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Friday, September 16, 2005

Ergonomicals

I've just got back from the GP, to whom I was sent with a very poorly right arm. It's me mouse arm, y'see - all of this geeking out moving characters around all day seems to have buggered up my most valuable of limbs.

Recently we were given new Logitech optical mice with a wheel instead of a button, and that seems to have been a trigger to this arm situation. I then had it swapped for an Evoluent one (www.evoluent.com) but that didn't do good things either, and I have ended up going back to my trusty super-old Logitech (pic here: http://www.clubic.com/photo/00027044.jpg ).

Does anyone have any more things I could try? There's always the tablet option, but I would really rather stick to a mouse if I can. The best one in the world for me would look exactly like the one posted above, but optical and with a separate wheel as well as a proper middle mouse button (kind of like a normal version of the Evoluent).

What does else everyone do to protect their major bread-winning appendage? I would welcome any suggestions at this point.

Thanks!

posted by Kevan at 9/16/2005 07:03:00 PM

12 Comments:

  • Just curious, Kev, why are you so attached to the idea of using a mouse, if it tortures you so? I'd say dump the mouse, and just to be safe, change the locks on your house and file a restraining order so it won't come bother you in the middle of the night, drunk on your front lawn with no pants on.

    Tablets are great, and very non-violent. My tablet would never hurt me-- it woudn't so much as raise its voice, even if I forgot to wash its socks.

    By Anonymous cassidy, at 8:05 PM  

  • Hi Kevan,
    Over a year ago I was having some serious pains in both my arms so I made some changes that I've been happy with ever since.

    Mousing was bugging my arm and little finger (from picking it up) so I got a trackball. It took a while to find one with three buttons, but I'm very happy with the Microsoft Trackball Explorer. It does have a scroll wheel, but the three buttons are activated by the thumb. Like anything, it takes getting used to.

    My other hand was the real problem though, and typing one handed was doing some wonderful things to my wrist. I got one of those Kinesis keypads (X-keys sells an identical product), programmed all my keystrokes and hotkeys in to it, and now I only use my keyboard for entering numbers or typing emails. The keypad is like learning how to play the piano, but once I got all the functions on the best keys AND remembered where I put them, it made work so much faster.

    Both of these things together totally immobilize my hands - they don't have to move at all and the strain I was feeling is totally relieved. Hope this gives you some options. You've got to take care of these things quickly.

    -Clay

    By Anonymous Clay, at 9:26 PM  

  • Cheers for the suggestions, guys!

    Cass, I think that I may request a Tablet on Monday. i know you'll be happy about that... : )

    Clay, thanks for writing. I got one of those Xkeys pads yesterday. I'm in the process of making all of my keys up. hope it's all good when I start button-pressing in anger...

    By Blogger Kevan, at 9:42 PM  

  • hi kevan,
    i used to have that problem too.
    i couldn't even use mouse for 5 min
    but my chiropractor said that no matter what kind of mouse u used .. it'll still happen if you don't stop ..
    so he suggested to like take a min or 2 break once a while and rotate the wrist

    i tried evoluent.. didn't do much for me ..
    then
    tablet/!!!
    yay.. it totally works for me.. don't need to use brace anymore..
    so i use intuos 3 for now.. and no problem with my wrist anymore..
    and it's better for my back too since i don't have to get super close to computer

    By Blogger rini, at 10:12 AM  

  • Hi Kevan,

    I've suffered with 'mouse elbow' on and off over the years (18 working in games) but being the 'oldschool' that I am I can't bring myself to ditch the mouse.

    What I always do now is have the mouse far back on the desk so that the whole of my forearm is resting on the desk too, this minimises the load on my elbow. I've had no medical advice on this it's just what works for me.

    People at work have said it looks awkward but it works for me.

    I don't know if it's any help but I thought I'd mention it.

    Cheers

    Jon

    By Anonymous Jonathan Baker, at 10:44 AM  

  • Tablets are great but you will end up with tablet elbow/ much like tennis elbow... still better than a mouse but the best thing is lots of short breaks with stretching for the wirsts and arms.

    My chiro. has a cold laser she has used on my forearms and it helped a great deal. That and drinking lots of water during the day and keep an ice pack at work for when it is just to bad to work...

    good luck...hope your arms feel better soon.

    By Blogger bclark, at 12:46 PM  

  • Here's a very unusual mouse design that's supposed to promote "ergonomically correct and varied posture".

    I've not tried it and it's a bit hard to tell exactly how it works from the photos, but it does look intriguing!

    http://www.perific.com/products/

    Ergonomic devices would really benefit from some sort of try-before-you-buy scheme as they don't suit everyone, but you never know if something's suitable until you try (i.e. buy) it.

    The Perific mouse is not cheap - it costs about £100 (approx $180) - but then, you can't put a price on good health :)

    Josh

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:56 PM  

  • Wow! Thanks for all of your suggestions, guys!

    By Blogger Kevan, at 4:13 PM  

  • I use a combination of trackball and tablet. Mostly tablet though. Trackball is better for me than a mouse, but being a lefty sucks ass. The only trackball I can get is the marble mouse from Logitech, since it's one for both left and right handed people.

    Jean-Denis

    By Blogger Jean-Denis Haas, at 12:11 PM  

  • I 'll have to agree with the tablet suggestions. I bought one to take care of my arm as well.

    Although it took me a bit to get used to the pen and it's amazing response, I have to say that now, even my best Logitech mouse feels clunky and heavy.

    I bought the Intuos 3.

    Cheers!

    mauricio.

    By Blogger Mau, at 10:27 PM  

  • Hi Kevan,

    I had some arm problems before christmas. It was pretty bad and I found myself not being able to go to sleep at night because my hand was throbbing so much. The physio lady told me it's all to do with your posture.. You gotta make sure when sitting your knees are at 90 degrees or slightly more to your calves, you're sitting up straight and your hands are slightly lower than your elbows when they are resting on the desk.

    It turns out my desk was just too high for me and my wrist was being put under strain because of it...

    Hope this helps, it could just be something as simple as that.

    Jude

    By Blogger Jude, at 3:36 AM  

  • Right after being accepted at Animation Mentor I decided to invest in a very good and ergonomic optical mouse. After a fair bit of research I couldn't find any and settled for a basic Microsoft Comfort 3000 but for the past 3 weeks, my wrist and fingers started aching especially the finger that had to press on the wheel when used as a MMB since that button is very hard. Luckily I already had a wacom that I never really used and after few weeks of trial, things seem to be better. Also I have now gone back to the practice of sketching few times a day. Which is improving my drawing skills.

    The Evoluent website explains the problem very well. It is because of the Arm twisting.

    Jonathan Baker has also a good tip for people who don't want to switch. The secret is in having the mouse has far as possible in front of you because it reduces the amount of arm twisting and avoiding to break the wrist. Keep it as flat as possible.

    Basically you have to keep your arm and hand in the most natural position avoiding twists and unnatural bend

    By Blogger Olivier Ladeuix, at 3:56 PM  

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