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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.
The best mouse is symmetrical, and works left-handed and right-handed both. It either has no scroll-wheel, or has a very low wheel so it isn't bumped all the time when reaching the index finger to the left mouse button (I'm tired of having to gouge out the scroll wheel because it is always getting in the way of simple mouse clicks)
One of the ladies here at work complained about her wrist being sore from being at a PC for 8 hours a day. We gave her a trackball, and I have not seen her extension # show up on my phone since.
Give it a shot.
Still waiting for the thought-controlled input device, but then I guess that will just give you a headache instead :-)
Actually, there was a short segment on Daily Planet the other day that mentioned mouse hand pains. They stated that researchers had determined that just moving your mouse to the other side of the keyboard and using your other hand was enough to make a lot of the pains go away and never come back!
Basic idea: you reach past your number keys to get to the mouse, so moving to the other side reduces hand travel to get there. And anyone can adapt to the mouse on the other side, even without changing buttons... Try it, and you may not have to spend money to solve your problems.
Anyway...
On Arrakis: early worm gets the bird. Magister mundi sum!
I dunno, those kinds of interface devices always look like they would cause a bad case of gorilla arm.
Also, I agree with another poster that a large part of the problem is because of that silly numeric keypad wasting 6" of space past the right side of my keyboard. Might be worth finding a keyboard without that (course, they're really useful when typing numbers, but that's another matter).
I also suspect that a lot of extra effort is put into pressing , since it's so far away. I've actually adapted into pressing ^H by habit. But that doesn't always work: brings up browser history, etc. Also, if you accidentally type rm -rf / and mean to hit ^H but miss and hit ^J....
an ergonomic mouse forces your hand to always have the exact same position. Hence, the movements will always be the same and repetitive.
You'd be best off with the old amiga mouses or something: square. You'd end up shifting your hand from time to time since it's uncomfortable, in the long run it's more comforatble.
the pun is mightier than the sword
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeybo
Yeah yeah, but hey, I use it under Linux too.
If you're a lefty, you're out of luck as far as I know, because I've not seen any good trackballs which are left-hand specific. Trackballs (more to the point, thumb-balls) are great... I used to like the Logitech ones, but the MS ones fit my hand much better.
Rock is dead. Long live scissors and paper!
2-1/2 inch heavy trackball. Buttons that don't click, they "thwack". The older models look like something from NORAD, but the newer ones...well, look like something from NORAD. Usually sold by companies that sell equipment for people with disabilities and the Armed Forces. With a standard mouse or trackball, you keep too many muscles rigid and tense to be precise. With a P+G, you just move the massive trackball. Remember Missile Command? Imagine it on your desk...oh, and around $300-$400 USD each. I've rebuilt one of mine twice (its from 19...87?).
One very critical factor, which I learned about from the surgeon who operated on my left wrist about two years
after the surgery on my right, relates to whether the movement of a joint is a full extension/contraction cycle
or a shorter "snubbed" movement. The shorter motion can cause problems by failing to distribute the sinovial fluid which
lubricates joints and tendons, along the full length of a passage such as the Carpal Tunnel which carries the Radial Nerve
through the wrist.
Short motion>incomplete lubrication>irritated nerve>swelling>increased irritation.....>permanent damage to nerve.
Breaking long series of short motions by making a couple of slow full cycle movements to distribute the lubricating fluid
to the entire passage seems to break this cycle. Started early, for some people it may cure the condition completely.
Thelma, I'm not making ANY deals.
I'm coding for a living, meaning I often sit 12-16 hours a day in front of the computer. I tried half a dozen mice for comfort and ease of use, because my right wrist started to hurt like hell. and then I found the solution - a 10 euro mousepad with a gel pad. you rest your wrist on it while using the mouse. within days, my wrist pain was gone. sure, it somehow hinders your movement, meaning I now suck at unreal tournament, but that's a small price to pay.
I guess you should be able to pick up a gel mousepad (and a matching keyboard pad) at any computer store, if not, here is a link.
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