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I started experiencing similar forearm pain a few years ago. The split keyboard seemed to help a ton. I also programmed[0] an Arduino with two foot pedals. Left

I started experiencing similar forearm pain a few years ago. The split keyboard seemed to help a ton. I also programmed[0] an Arduino with two foot pedals. Left pedal for CTRL, right for SHIFT, both for ALT. Worked wonders. I mostly have the pain manageable now, but it still flares up sometimes, and it was really scary there for a while wondering if I might have to stop programming. To you young guns out there, an ounce of prevention truly is worth a pound of cure. Invest in an ergonomic setup and stretches/exercises now, and don't push yourself into pain while typing. Take more breaks. Once you push your body over the edge it may never quite be the same. [0]: https://github.com/anderspitman/ergo-pedals https://github.com/anderspitman/ergo-pedals

thewakalix 3y ago
What if you need to press all three "keys" simultaneously?
- devinprater 3y ago
  He probably doesn't use Emacs. :)
  - dingnuts 3y ago
    wow you woke up today and chose violence, didn't ya?
  - yetanotherasian 3y ago
    I know what you mean. I was forced to use emacs for a year. I found it an interesting coincidence the person who forced emacs on us had the worst carpal tunnel syndrome and couldn't type on a standard keyboard without extreme pain. I know you can remap your keys but there's inertia to just go with what you're given. I've also noticed myself switching between Mac, Windows, and Linux, that Cmd-C on my Mac is way less stressful on my hand than Ctrl-C on the other 2 machines. I should probably figure out how to remap those. PS: If you're curious how emacs was forced, it was because the lead built the project's IDE/build/debugging system into emacs
    - pault 3y ago
      Try a keyboard running QMK firmware. You can map a single key to multiple codes depending on the length of the key press. I use caps lock as escape if released immediately, and control if held down. Putting the modifiers in the bottom corner of the keyboard was a sadistic design choice.
      - imp0cat 3y ago
        Or evil mode.
      - Brian_K_White 3y ago
        "escape if released immediately, and control if held down" Elegant. And I mean for those two particular modifiers with that relationship, not just the idea in general.
- Brian_K_White 3y ago
  The same keys still exist on the keyboard. There is also such a thing as a compose key sequence where you press a few things serially rather than all at once. There are countless answers to this question really.
xmcqdpt2 3y ago
I remapped the modifiers on my keyboard such that the bottom row is Win - Alt - Ctrl - Space - Ctrl - Alt - Win This is so that I can use my thumbs for Ctrl and index fingers for Alt. I taught myself to use the opposite side modifiers every time (using the right control for Ctrl-S). This got rid of the vast majority of unergonomic keystrokes for me.

thewakalix 3y ago

What if you need to press all three "keys" simultaneously?

devinprater 3y ago
He probably doesn't use Emacs. :)
- dingnuts 3y ago
  wow you woke up today and chose violence, didn't ya?
- yetanotherasian 3y ago
  I know what you mean. I was forced to use emacs for a year. I found it an interesting coincidence the person who forced emacs on us had the worst carpal tunnel syndrome and couldn't type on a standard keyboard without extreme pain. I know you can remap your keys but there's inertia to just go with what you're given. I've also noticed myself switching between Mac, Windows, and Linux, that Cmd-C on my Mac is way less stressful on my hand than Ctrl-C on the other 2 machines. I should probably figure out how to remap those. PS: If you're curious how emacs was forced, it was because the lead built the project's IDE/build/debugging system into emacs
  - pault 3y ago
    Try a keyboard running QMK firmware. You can map a single key to multiple codes depending on the length of the key press. I use caps lock as escape if released immediately, and control if held down. Putting the modifiers in the bottom corner of the keyboard was a sadistic design choice.
    - imp0cat 3y ago
      Or evil mode.
    - Brian_K_White 3y ago
      "escape if released immediately, and control if held down" Elegant. And I mean for those two particular modifiers with that relationship, not just the idea in general.
Brian_K_White 3y ago
The same keys still exist on the keyboard. There is also such a thing as a compose key sequence where you press a few things serially rather than all at once. There are countless answers to this question really.

xmcqdpt2 3y ago

I remapped the modifiers on my keyboard such that the bottom row is Win - Alt - Ctrl - Space - Ctrl - Alt - Win This is so that I can use my thumbs for Ctrl and index fingers for Alt. I taught myself to use the opposite side modifiers every time (using the right control for Ctrl-S). This got rid of the vast majority of unergonomic keystrokes for me.