If you want or need a palm rest for working with your Mac, the US$25 Keychron K2 Walnut Wood Palm Rest is an attractive one, though I wouldn’t mind if it were a bit slimmer (it’s 12.48 x 3.15 x 0.59 inches and weights 8.82 ounces.
It’s made of American walnut wood and offers wrist support when you’re using your keyboard.
So why is it called a “palm rest” and not a “wrist rest”? In an article about setting up your workspace ergonomically, Kevin Costello, president of United States Ergonomics, explained:
In the vast majority of cases, wrist rests do not provide any significant ergonomic benefit and in fact will usually increase the number of risk factors for injury in your computer workstation. The reason is that if you ‘rest’ your ‘wrist’ on any type of support, be it foam, gel, webbing, cloth, etc. you are applying pressure to the underside of your wrist which will compress the tissues, resulting in decreased blood flow. More specifically, you can compress the carpal tunnel and possibly pinch the median nerve, which can lead not only to long term injury, but short term symptoms such as tingling, numbness or coldness in the hands, and finger muscles which fatigue quicker due to reduced circulation.
However, if you use a palm support properly, that can be good, because it reduces the possibility of extending your wrists and experiencing reduced blood flow. Palm rests, when used properly, help to keep the wrists in a healthy posture while reducing potential tension and stress in the shoulders and neck by equally supporting the weight of the arms at the hands.
If you’re having no problems, you likely don’t need a palm rest. If you do, the one from Keychron looks great and is reasonably priced.
Apple World Today Rating (out of 5 stars): ★★★★
