alt Hacker NewsOne thing I internalised when speaking with a physiotherapist is that part of avoiding serious issues is making sure you don't stay in the _same_ position for too long. One good ergonomic position is an excellent start, but changing your position several times throughout the work day is even better. This apparently helps avoid building up strain and inflammation in pinch points, balancing out the fatiguing action more.
I have found that my Ergodox allows me to juggle my keyboard halves around the desk at different angles and spaced apart at different widths, and I can put my trackball either to the right of everything or between the halves. It's a single anecdote, obviously, but I have been able to make my ulnar and carpal entrapment issues mostly go away by finding better positions while working and by not staying stuck in one posture or position for too long at a time.
I'm using an old Marquardt Mini Ergo(modded to ps/2-usb meanwhile) which is split, but fixed. Either I am so used to it by now, that I don't want to use anything else, but that is not how I remember it when I got it around the year 2000, or slightly before that. It felt like it was made for me!
But I'm not sitting like a robot in front of it. My office chair is set to sviveling back, which I often do. I'm even exchanging that chair for an inflatable big rubber ball to sit on, from time to time.