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Do your shoulders ache after a day of typing? Do your hands or wrists hurt when you spend too much time on your computer? Here are a few tips for staying pain-free while typing.

Adjust your keyboard location. 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. It should rest about two inches above your legs, about an inch below your elbow height. Always center the space bar to your body. A keyboard tray can make this placement easy and can be adjusted to fit any user.

Use good posture. Remember your mom telling you to sit straight? She was right. Good posture is the most important key to pain-free typing. Your chair is the foundation of your posture. Make sure you have enough support for your back.

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. They should not be resting on your desk or other surface while you are typing.

Remove pressure from your wrists. Between typing stints you can relax the weight of your hands and arms on your palms. Do not allow any direct pressure on the wrists, or you risk injuring the carpal tunnel area.

Press the keys gently. There is no need to pound on the keys. Most keyboards require very little pressure to register a keystroke. This one change in your habits can significantly reduce the muscle strain in your hands and arms.

Never stretch for a key. When your hands loosely hover over the keyboard, it should feel natural to move your entire arm and hand to press the needed key. By stretching or straining to press higher keys, you add wear on your muscles and tendons.

Keep your fingers bent. Hold your hand loosely almost like you are holding a golf ball. Be especially careful that you don't allow your littlest finger or your thumb to lock straight.

Use two hands for two-key combos. In typing class, they always stress using both hands whenever you need the Shift key; press Shift with one hand and the letter with the opposite hand. Trying to perform these actions with one hand will cause unnecessary wear and muscle strain.