I remember that May morning well. The year was 1993. I walked into my office, sat down before my desk and started typing. At 9:15, from nowhere, a slashing pain started from my fingertips in my left hand and rapidly spread up my left arm straight to my heart. The pain was excruciating. I thought I was having a heart attack. I was short of breath and scared.
I stopped typing, grabbed my left wrist and called, “Lisa!”
Lisa, my wife, responded, “What’s wrong?”
“I think I am having a heart attack!”
Lisa quickly ran up the steps to my office.
I told her about the pain and dizziness. The pain started spreading into my right fingers, elbow and wrist.
She called our family doctor and described the symptoms. He told her to bring me in immediately. She did.
After a physical the doctor said, “John, you have developed carpal tunnel syndrome or CTS.”
What is CTS? At the base of the palm is a tight canal or “tunnel” through which tendons and nerves must pass on their way from the forearm to the hand and fingers. The nerve that passes through this narrow tunnel to reach the hand is called the Median Nerve. This narrow passage between the forearm and hand is “The Carpal Tunnel.” The Carpal Tunnel is snug, with barely room in it for the tendons and nerves that have to pass through it. If anything takes up extra room in the canal, things become too tight and the nerve in the canal becomes constricted or “pinched.” This pinching of the nerve causes numbness and tingling in the area of the hand that the nerve travels to. CTS results when the Median Nerve is being pinched.
I asked my doctor questions about the effects CTS might have on my life. Since I was a writer, was my livelihood in jeopardy? Was there any known treatment for it? Did I have to take medication? Was surgery involved?
He answered them and said, “You can either have surgery to relieve the pain or you can use an alternative keyboard.”
The Keyboard
Finding the right keyboard has been a struggle. I am not a fan of the QWERTY standard keyboard in any form. And I have tried and tried many keyboards. The last count was 10.
Early on in my battle with CTS, I tried keyboards with large keys. For me, they seemed designed more for children or for people with cerebral palsy or individuals with other disabilities. I have friends with CP who use keyboards with large keys and like them. I am pleased it works for them. I kept the keyboard for a week and discarded it. The large letters were eye-popping, and I could not type more than 10 words a minute. And my CTS still flared up.
I tried the split and adjustable-height keyboards. They still required pressure to type and a different style table. Regardless of the keyboard design, I still had to use the same format. My fingers and wrists were still moving and the CTS flared up. And I was taking medication to reduce the swelling in my wrists and medication to reduce the pain.
Fourteen months ago, I started using the orbiTouch keyless keyboard (www.orbiTouch.com). I saw the keyboard two years ago at the Assistive Technology Industry Association’s 3rd Annual Conference in Orlando. When I realized what it was, my clairvoyance saw a possible end to my search for a keyboard to help me.
The orbiTouch is comprised of two domes where the hands rest when using it. I keyboard by sliding the two domes into one of their eight respective positions simultaneously. Before I started using it, I had CTS flare-ups almost daily. I was told by an orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jim Stokes in Washington, DC, that the “orbiTouch is designed to reduce the motions that lead to repetitive stress injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome because it uses the hand and arm instead of the fingers to type, thereby eliminating finger and wrist motions.” He said he saw a user benefit to quadriplegics unable to use a standard keyboard effectively.
The orbiTouch is the same size as a traditional keyboard. It fits neatly onto my typing tray, and I perform word processing activities using my arms and hands instead of my fingers. It was easy to learn to use and connects to my PC and laptop. Before I started using it, I was deeply skeptical that it could reduce my CTS flare-ups and produce other benefits. In the time I have used it, I have not had a single flare up, and I use it five hours or more daily. When I do not have flare-ups, I do not have to take pain medication. In the past, I took antiinflammatory medication regularly when I had flare-ups. I have not taken medication is two months.
The keyboard has a 128-position capability (8 motions on the left dome x 8 movements on the right dome x 2 movements up or down on the left dome). A built in mouse is in the right dome. To change from typing to mouse mode and vice versa, I click the right dome. When using it, my typing speed is 38 words per minute.
I have seen quadriplegics demonstrate the orbiTouch. After spending 30 minutes with it, Howard Kaline, a quadriplegic told me, “This is the future. I can easily use the orbiTouch for employment.” The orbiTouch may be in his future. It can certainly be in the future of other quadriplegics.
