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After I started using MBPs, I developed wrist pain and later, a ganglion. Could just be me getting older, but after my wrists started hurting, part of what I ch

After I started using MBPs, I developed wrist pain and later, a ganglion. Could just be me getting older, but after my wrists started hurting, part of what I changed was keeping use of the MBP keyboard to an absolute minimum. (I use an external ergo keyboard primarily now.) What I wonder about is whether it's the short travel distance (the key moves less than a millimeter), and rather rough stop (given the short travel, it really has to just bottom out; other keyboards can "trigger" before they physically hit bottom, so it's possible to be a little lighter with then). Some people seem to like this feel, as you note, but I particularly hate it. It's like typing on concrete, even compared to other laptops, but especially compared to an external mechanical. The other concerns about a single mote of dust completely destroying the entire bottom half of the keyboard (since it seems impossible to repair some keys without destroying them, as they don't come off, and the entire bottom assembly needs to then be replaced) — is just bad engineering. I'd personally much rather have a slightly thicker, but repairable, keyboard. Thankfully, the MBP is my employer's, so I don't have to worry about repair costs. Sadly, it means I can't avoid its keyboard by voting with my wallet, aside from externals, which I already have. But sometimes, you're travelling, and the external isn't with you, and the external also chains you to a desk, which in today's idiocracy of open-office environments means that I can't hide in a quiet corner as some of my coworkers like to do.

gumby 8y ago
A ganglion is likely not due to keyboard use or similar stress, but simply a small tear in the sheath. FWIW my mum (a GP) used to just whack them with a book. == The 2018 ones got a protective membrane that seems to have ameliorated the dust mote issue.
- deathanatos 8y ago
  > A ganglion is likely not due to keyboard use or similar stress, but simply a small tear in the sheath. The small tear in the sheath is, effectively, the ganglion. (A ganglion cyst, for others reading this, is a tear in a tendon through which joint fluid exits, when it should not. The fluid is in a pouch, so it doesn't go anywhere, but the pouch being pushed through the tear by the fluid causes a bulge wherever this is on your body.) To say that's the cause is like saying the cause of a laceration is that the skin is broken. It's true, but it's not particularly enlightening. The question is what causes that tear to arise in the first place, and trauma and repeated strain are theories (though it seems medical science does not actually know the root cause of ganglions). So, it could be coincidence, but I was already having general wrist pain and numbness, and managing my keyboard use better solved both. > FWIW my mum (a GP) used to just whack them with a book. My research brought me across this home "remedy" very quickly. Modern medical science does not recommend this. (Mostly due to the risk of causing other injury to the area.)

gumby 8y ago

A ganglion is likely not due to keyboard use or similar stress, but simply a small tear in the sheath. FWIW my mum (a GP) used to just whack them with a book. == The 2018 ones got a protective membrane that seems to have ameliorated the dust mote issue.

deathanatos 8y ago
> A ganglion is likely not due to keyboard use or similar stress, but simply a small tear in the sheath. The small tear in the sheath is, effectively, the ganglion. (A ganglion cyst, for others reading this, is a tear in a tendon through which joint fluid exits, when it should not. The fluid is in a pouch, so it doesn't go anywhere, but the pouch being pushed through the tear by the fluid causes a bulge wherever this is on your body.) To say that's the cause is like saying the cause of a laceration is that the skin is broken. It's true, but it's not particularly enlightening. The question is what causes that tear to arise in the first place, and trauma and repeated strain are theories (though it seems medical science does not actually know the root cause of ganglions). So, it could be coincidence, but I was already having general wrist pain and numbness, and managing my keyboard use better solved both. > FWIW my mum (a GP) used to just whack them with a book. My research brought me across this home "remedy" very quickly. Modern medical science does not recommend this. (Mostly due to the risk of causing other injury to the area.)