Wrist rests in general should be avoided at all costs.
Lay your forearm on a flat surface with your palm flat on it, and you will see that your wrist is naturally elevated.
When you use a wrist rest, it compresses the nerves/tendons etc in your wrist, and causes further problems.
For keyboard use, a palm-rest can be helpful if you don’t have a low-profile keyboard, to stop you flexing your wrist upwards to reach the keys, if you are using bad typing techniques and resting your palms on your desk as you type. (You should hold your hands above the keyboard) Either use the solid plastic rest that came with your keyboard, if it has one, or buy a reasonably solid gel rest. The point is to elevate your palm, not to cushion it. Buy one that has a flat surface, and is not sculpted in any way.
“Ergonomic” keyboards can be better for you if you use poor posture when typing, but they won’t cure RSI. They simply move the problem from your wrists to your shoulders, as they push your elbows out. They do force you to become a better typist if they use a split design though.
If you are not able to touch-type, I would recommend learning that before going out and buying a new keyboard, and if you suffer from pain in your fingers, learning the DVORAK or similar keyboard layouts (I use QGMLWB) can considerably reduce finger travel when typing. I also found that switching to a mechanical keyboard helped. (Buying a keyboard with laptop-style keys made things much worse for me) I bought a Topre keyboard, but there are some relatively cheap options with MX Brown or MX Blue switches now, which should help.
Buying a keyboard tray can also help if you find yourself hunched over your desk when typing. Or if you have more money to spend, you might want to look into keyboard & mouse platforms similar to what companies like Humanscale offer.
As for mice; you should never use a mouse pad that has a wrist rest.
They have the same problem as keyboard wrist-rests in that they put pressure exactly where you don’t want it on your wrist, but they also restrict your movement, encouraging moving the mouse by keeping your forearm stationary on the rest, and moving the mouse by twisting your wrist.
Instead, you should switch your mouse to a lower DPI setting (say 800 DPI) and move it using your forearm, keeping your wrist straight at all times. Some people find that switching to a palm-grip mouse can help encourage this behaviour.
Vertical mice have similar problems to “ergonomic” keyboards—they just shift the problem elsewhere, rather than trying to fix it. It’s true that it is better to have your wrist in a “handshake” position, but when using a vertical mouse, it puts pressure on the side of your hand, they usually encourage a pinching-type motion for clicking, and most users tend to control the mouse with their wrist, because holding the mouse vertically makes it more difficult to aim precisely.
Many people report improvements when using a vertical mouse initially, but find they develop even worse pain after a few months of use. If it fits your hand size well, I have personally found Razer’s DeathAdder to cause me the least amount of mouse-related problems, and I’ve spent a lot of money trying all sorts of gaming and ergonomic mice.
I've also tried trackballs, and found that they were just too slow (very low DPI) and imprecise, whether it's the large cue-ball sized trackballs for palm use, or the smaller thumb-operated ones, that were causing me RSI pain within weeks. It's probably not a solution for everyone, but I actually ended up buying two mice - a DeathAdder for either hand, since they make a left-handed version. It took a while to learn, but switching between left and right-handed mouse usage definitely helped reduce the pain I had a lot quicker than any other changes I made, by balancing the load out. I mostly use the left-handed mouse on the desktop, and the right-handed one in games, as I'm not quite so precise with my left hand yet. Other people find that a trackball, or a trackpad works well in their left hand, or even just in their right hand on the desktop, only using a mouse for games, where a trackball or a trackpad don't work so well.
As for your mousing surface, well there are two types I would recommend trying. Either go for a large, soft cloth mouse pad with reasonably thick padding, or go for the thinnest, smoothest hard mouse pad you can get. Personally, I liked the cushioning on my palm that you get from a soft cloth mouse pad, but did not like the extra friction it creates. I found that using a smooth hard surface, rather than a textured one, was causing me less fatigue at the end of the day, as the mouse moves much more freely on it, especially when using a palm-type grip and moving the mouse with your forearm, which tends to put more pressure on the mouse, causing it to “sink” into softer pads.
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