Last February I could not hold a coffee mug with my right hand. Not because it was heavy — because my wrist hurt so much that any grip at all sent a sharp pain up my forearm. I had been typing 10 hours a day for months and my body finally called it.

I saw a physical therapist. I fixed my setup. I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. But here is what worked for me.

The Problem Is Not Your Wrist — It Is Your Shoulders

This was the first thing my PT told me and it blew my mind. Wrist pain from typing is almost always referred pain from tension in the shoulders, neck, and upper back. When your shoulders are hunched forward, the nerves that run from your neck down to your fingers get compressed. Your wrist hurts, but the source is 18 inches upstream.

Fix your chair height first. Your elbows should be at a 90-degree angle when your hands are on the keyboard. If your elbows are lower than your wrists, you are bending your wrists upward to compensate — and that pinches the carpal tunnel. Raise your chair until your forearms are parallel to the floor.

The Keyboard Tilt Nobody Talks About

Most keyboards have little flip-out legs that tilt the keyboard up — toward you. This is ergonomically backwards. Tilting the keyboard up forces your wrists to bend backward (extension), which narrows the carpal tunnel. You want the keyboard flat or slightly tilted away from you — negative tilt. Some keyboard trays let you do this. I just removed the legs from my keyboard entirely.

If you use a wrist rest, use it for the palms, not the wrists. Resting your actual wrist joint on anything while typing compresses the carpal tunnel. Your palms should float above the rest. The rest is for breaks between typing, not during.

Three Stretches I Do Every Hour

I set a timer. Every 60 minutes, I stand up and do these three stretches. Takes 90 seconds.

1. Prayer stretch: Press your palms together in front of your chest, fingers pointing up. Slowly lower your hands toward your waist while keeping your palms pressed together. You should feel a stretch across the underside of your wrists. Hold 20 seconds.
2. Reverse prayer: Extend one arm straight out, palm up. Use your other hand to gently pull the fingers down and back toward the floor. This stretches the top of the wrist and forearm. Hold 20 seconds per arm.
3. Doorway pec stretch: Stand in a doorway, arms out to the sides like a T, elbows bent 90 degrees, palms facing forward against the doorframe. Lean forward slightly. This opens up the chest and shoulders — which takes pressure off the nerves running to your hands. Hold 30 seconds.

When to See Someone

If you have numbness or tingling in your fingers — especially the thumb, index, and middle fingers — that is nerve involvement. If it wakes you up at night, or if you notice you are dropping things more than usual — do not wait. See a doctor or physical therapist. Carpal tunnel syndrome is treatable if caught early, and much harder to fix if you ignore it for a year.