I live in the city and prefer walking everywhere I can, partly because parking is always such a hassle.  Still, I do find myself driving pretty often (and have become a master parker, if I do say so myself), so today, let’s talk about the ergonomics of driving.

A few months ago, I came across The Palm Rest.  As a hand therapist and ergonomist, it was lust at first sight!  When I installed The Palm Rest onto my steering wheel, my hands were extremely comfortable — so comfortable, in fact, that I didn’t want to move them.  Turning at the corner of my street was quite a scene.  I found myself leaning into the passenger side, trying to turn the steering wheel without moving my hands.  That driving technique is not recommended, really!

So what’s the appeal of The Palm Rest?  The first thing I noticed is how well it contours and supports the basal joint of the hand – the joint at the bottom of your thumb by the wrist (also known as the CMC joint or carpo-metacarpal joint).  This joint takes a lot of heat for all the abuse we give our hands.  It’s no surprise that as we age, many of us get osteoarthritis of that joint.  Supporting the basal joint allows the thumb to maintain a better alignment and for the hand to be stronger.

The other good thing about The Palm Rest is that it neutralizes the wrists.  Any time the wrists are straight as opposed to bent, the forearm muscles work less to maintain a position.  Still, a little wrist extension – wrist bent up slightly – is biomechanically desirable to generate more grip strength.  Try it — bend your wrist up and make a fist, compared to keeping your wrist straight and making a fist, or even worse, with the wrist bent down and making a fist.  When driving, despite the traffic and the annoying drivers, you really shouldn’t grip the life out of your steering wheel.  So keeping the wrists straight is a good way of reducing tension in the forearms.

While the design of your steering wheel may somewhat dictate where you’ll be able to install The Palm Rest, there should be room for flexibility.

In general, driving instructors recommend keeping the hands at 2 and 10 o’clock.  While I agree that this is the best position to control the steering wheel — especially with city driving, where multiple sharp turns may be needed — it’s not the best position for your arms, shoulders and neck for a long drive.

Anytime your arms are reaching in front of you, where your elbows are actually in front of your body, there is more stress on your shoulders, arms and neck muscles.   So when driving, it’s preferable to keep the hands at 3 and 9 o’clock or even 4 and 8 o’clock.  Assuming that you’re sitting close enough to your steering wheel, these positions allow you to have the upper arms closer to the body, reducing extraneous effort in the shoulders, upper back and neck.  The forearm will also be in a more neutral position – sideways with the thumb facing up — which reduces the stress on your forearms and hands.

Depending on your driving needs and comfort, position The Palm Rest on your steering wheel at 2 & 10, 3 & 9 or 4 & 8 o’clock.  Feel free to play with the angle of The Palm Rest as it sits on the steering wheel.  I found that having the rests sideways — so that my palms are somewhat facing each other rather than the dash board — gave me a better wrist and forearm position.

Toddy, who gets to try all my new ergonomic gadgets, is not a fan of this one.  I must admit that as I move my hands on the steering wheel, the Palm Rest does get in the way a little, but I still think that this product has good ergonomic attributes.  It can make driving more comfortable for a lot of people, especially if you have hand, wrist, forearm or elbow pain.