There are some limitations to this keyboard: Should I lose the dongle connecting my device to the laptop, for example, it’s impossible to replace - but the perks to using such a comfortable keyboard outweigh that minor risk for me, especially since it never leaves my desk. The whole setup in general is a little bulky, accounting for the tenkey pad and the wrist rest, but its ergonomics allow me to sit in a more natural position during my work day and preserve my joints. My tendons aren’t putting in extra effort reaching for keys during my eight plus hours of daily computer use, most of that typing. The Sculpt’s wrist rest slopes my wrists to a wholly natural angle so I can work without worry of both short-term and long-term damage to my wrists.

The ergonomic design convinced me to purchase it, as well as its membrane switches, which promised hours of quiet typing and required less pressure from my joints to activate the key switches.įull disclosure: my wrist pain disappeared after I made this swap, though it wasn’t overnight. My sister suggested the Microsoft Sculpt Keyboard, a split-keyboard design with a built-in wrist rest that she uses for her home working station. I’m also not a fan of any mechanical keyboards - they’re too loud and bulky for my taste - and so I looked for a membrane switch keyboard, which I personally feel doesn’t require as much force to activate the switches. My diagnosis showed me that I was inadvertently forcing my tendons and muscles to work harder while typing, resulting in aches and pains in as little as a half an hour. For me, typing at any angle meant I unnecessarily pressured my joints. My laptop’s keyboard had me curve my wrists at about a 45-degree angle to reach all the keys, and studies have shown that typing at angles may lead to long-term damage. My keyboard needed to change if I didn’t want my career to change.

I loved my laptop for its portability, but the long hours typing on its flat keyboard left me struggling to finish writing projects without intense pain. After a much-needed hypermobility diagnosis, my chronic hand and wrist pain helped me realize I had to revamp my computer workspace if I wanted to keep writing.

Microsoft sculpt on mac