Carpal tunnel syndrome friendly mouse

arrangemonk

hello, ts seems i gained a carpal tunnel syndrome due to non ergonomic input devices at work.

can you recomend some mouse to get my hand some rest, so its doesnt get worse?

Steve Schulze

I got one of these guys when my wrists started to get bad a few years back.

http://www.evoluent.com/
Definitely takes a lot of the stress off your wrists.

EarthQuake

Well, when I first started having wrist pain I switched from a generic dell/logitech mouse, you know the really cheap kind, over to a Logitect MX518. Now I can't use anything but that. I really helps me but I still do have wrist pain.

I also switched to a Microsoft Natural Ergo 4000 as well.

Check out Imak "Smartglove" too, when I have really bad wrist pain these help a lot. http://www.imakproducts.com/product.php?c=Computer+Comfort&s=10 I tried a few similar things and these were the best.

Cojax

Making sure your elbow is supported helps.

r_fletch_r

+1 to the mx518. I used to get wrist pains when i was using a cheaper mouse but thats gone now.

gilesruscoe

I've recently started to suffer from this too, i've ordered a wrist support to try and ease it, i'l let you know how that works out for me... considering getting ergonomic mouse/mouse mat if that doesnt help much.

passerby

ya mx518 is great, i also switch between mouse and wacom depending on what im doing, so im never spending a whole day just using a mouse.

Geezus

Sure, there are devices that will help, but ultimately you need to support your elbow and make sure to stretch your fingers and wrist often. Get into the habit of stretching every hour or so. It only takes a couple of minutes and helps a ton. Same with posture and back pains. Sit up! Stretch!

I used to get a terribly painful cyst in my right wrist, until I started doing this every hour or so, while at work:



You would be surprised at how much something as simple as that helps.

rv_el

I know a lot about this stuff. I have a lot of mice. My main mouse is a chintzy light Intellimouse 2.0! . I love it. But I also have Evoluent mice and a Wow Pen mouse.
http://www.powermax.com/parts/show/erg-wp012bke?utm_source=Google%2BProduct%2BSearch&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=Google%2BProduct%2BSearch&src=g&gclid=CImi752Pja4CFYFb7AodkxV3hA

I also have a foot pedal i've rarely used..

But.. The biggest thing is posture and arm support. There is a lot to go into here but the big thing is to rock around on the fatty part of your arm. that arm NEEDS to be on an arm rest. I use Gel pad covers on those arm rests. I do not rock around on the nerve in my elbow.. no way. And I never ever rest my wrist or use those damn wrist guards. dont twist your mouse around too much. you want to squish around on your arm.. its really hard to describe . I hate describing this shit over the internet to people!

I use full sensitivy in Windows (which isn't too much on the old mouse actually).. you will get used to it FAST. I keep that way up. For smaller movements i kinda use my pinky and thumb.. once again. impossible to describe! i can only show it to you. Then for more macro movements i try to not twist my wrist around...


LOL Steve bruhl!

"My aunt joanne jussstt diieed..........."..................."


There is sooo much to CTS/RSI/Tennis Elbow. I have done presentations on it at a couple game schools. I was recently looking to do one here in NC but there isn't much out here. 1 program. I was thinking of approaching them about doing a little presentation on it.


Honestly theres probably a LOT more you can do than just a mouse. I only use alternative mice for non-work stuff. Like browsing. They slow me down too much for work.

Ace-Angel

Aye, a good mouse if what you need, something with a nice around bottom and an almost hammer head like slope while it has supporting slopes on the sides, although in my case, I prefer the slope to go inwards as opposed to outwards without extra buttons.

Log or Razor are the way to go for mice, also, Wireless helps, less thuggish and repositioning of hand every few seconds.

Autocon

Is using a wacom tablet over a mouse any better or worse for carpel tunnel? or dose it not make much of a difference at all? always thought a tablet would be better then a mouse but I honestly have no clue at all.

eld

From what I've heard using the tablet is much better for your wrist than any mouse.

On top of special computer-mice I'd like to add: get a nice mouse-pad, check your settings with things like mouse-acceleration and smoothing.
People have a habit to tense their wrist and hand when they work it, but if the settings make it smooth and accurate, you'll be much more relaxed.

ikken

Autocon wrote: »

Is using a wacom tablet over a mouse any better or worse for carpel tunnel? or dose it not make much of a difference at all? always thought a tablet would be better then a mouse but I honestly have no clue at all.

it is intensively better for carpal related things.
I still get occasional RSI but it only happens when I'm painting too many hours straight though.

arrangemonk

its better when using a proper wacom tblet, but the bamboo kaes things worse, because the pen has no proper shape.

thanks guys, im going to try that stretching stuff, and going to buy a logitech mouse. thou the stretching seems more effective

gsokol

Interesting info in here. I've been starting to get pain in my wrist and elbow recently. I find that the way I position my mouse on the desk affects it quite a bit...I used to set it really far up on the desk (as in away from me) and having it much closer to the edge of the desk has helped a lot.

Also, cool info Geezus...I'm going to start doing that once an hour.

Autocon wrote: »

Is using a wacom tablet over a mouse any better or worse for carpel tunnel? or dose it not make much of a difference at all? always thought a tablet would be better then a mouse but I honestly have no clue at all.

I guess in this instance I'm pretty lucky to be a lefty, since using my tablet gives my right hand a break

laupiz

I made this video after suffering this kind of problem.
I hope you enjoy it and to be usefull someway!!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7NA-CQ0GJs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7NA-CQ0GJs[/ame]

Good luck and success
www.carlosmezo.com

JacqueChoi

Best way to work out CTS.

Straighten your posture. Back up against the chair.
That forces you to place your elbow in the table properly, and your wrist to be properly bent.


Best way to straighten your posture is work out. Particularly your core muscles.




Working out will get rid of CTS.

mLichy

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-910-001799-M570-Wireless-Trackball/dp/B0043T7FXE"]Amazon.com: Logitech M570 Wireless Trackball: Electronics[/ame]

Joshua Stubbles

I use my Wacom for pretty much all windows navigation. It's all but eliminated my hand/wrist pains. My hands do get pins and needles on occasion, but that's a side effect from when I was a glass cutter. My nerves got shot there. But yeah, using the tablet helps a hell of a lot.

AlecMoody

I think its best to see a doctor and talk to them about this stuff. There are lots of different causes for hand and wrist pain some of the advice in here could hurt or help you based on your specific problems.

Fomori

Joshua Stubbles wrote: »

I use my Wacom for pretty much all windows navigation.

Yep me too. EVERYTHING but gaming and UDK really. It's strange at first, but once you're used to it there's nothing better really.

Progg

I still have lingering issues with my forearm and wrist but after weeks of physical therapy we all but determined bad posture and repetitive clicking were the culprits.

Can't be stressed enough that correct up-right posture will save your body.

I too switched to using a Wacom for just about every task.. including modeling. Just took a bit of getting use to and some custom keybinds with AutoHotkey

Joshua Stubbles

Correct posture is ridiculously difficult unless you have a great chair with proper back support. Even when I was really fit, I couldn't sit in a chair very long before slouching. Sadly, smaller studios rarely, if ever, spring for very nice chairs.

Sandro

So, how do you model with your wacom? I guess it's matter of practice, but it seems almost too precise, so I end up clicking random stuff all the time. only time I was successful was when using blender, as moving around edges and vertices is quite gestural there and doesn't require to click any gizmos whatsoever.

bounchfx

I just got the mouse listed in the first post, it's helped me a ton so far. Took a week to really get used to, and now it's weird going back (not too weird though), it's helped. I still have some times where I need to stretch my wrist but it went from rendering me incapable of working more during the day, including stretching it every 20 minutes, to maybe stretching every two or three hours at most.

Joshua Stubbles

Sandro wrote: »

So, how do you model with your wacom? I guess it's matter of practice, but it seems almost too precise, so I end up clicking random stuff all the time. only time I was successful was when using blender, as moving around edges and vertices is quite gestural there and doesn't require to click any gizmos whatsoever.

Depends on Wacom size, perhaps. I'm pretty accurate with a 6x8, so I don't have any issues hitting gizmo or rollout buttons. If it were a 4x5 it might be a different story.

JacqueChoi

Joshua Stubbles wrote: »

Correct posture is ridiculously difficult unless you have a great chair with proper back support. Even when I was really fit, I couldn't sit in a chair very long before slouching. Sadly, smaller studios rarely, if ever, spring for very nice chairs.

fo real?

Every studio I've worked for had great chairs (And I've worked for some extremely shitty ones).

Might not have had significant lower lumbar support, but at least they were ergonomic to prevent CPS.