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Are your shoulders tired at the end of the day? Do you experience pain in your arms or wrists when you spend a day at your computer? Try these tips for protecting yourself from pain and injury during your time on a keyboard.

Confirm proper keyboard placement. Place your keyboard flat, or slightly sloping away from your body with the back lower than the front. Never raise the back of the keyboard. The best height is about two inches above your legs, slightly below your elbows. The space bar on your keyboard should be perfectly centered to your body. A keyboard tray can make this placement easy and can be adjusted to fit any user.

Improve your posture. Remember your mom telling you to sit straight? She was right. Good posture is the most important key to pain-free typing. Make sure your chair properly supports your back. If not, additional lumbar support is easy to add.

Keep your wrists straight. Your arms and hand should form a straight line starting at your elbow, through your wrist and down to your middle finger. Never bend your wrists to the side, or up and down, in order to reach a higher key, or to use your mouse.

Float your hands. The correct posture for your hand and wrists is floating or hovering over the keys. Never rest them on your desk or wrist rest while you are typing.

Only rest on your palms. Between typing stints you can support the weight of your hands on the ball of your hands. Never place weight directly on the wrists; any surface pressure on the wrists can injure the sensitive carpal tunnel area.

Press the keys lightly. There is no need to pound on the keys. Most keyboards require very little pressure to register a keystroke. This one tip can save you significant muscle wear in your hands and wrists throughout the day.

Never stretch for a key. If your hands are properly floating over the keys, it should be an easy motion to move your entire hand and arm until you fingers hover over the needed key. To reduce the wear and strain on your muscles and tendons, never stretch your fingers to reach higher keys.

Curve your hands. As you float over the keys, with your wrists and arms forming a straight line, curving your hands into a loose ball comes almost naturally. Be careful to follow this rule specifically with your thumb and smallest finger.

Use two hands for two-key combos. If you need the Shift key (or Ctrl or Alt), always press it with the opposite hand than the one for the letter key. Using only one hand for two simultaneous keystrokes can stress the tendons in your wrist and hands.