already experiencing wrist pain, one of the trouble spots is night time.  So often, we flex our wrists and sleep with them in quite odd positions, never even aware of it.  This is especially true of pregnant women who are known for their strange sleep positions!  Thus, wearing a wrist splint at night time can protect you from doing more harm.

Using an ergonomic keyboard and ergonomic mouse at work and wearing a wrist splint at night can greatly reduce wrist pain and injury as you finish out your pregnancy.

Wrist Pain & Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Many people suffer from wrist pain- athletes, musicians, heavy tool operators, and computer users.  Actually, the rise of technology has only added to the number of people who have wrist pain.  That's because we use our computers, laptops, netbooks, kindles, iWhatevers, and all our cell phones constantly- in fact, as I picked my daughter up from school today and walked by 10 parked cars, 8 of the 10 had a waiting parent texting!  That's a lot of hand and wrist use through the course of the day, and it adds up to a lot of potential strain.

The main issue is with the sensitive Carpal Tunnel area that houses the median nerve, which runs with tendons from the forearm to the hand and along the carpal tunnel. This tunnel is made up of bones and a band of strong connective tissue.  Unfortunately, in carpal tunnel syndrome, the tendons become inflamed which then compress the median nerve in the tunnel leading to the symptoms.  This condition becomes a reality for people who use their hands and wrists a lot, which certainly includes what I'm doing right now: typing and mousing on my laptop! 

Tips to Avoid & Relieve Wrist Pain

To avoid or relieve pain in this area, there are several things you can {and should!} do:

• Correct your posture.  You may not realize that there is proper and improper hand and wrist positioning.  Essentially, DON'T bend or cock your wrists.  DO everything you can to avoid cocking or bending of your wrists.  If you feel pain as you are typing, texting, or mousing, stop what you are doing and re-position yourself.  
• Try ergonomic products.  In particular, an ergonomic keyboard is designed to better your hands, while an ergonomic mouse makes mousing more natural and less straining for your wrists.  Regardless of what keyboard and mouse you're using, be sure to keep them side-by-side and on the same surface to reduce movement and therefore injury.  So, lastly, a keyboard tray will store both and at a lower spot so your arms, wrists, and hands can work more comfortably.
• Wear a wrist splint.  If you're already experiencing wrist pain, one of the trouble spots is night time.  So often, we flex our wrists and sleep with them in quite odd positions, never even aware of it.  Thus, wearing a wrist splint at night time can protect you from doing more harm.

Using an ergonomic keyboard and ergonomic mouse at work and wearing a wrist splint at night can greatly reduce wrist pain and injury.