- So I've been struggling with a repetitive stress injury,
or RSI on my right elbow for coming up on four years now.
This started back in early 2019,
and just progressively got worse over eight months,
and even worse beyond that.
Now in trying to figure out exactly
what was causing all of this,
I spent a long time trying a lot of different things
to try and just ease the pain or make it go away.
I mean, my elbow and almost everything I did
with my hand and arm hurt,
like it got so bad to the point that
I couldn't even pick up a YETI cup,
and I couldn't even pull bedsheets over me at night,
or take the pillow from behind my head and lift it up.
There was just almost no strength left in my right hand,
it was incredibly debilitating,
incredibly debilitating.
Now the good news is I have found a solution
to my RSI on my elbow,
and maybe it can help you too.
Now, during the time of trying to figure out
what was going on with my elbow,
I of course assumed that maybe it was coming from the mouse.
So I did all kinds of things to try and remediate that,
including using a vertical mouse,
and different trackball mice,
and even Apple's external Magic Trackpad,
but none of those seemed to make a difference.
I tried all of the things that people usually try
when they have tennis elbow, or tendonitis,
including a strap that goes around your arm,
and up here, and I've tried a splint,
I've tried over-the-counter pain medication, topical creams,
and I even went and got three different cortisone injections
at different times throughout more than three years.
Not only that, I spent eight months in physical therapy
with a hand specialist at least twice a week
to try and figure out what was going on with my elbow.
So finally at the beginning of 2021, I had two options left.
There was exploratory surgery
which wow, and there was this thing called PRP,
or platelet rich plasma,
where essentially they take blood out of you,
they spin it in some kind of thing
and it separates the platelets,
and then they inject the platelets back into my elbow.
That hurt, a lot.
None of that helped.
Now, what solved my issue was really unexpected.
I really had no idea that this was
causing the issue in my arm,
and it has to do with the mouse and the keyboard
being side-by-side.
Yes, I found that basically having the mouse over here
and spending 6 to 10 hours a day,
or sometimes more on the computer,
and going back and forth and using the mouse,
this was causing me a lot of pain.
I don't really know why I switched things up,
but I stopped using the M1 iMac
sometime around the summer of 2021,
and went back to my 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro.
For some reason, I just decided to put the laptop
on the desk with a big display behind it,
instead of using the external keyboard and mouse.
In this setup, the keyboard and trackpad
are directly in front of you,
eliminating the need to move your arm
out to the side to use the mouse.
And I did not realize it at the time in mid 2021,
that this was actually starting
to relieve the issues in my elbow.
Having the keyboard and trackpad directly in front of me
alleviates any need for me to go to this side
to grab a mouse, and to scroll, and all that stuff.
Also, it allows me the ability to just
give my right hand a break,
and use my left hand every now and then
so I can scroll with my left hand.
Plus you get the added benefit of actually having
Mac OS gestures when using a trackpad with the Mac.
Now, because I do what I do,
I go through a lot of different computers.
I go through laptops, and desktops,
and even different desk setups all the time.
So the relief that I was getting
from my elbow was short-lived.
Now, it was not until Apple released the 2021 MacBook Pro,
well, this is a MacBook Air, but the 2021 MacBook Pro
is when I started using a laptop nearly full-time.
So between November of 2021,
and when the Mac Studio came out,
I was mostly exclusively using a Mac laptop
as my primary computer,
and my elbow was seeing a lot of improvement.
When the Mac Studio came out, I went to the Mac Studio setup
with the Studio display and an external keyboard and mouse,
and guess what? Yeah, the pain came back.
So I finally started to piece everything together,
and I realized that I couldn't use an external
keyboard and mouse, and go back and forward,
no matter what the mouse was,
no matter what the keyboard was, my arm was gonna hurt.
The only relief I got was using a keyboard
and trackpad setup right in front of me.
So I ended up selling the Mac Studio,
and I've pretty much been on a laptop
as my full-time computer since then.
Now as it turns out, this setup is actually really good
to have this display and a bigger display behind it
because then you get two screens,
and you actually get to utilize the beautiful display
of the 14-inch MacBook Pro, or 16-inch MacBook Pro,
or even heck, the M2 Air, along with a bigger display.
But I was curious, was there something that would allow me
to have this setup, or something similar
to use with a desktop computer?
Is there something that could bring me back
to the Mac Studio?
Cause I want that power.
So I started cruising the internet,
and eventually I came across two options on Etsy
that allow you to use an Apple Magic Keyboard
and an Apple Magic Trackpad
in a setup similar to a MacBook Pro.
So I picked up one of each,
and this is the tré 2 by PurposeMadeProducts,
and this is the 2021 Keyboard MacBook 16 size
by XDDesignStudio.
And as you can see, they're different.
Starting with the tré 2,
this is a white PVC plastic that is very lightweight,
it's got cork desk protectors on the bottom,
and you can see these channels right here,
and that's for connecting a lightning cable
to the Magic Trackpad or to the Magic Keyboard
so you can actually use them plugged in,
or use them for charging, or whatever.
Side note, if you did not know that you can actually
use the trackpad and the Magic Keyboard
plugged in with USB, you can.
So if you're having Bluetooth issues
with things cutting out, or kind of a jerky mouse,
try plugging it in.
So the Magic Trackpad and keyboard just slide
right into these slots, and now gives you
essentially a MacBook style setup.
You get a full-size function row
with all the keys that you want, plus touch id,
and you get that giant trackpad,
and it works pretty well.
The oddly name 2021 Tray MacBook 16 size
from XDDesignSolutions is completely different,
it is a clear hard acrylic that's CNC milled,
and it's got a bit of heft to it.
Now they call it the MacBook 16 size
because the dimensions of this tray
are almost the exact same as the 16-inch MacBook Pro,
which works out pretty well because the trackpad
is essentially the exact same size as a 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Now, as you can see,
it's a little difficult to get it out of the tré 2,
you probably just need to flip it over like that.
Conversely, on this keyboard tray,
you actually have a finger hole to push the device out.
So as you can see, the keyboard and the trackpad
fit nicely in this keyboard tray.
There is a little bit of a lip around the trackpad
on this model, I'm not sure exactly why.
But underneath the keyboard and the trackpad,
you actually have these magnets right here,
and this is an optional add-on
that you can add to this keyboard tray,
so you can actually stick magnets to the back of this thing
to hold these in, make it a little bit more secure
if you're worried about these things falling out.
But really honestly, if this thing is just
sitting on a desk, I don't think you have to worry
about these things going anywhere.
Now both of these trays are good options
for a laptop like desk setup,
if that's something that you need.
The palm rests are a good size,
it just really comes down to a matter of aesthetics.
This one is pretty cool 'cause you see basically
whatever's underneath your desk,
and I've even seen pictures of lights surrounding this,
and the lights just kind of bleed through the glass
and it looks pretty cool.
So you can get kind of creative with the design underneath,
or on the sides of this model right here.
And the last thing about these keyboard trays
is that they both come with palm rejection devices.
So if you're somebody who struggles
with palms hitting the trackpad,
and your cursor moving around when you're trying to type,
this one has a clear plastic one
just like the outer casing to go around it,
so gives you a little bit more room
to put your hands on the keyboard
without touching the trackpad.
And for the tré 2, you have this clear plastic
with an adhesive on the back to protect your palms
from activating the trackpad on this one.
And yes, just like with the laptops,
this solution does help alleviate my elbow pain.
So with all of that said, this type of setup
has essentially resolved my RSI, not 100%,
but at least 80 to 90% better most of the time.
Sometimes I have flareups,
and sometimes I know I have to take a little bit of a break,
but for the most part, this has solved
the majority of my issues,
and I can actually live a regular life with my hand,
which, you know, that's kind of nice.
But I'm curious about you guys.
Have you been experiencing arm pain like I have?
Have you found another solution that works?
Let me know below.
And if you're looking for a new laptop,
because you know, you're trying to solve your RSI,
you can actually get one from the Refurb Apple Store
most likely, by checking out this video right over here.
Hit the thumbs up button if you liked it,
hit subscribe if you want, and I'll see you next time.