Medically reviewed by Misty Seidenburg
The way you sit, stand, and engage with your digital devices may be the cause of your lingering hand and wrist pain. However, you can significantly improve your comfort and well-being with the right adjustments, reducing stiffness, numbness, and pain. With their extensive experience in treating ergonomic-related injuries, BenchMark physical therapists have curated these easy-to-implement ergonomic tips for wrist pain. Their expertise will help you create a more comfortable space and prevent hand and wrist pain and strain.
Before we look at ways students, gamers, and desk workers can protect their wrists (and elbows, shoulders, backs, and necks, too!), let’s explore how poor ergonomics negatively impact health and productivity. Understanding the root cause of your discomfort can be a powerful tool in regaining control over your well-being.
Ergonomic strain is a type of repetitive strain injury (RSI) that develops over time due to repetitive motion and prolonged awkward or static postures. These unnatural movements place excess strain on nerves, muscles, and tendons.
For individuals who sit at a desk for hours at a time without breaks, ergonomic strain can lead to conditions like trigger finger, carpal tunnel syndrome, and wrist, elbow, and shoulder tendinopathy. If left untreated, these injuries can reduce your mobility and function and leave you with chronic hand and wrist pain. More serious conditions can become permanently disabling.
Ergonomics is the science of designing and arranging one’s physical environment to meet one’s needs, improve efficiency, and lower the risk of injuries. For anyone who works at a computer, games for fun, or just spends a lot of time surfing the web, that starts with good posture.
Proper posture is crucial because it helps to distribute the weight of your body more evenly, reducing the risk of strain on your muscles and joints.
When you’re at your desk, sit up straight with your back flat against your chair and both feet planted firmly on the ground. Keep your chin up and your shoulders back and down. You should be looking slightly downward to view the center of your screen, so adjust your chair or monitor accordingly.
When we slouch at our desks, we shift our weight onto the work surface through our palms. This makes good alignment difficult, especially with our wrists. The same is true if you cross your legs or put your feet up. Try to be mindful of these throughout your day. Good posture takes a bit of practice, but it will become second nature after a while.
If your wrists and hands aren’t adequately supported when typing on a keyboard, they can bend unnaturally. This awkward position places added stress on the wrists, particularly the median nerve.
This nerve spans the length of the arm and down to the wrist, passing through the carpal tunnel. It controls forearm, wrist, and hand movement and sends sensory information like pain and temperature to the brain. Continual pressure and unnatural angles can cause nerve compression associated with carpal tunnel syndrome.
A neutral wrist position while using a mouse and typing reduces stress on the wrists, helping to prevent numbness, stiffness, and pain. To properly support your wrists, start by adjusting your mouse and keyboard. Place them close to the edge of your desk or table to avoid overreaching. Keep your keyboard flat and avoid using the tabs that can prop the keyboard up at an angle. Keep your wrists and hands straight and parallel to the keyboard, with your fingers slightly curved over the keys and thumbs hovering over the space bar.
Various products and accessories are available to make your workspace more ergonomically friendly. For example, cushioned keyboard rests for carpal tunnel syndrome can be placed at the bottom of your keyboard and mouse to maintain good hand ergonomics.
You can also use an ergonomic keyboard and mouse designed to make typing more natural and comfortable. Carpal tunnel wrist straps and gloves can also be used for added support and compression when using any digital device.
By now, it’s clear that ergonomics for your wrists and hands go beyond your keyboard. From your head down to your toes, how you sit and where you look affect your wrist position. Let’s dive deeper into what a healthy workspace looks like.
Let’s begin with the height of your desk or table. Your elbows should be at a 90-degree angle, and your forearms should be parallel to the floor. The standard desk height is around 28 – 30 inches tall, appropriate for individuals between 5’ 8” and 5’ 10” tall.
If you are shorter or taller, choose a desk height accordingly or adjust your desk chair to provide proper alignment. Try this handy online desk height calculator to find the right size for your height and work position.
Speaking of office chairs, yours should match the natural curve of your spine. Trendy, minimalist chairs might look good but may not adequately support your body. In fact, a high-quality ergonomic chair may be your best investment if you spend a lot of time at a desk. Choose a chair with adjustable arms to support your elbows. Your arms should rest gently on the armrests without you having to shrug or depress your shoulders. This will ease the strain on your neck and shoulders.
Lumber support is also essential for preventing back pain and strain. If your chair doesn’t offer sufficient low back support, you can place a lumbar pillow on your chair where your lower spine curves at the small of your back.
Like any other part of the body, our hands and wrists need physical activity. By stretching and strengthening the tissue on our hands, we can help lower the risk of pain and strain due to overuse injuries.
Hand and wrist exercises can help improve flexibility and strength, reducing the risk of developing conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome. They can also help relieve tension and improve circulation.
Here are a few simple and effective wrist and hand exercises for desk workers that you can try at home or work.
Physical therapy can offer relief if your hand and wrist pain does not improve with at-home exercise and stretching. Hand therapy provides comprehensive, evidence-based techniques and treatments tailored to your condition, symptoms, and lifestyle.
Treatment starts with an initial evaluation to assess your condition and how it impacts your mobility and function. The physical therapist uses different tools and techniques to determine your pain level, range of motion, strength, and sensation, among other factors.
Using this information, they prescribe a hand therapy program that includes therapeutic exercise and treatment modalities to restore function and reduce pain, tingling, and numbness. Your physical therapist may recommend braces or splints to avoid reinjury and guide you on ways to modify your posture and workspace to protect your wrists.
Prolonged periods of uninterrupted computer work can be detrimental to your mind and body.
Be intentional about incorporating short breaks throughout your day to step away from your desk and recover from repetitive typing and scrolling. Raise your hands about your head and move them around to get the blood flowing and do the exercises above. If you have the time and space, take a short walk to reset and recharge.
If pain is affecting your daily activities, don’t let it hold you back any longer. Physical therapy can help you regain mobility, reduce discomfort, and prevent further injury. Our expert therapists will work with you to create a personalized treatment plan to target your pain’s root cause and get you back to doing your routine tasks pain-free.
Take the first step toward healing today – request an appointment at a physical therapy clinic near you!
