Why buy? Well the obvious answer for every computer user is: Loftmat mouse pads provide ridiculously amazing comfort (which also creates a little happiness). ...but they can help you in other ways than just comfort.
In summary, Loftmat products bring a sound solution to the health problems caused by using a wrist-rest mouse pad, a flat rubber mousepad, or no mousepad at all.
Below is a brief summary of some of the scientific reasons why a Loftmat's design exceeds in benefits when compared to the other options available.
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There is an ergonomic science behind what Loftmat has engineered. We have researched the science of proper ergonomics and also the detailed causes of our wrist and elbow nerve pains; but then we also studied what most of us do realistically with ideal ergonomics on a daily basis - and it isn't pretty. Loftmat products were born out of this research.
Much of what certified ergonomic specialists (not just hear-say sites) have spoken about arm posture has been lost in translation. Now the prevailing partial word on the street is usually only about buying a product to raise your arm slightly to neutralize your wrist positioning. This is what has driven the market to produce wrist rests made of gel, bead, rubber, dense foam, wood, etc. and this isn't the whole truth of what we need to do to be safe/safer. As many Amazon.com wrist-rest reviewers have experienced, it is dangerous without the rest of the instruction or understanding. This has led to a lasting discussion over whether it is safer to use a wrist rest or nothing at all. For a concise explanation by a 3rd party of this, the certified ergonomic specialist group Humantech posted this evaluation on their website: https://www.humantech.com/two-things-to-consider-when-using-a-mouse-padwrist-rest/.
Ultimately, what ergonomic scientists say and desire is that to achieve the ideal ergonomic safe setup, there should be no contact anywhere with one's wrists at all. In a perfect world, our hands when using a computer should be hovering in the air at the proper angles - but also while not straining the shoulder and neck muscles.
So, with proper arm posture overly summarized above, the realistic problem with this ideal of no-contact-with-the-desk is: just about everyone will eventually rest their hands and arms on a desk. Our bodies (and brain too) will always naturally fall to the state of least energy expenditure. This is actually a truly amazing energy-saving survival mechanism. It is built into us and impossible to stop. So naturally, when we aren't thinking about posture, we likely backslide a little (or a lot) on what is proper. (Right now, are you sitting up straight? Arms, monitor, desk, foot rest, and chair heights proper? Wrists, arms, or elbows not resting on anything? Distance of keyboard and chair and mouse all perfect?) I hope you said yes to all those things being proper (good for you!), but likely not. It is just the unfortunate reality of survival. This said, this is where Loftmat can help.
1. Instead of having a localized pressure point caused by a wrist-rest when you do inevitably relax on it unconsciously, when using a Loftmat, your hand will rest on something like pillow that dissipates pressure points to a large supporting area while still allowing for productivity.
2. Using a Loftmat does improve the neutral angle when compared with using a simple flat rubber mouse pad or no mouse pad because a Loftmat allows the arm to sink into it.
3. The Loftmat significantly relieves the damaging pressure points that a hard desk or rubber mouse pad would normally cause.
4. A wrist rest typically restricts our wrists to have to bend and flick back and forth more often than using no wrist rest - which is a major second aspect to carpal tunnel causes, but using a Loftmat still allows for free motion to help minimize this.
To summarize what all this means: We have simply designed our products to satisfy both sides of the "wrist-rest or no wrist-rest" debate. We can all now say "neither option", buy a Loftmat! Then, when we do reduce ourselves in the real world to the state of least energy expenditure, we can at least have a product underneath our wrists that allows for free movement, reduced angles, and will help keep our blood flow, nerves, and tendons a little less compressed and healthier. ...And if healing happens, all the better. Loftmat is indeed built around safety science, but practically, it's super comfy! We hope you are greatly helped and made happier by the products we bring you.
Editor's Note: In saying everything above about the realistic nature of ergonomics, we absolutely do not condone bad ergonomic configurations or posture, and our products will not save you from bad ergonomic practices. Always do everything you can to be safe and healthy, and our products may be able to help you with that goal through the not ideal realistic nature of life.
