Wrist is starting to hurt pretty bad, need a new (ergonomic) mouse
greentooth
PLEASE POST THE MOUSE YOU ARE USING (if any)! I am curious to see what fellow polycounters are using.
Hi,
I have been doing a pretty big volume of 3d work for the past few weeks, and I am noticing more and more discomfort in my right wrist. I never really cared about ergonomics before, I simply wanted to do 3d and I wasn't really thinking about health issues that would inevitably arise in the future.
A few years ago I bought the Zowie FK1 because it was recommended right here on Polycount as a good mouse for doing 3d. It's a decent mouse, has two buttons on the side that I can't really do without now, but the scrollwheel is waaaay too hard to press down.
I want to use the palm grip to make sure I put the least amount of strain on my muscles, but I have to curl my middlefinger to press the mousewheel (automatically curlng the other fingers as well, causing me to simply switch to a claw grip), as I need to use the tip of my finger to be able to apply enough pressure to press the one button I happen to use all the time. I read there are also mice with a seperate button for the scrollwheel press, anyone got experience with that?
The reason for creating this thread is because I haven't found anything that seems to be the perfect fit.
The specs I am looking for:
-scollwheel that is incredibly easy to press (like seriously easy)
-vertical design, seems to be very beneficial for the wrist
-not too small, big enough to apply palm grip
-forward and backward buttons to easily navigate folders, browse internet etc.
-fast acceleration (I have to move across 3 monitors), but also able to be very precise when moving short distances
Also interested in but not necessary:
-lots of macro buttons on the side (results in less mouse movement so it should be better for the wrist, also as a bonus productivity should increase as you get a lot faster)
Only mouse I have found so far that seems to be pretty good is the Evoluent VerticalMouse 4, but I don't know if there might be something better out there.
Is there anyone with the same requirements when it comes to a good mouse for work and has found the perfect fit? Not ever do product descriptions specify how easy a scrollwheel is to press, so I'm hoping one of you can tell me from experience.
Hi,
I have been doing a pretty big volume of 3d work for the past few weeks, and I am noticing more and more discomfort in my right wrist. I never really cared about ergonomics before, I simply wanted to do 3d and I wasn't really thinking about health issues that would inevitably arise in the future.
A few years ago I bought the Zowie FK1 because it was recommended right here on Polycount as a good mouse for doing 3d. It's a decent mouse, has two buttons on the side that I can't really do without now, but the scrollwheel is waaaay too hard to press down.
I want to use the palm grip to make sure I put the least amount of strain on my muscles, but I have to curl my middlefinger to press the mousewheel (automatically curlng the other fingers as well, causing me to simply switch to a claw grip), as I need to use the tip of my finger to be able to apply enough pressure to press the one button I happen to use all the time. I read there are also mice with a seperate button for the scrollwheel press, anyone got experience with that?
The reason for creating this thread is because I haven't found anything that seems to be the perfect fit.
The specs I am looking for:
-scollwheel that is incredibly easy to press (like seriously easy)
-vertical design, seems to be very beneficial for the wrist
-not too small, big enough to apply palm grip
-forward and backward buttons to easily navigate folders, browse internet etc.
-fast acceleration (I have to move across 3 monitors), but also able to be very precise when moving short distances
Also interested in but not necessary:
-lots of macro buttons on the side (results in less mouse movement so it should be better for the wrist, also as a bonus productivity should increase as you get a lot faster)
Only mouse I have found so far that seems to be pretty good is the Evoluent VerticalMouse 4, but I don't know if there might be something better out there.
Is there anyone with the same requirements when it comes to a good mouse for work and has found the perfect fit? Not ever do product descriptions specify how easy a scrollwheel is to press, so I'm hoping one of you can tell me from experience.
Replies
Has 5 programmable buttons, scroll wheel that is nice to use, etc.
picked it up on a whim when my old logitech POS kissed the wall (don't ask...) since it felt the nicest on display in the store. it has some kind of coating that feels good to the touch and there's no issue with 'palm grease'.
did never use a vertical mouse before but switching was no problem.
the upside it has is that there's a little button to choose a DPI setting to suit your tastes.
it just uses the windows mouse driver so in order to map all the buttons i installed a freeware called "x-mouse" https://www.highrez.co.uk/downloads/xmousebuttoncontrol.htm
has worked well for me for two years now. i recently bought a backup one in case they stop making them at some point. oh and i never press the scrollwheel- my mouse button number three is on the thumb. much better!
it has to be said however that a different mouse will not magically heal you. you'll have to take up some exercising for your hand to improve it's condition.
In regards to carpal tunnel, as someone who suffers myself, I have to say hands-down (pun not intended) the best answer is stretching. I have virtually no pain after starting two simple exercises I do periodically through the day.
First simply push all 4 fingers against the ball of your other hand until you feel pressure on your lower wrist, hold until uncomfortable. Repeat for other hand. Next position your arm like you were going to do a curl with the palm of your hand 180 degrees parallel to your face. Now with your arm location fixed, rotate your wrist so your fingers are 90 degree to your shoulders, hold as long as possible. These two simple exercises made a huge difference for me.
Personally I'm not a huge fan of the anker ones, I found that my wrist was still too tilted, and so I still got pain. Personally the highlights are the Evoluent and the Delux M618, the evoluent wins points because it has a dedicated middle click button, but imo the m618 is slightly more comfortable.
any days your wrist is bad throw it on, you cant use a stylus really but you can fully use a mouse doesn't take much to get used to and it will stop you causing yourself long term damage.
its well worth consulting a doctor too if you can, this isn;t just an optimization issue but a potential medical one.
Anyway, I use this Anker Vertical Mouse for my right hand:
https://www.anker.com/products/variant/Ergonomic-Wireless-Vertical-Mouse/A7809012
It's decent and significantly reduced the frequency of my wrist pains.
Ive got this mouse, but unfortunately mine started to have a disconnection issue after 45ish days of usage ;\
It IS comfortable though. The newer versions have an easy adjustable mouse speed. Its recommended to adjust this to the point where you HAVE To move your arm. Don't use your wrist for any motions if you're using this mouse, otherwise it defeats the purpose.
All that said I personally don't model with a stylus anymore even though I used to back when I used Max (at a time when it only had its legacy control scheme, which was objectively very, very bad for the hands because of the way it relied on mmb for everything, IIRC).
At the end of the day and unlike a rather popular opinion, not all modeling programs are created equal and this can affect quality of life a whole bunch. Unfortunately a lot of people are fine with "powering through" badly thought out interaction systems - and it only results in the physical pains described in this thread.
The same goes for hardware - it can reach crazy levels of absurdity, like illustrators having to wear wrist braces because of the way they grip their stylus.
In my opinion the key is to simply not allow any of that into one's life and taking the necessary time to address these issues proactively - even if that means buying (or building !) a new desk or monitor stand, finding a better mouse, or switching programs.
I've never had any problems with using them to model. You learn to use different types of input - for example; I always switch the rotate gizmo to 'circular crank' in 3dsmax as it's easier to use that with a wacom.
I do also have a mouse at work as a lot of game editors are not designed to work properly with tablets. So you can't use a wacom for absolutely anything.
Amazon link: http://a.co/3eQysIE
this is more than shitty, but i was like you. hey lets change the way I work. putting new strain on my right hand wrist, not being used to this new level of stress. So it completely became unusable. Then i tried to take over with my other hand... second big mistake. it was just not used to this and became a hurtfull mess just 2 weeks after. and then the docs saw no choice but to cast me up so i can't stress my wrists any longer.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N2WF99Z/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Wrist pain is completely gone. Pretty good price, too.
Anyone have any solutions for pain between the thumb and index finger from "pincing" the mouse? Vertical mouse still requires this. I know regular breaks too, but any other alternatives?
This year I skipped for 3 months after christmas and Ive never felt so miserable in my life in the third. Everything hurt, even my legs.
I thought I had carpal tunnel / artritis for life. My hands hurt so bad I thought Its never going away for weeks and I literally struggled to work.
Now Im doing at least 1 hour of fitness a week again which is really not much (and I take a good walk 1-2 per day for lunch which keeps me sane from working from home) and things are really fine.
You don't need hardware, you need physical activity.
The anker vertical mice are excellent value and definitely helped me.
I use a razer nostromo keypad thing for my left hand and have mapped mouse clicks to keys on that as well. A large part of the pain I was suffering was due to over gripping the mouse when clicking. If you take the clicking away then half the problem disappears..
I still have shit hands but compared to a year ago when I couldn't hold a pencil things are a lot better..