What mouse prevents RSI

I use the Logitech MX Laser mouse (wireless). For me the advantages are:

- wireless, so no cable attached to drag with

- Laser: no need for a mousepad, so you can re-position your hand where-ever you want on your desk. So you don't have the same sitting position the whole day.

- Extra thumb buttons on the mouse. (I have there ESC, Enter and Ctr-Tab).

Wim

I use a Logitech trackman wheel for the right hand (roller ball for the thumb) and a standard 3 button wheel mouse on the left, with lots of keyboard shortcuts. I bought a razer gaming mouse off Woot last week and plan to use that on the left side. It's supposed to be more accurate than the current mouse and has some programmable buttons. We'll see how that goes.

Between work, weight lifting, guitar and trumpet playing and yard work my hands take a pounding. Sometimes a little ibuprofen helps too.

Diego

Wim wrote:

If you want to prevent RSI, you CANNOT buy any piece of equipment that will help prevent it. What you need to do is reduce the amount of motion you have to do. For example, if it is your wrist that has the most problem, try increasing the sensitivity of your mouse so that you barely have to move the mouse to cross the screen. Something that may also help is to have an ergonomist take a look at your desk setup. You say that you have read everything possible about ergonomics for your work area, but that only let you know what needs to be done. What you need to have done is to have somebody verify that your shoulders are relaxed, your elbows at your sides and at forming a right angle, and that your wrists are as close to straight as possible.

I did a Master's Thesis where I looked at wrist position and force exerted by a finger. What was found was that if your wrist is in a neutral position, and you are exerting a small force, you shouldn't have any problems with your carpal tunnel. However, if you are having problems, I suggest that you look at how you are sitting.

Trackball with finger control for ball and spaceball on other hand. Co-works stay clear of my area while I'm on vacation because sliding either device does nothing to the cursor.

I have tried the Quill mouse and i felt that it was too light and small for my hand. my hand measures 8" from bottom of palm to top of middle finger. this was awkward as it caused my fingers to bend at odd angles to hit the mouse buttons. also seemed a little cheep feeling. we use many input devices. check out site

Areva wrote:

of your mouse so that you barely have to move the mouse to cross the screen.

Somthing that helped me quite a bit was desk arrangement. I use a standard mouse, but the keyboard and screen are arranged such that my entire forearm, including the elbow, is resting on the desk surface when using the mouse. Your seated posture enters into this as well. It made a significant improvement for me. It may not help for others, but worth a try. Bill

Never tried the Quill, but it is a small price to pay to try something new and learn.

Myself, I wound up with wrist pains 20 years ago. In the end, only a more comfortable smaller mouse helped a bit.

What really seemed to help the most was excersize on the bicycle, rowing and tennis. Anything that excersized the hands and arm in different ways on somewhat of a regular basis spelled the end of pains since that time for me.

Some people are willing to do those extra excercises and some just complain.

Bo

Areva wrote:

Bill, I do that too. I've put my computer on a table next to my desk, pushed the monitor and keyboard back and now the fore-arms lay on the table while working. That, the right side roller ball, left hand mouse and lots of keyboard shortcuts helps.

Diego

bill allemann wrote:

I do the eact opposite! and my aches and poains went away. I use my mouse right on the edge of the table. I suppose the red led is 120mm from the edge. I have my hand jamed up against the edge of the table , about 1 cm onto the palm , above the wrist. There seems to be a natural crease there and the edge of the table rests in this crease. Means my arm and wrist don't move and my fingers do all the controlling of the mouse.

Different strokes for different folks I suppose.

Jonathan

Check out the Evolution Mouse Trak by ITAC. It is a track ball with 6 buttons. It is better suited to larger hands. It uses a different set of muscles in the hand than a regular mouse. Motion is limited to the fingers keeping the wrist stationary. I have experience some fatigue, but I have had no wrist issues since using this device.

Interesting about the bigger mouse. What I have found has helped me the most, like I stated earlier, is to increase the mouse sensitivity. With the sensitivity increased I found that I needed better control of the mouse, and that forced me to change the way I hold the mouse. I hold the mouse between my thumb and pinky fingers and use those fingers to push the mouse around, with very little movement from my wrist. In other words, little physical movement turns into big computer pointer movement.

Remember, when looking into why you ache at the end of a work day that there are 3 components can cause those aches. Look at you Posture, Force, and Repetitions. Since a mouse does not require much force, look closely at your Posture, then look at the repetitions.