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Suggestions for an Ergonomic Mouse?
pawul13 asks: "I've seen lots of articles and suggestions on ergonomic keyboards (and I have the excellent kinesis version, which helps tremendously), but what about mice? I'm currently experiencing a lot of pain, but only in my 'mouse' wrist. I have a semi-ergo Logitech, but it's not doing it. Does anyone have suggestions for the best ergo mouse (Trackball, optical, whatever, it doesn't matter)?" There was a similar question from January, but it may have been too limited.
Wacom has a wonderful selection of writing tablets for various uses (web designer, artist, general use, etc...) and I have found it to be quit relaxing and natural to use, especially if you grew up using pencil and paper to do things. According to their website, it helps reduce Repetitive Stress Injury, and they have several testimonials to that effect.
This is actually made by 3M. Its called the 3M(TM) Ergonomic Mouse, you can find it at many retailers.
t nG=Search+Froogle
http://www.3m.com/ergonomics/ergonomicmouse.jhtml
Comes in two size, small/medium and large.
I used one for a summer when I was an intern at SGI. It really reduces wrist pain, but its a bit "slower" and takes about 2 weeks to get used to it. Seems less precise than a regular mouse too.
A Froogle finds average price about $50.
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=EM500GPS-AM&b
Bobby
Having a mouse that is comfortable for you is important (and highly dependent on personal preference), but how you use it is even more important. Many people end up gripping the mouse tightly, angling their hand up, and using the wrist for side to side motion too much. A light touch, letting the mouse go when not using it, and using your entire arm will help quite a bit. Also, just taking short breaks every 30 minutes to an hour will really help.
The FingerWorks iGesture touchpad is a zero force, no button, standard USB interface mouse that has none of the annoying features of standard touchpads and is just as efficient as a standard mouse with none of the strain.
It uses different finger combinations to trigger different mouse functions such as left click, right click, drag, scroll wheel, and so on. It can sense which fingers you are using, and most importantly, it doesn't trigger mouse motion when you accidentally brush your hand against it because it can tell the difference between your fingers and your hand.
The iGesture pad is good enough to recommend even to people without wrist pain. But for anyone who actually is suffering physical strain from mouse use, it's almost a no-brainer.
(I have no relationship to FingerWorks except as a user of their products.)
There are more than 100 different medical problems that the lower arm/wrist/hands can have. What will solve one problem may make a different one worse. You have to find what works for you. The ideas that others have poster may help. If your case is bad enough a good doctor might be able to help too.
Some things that might help (in addition to what others have said): learn piano. Seriously, a good piano teacher will sit over you with a ruler and give you a good whack every time your poster gets off, take these habits to the computer and you better off. Note too that musicans have been facing problems like this for years (hundreds if not thousands), so if after getting the advice of your piano teacher it doesn't go away, you they can often recommend doctors who know more about this type of problem than the average doctor.
Get a big trackball and place it on the floor. Rig up some foot pedals (at least for the left button...), and train your feet to do the work. You will still need a mouse for precision work, but this can take a lot of load off your hands.
Stretch. Search the web and you will come up with a bunch of hand stretches. I find they help me, they might help you.
Get in shape. Exercise can help in surprising ways, so if you are not in shape do it.
Take a vacation. When my wrist problems got the worst, nothing was helping. After a week in the backcountry in a canoe I came back with no pain. All those tricks I was doing before prevented the problems from coming back. I needed time to heal though before they would work.
Remember, nobody here is a medical doctor. Seek professional help if you need it. If things are getting worse stop.