Ergonomics And Using The Mouse

[Denise]

I have been doing a lot of computer work lately, plus taking a computer course some evenings.  Last night I spent 3 hours at the course and then a couple more at home. This morning I could barely move my right hand - pain around the thumb especially when drawing it toward the palm, and a spot on the outside of the hand close to the wrist where I rest my hand that is numb/tingly/sore and won't quit. Obviously this can't go on. Suggestions on what to get/how to hold the mouse so my hand will work again?

[Johanna]

I don't understand why people use a mouse when a trackball is so much more efficient. Trackballs come in several styles, but think of them as upside down mice. Which means you don't have to move the unit, just tickle the ball. When you set up a new mouse or trackball, make sure you enable the "snap to" feature in the Control Panel. That automatically puts your cursor in the default places, and saves a lot of running around the screen.

Johanna

[somewhereinusa]

I hate trackballs, and I've tried a bunch of them, my big problem is when I'm doing heavy photo editing. Left click finger at times gets almost unusable.

The best thing I've found is to plug in two mice. I use right hand for movement only and left hand for clicks. I use an older mouse with the ball removed for

the left one.

[gtwister09]

Johanna is right about the snap to feature. One of the other things is to enable the ability to fast track (increase motion) and enhance pointer precision. Higher resolution mice like Black Adder's and such give you the best resolution. On a 1920X1200 26" monitor, I move less than 1-1/4" to move across the diagonal (upper left to lower right). Just a word of warning about trackballs.... The idea that they are upside mice makes them better has been touted as a major benefit of them for over 15 years but several of the draftsmen developed serious issues with their thumbs after using them. You don't have to move your hand and on and on are listed as the major benefits. Instead of transferring the motion in several larger joints like shoulder, elbow, wrist and such it was localized to a much smaller thumb joint.

A couple of things come to mind...(1) If you are using a cheap older low resolution mouse, (2) What type of mouse is it ball or optical (Ball mice get dirty and you see people constantly pushing them around to make them work before they clean them and (3) Is your mouse on the same plane as your keyboard or is it at a different level where you have to move up and down/back and forth between the mouse and the keyboard.

Just some things to think about as well as checking the mouse properties to see if that helps.. Hope that helps.

Regards,

Ben

Edited January 27, 2010 by gtwister09

[CitizenKate]

I've gone down this road and back on a few occasions, myself, and as an IT professional, attended classes on this topic. Here are my tips:

- First, make sure when you're sitting at your computer, that your entire body is as neutral and relaxed as possible. Adjust the chair so your legs and arms are at as close to a 90-deg angle as possible.

- Place the monitor and keyboard so your body, the keyboard and monitor are all at points along a relatively straight line. Avoid arranging your computer so you have to turn your head to see it, or the keyboard so you have to twist your body to reach it.

- Place the mouse so you don't have to reach for it, ideally just to the side of your keyboard.

- Adjust the keyboard so your wrists are completely neutral (straight) while typing. This requires different things for different people.

- Keep the mouse clean so it operates smoothly, and replace it if it's worn. If it starts becoming jerky, you may not notice the stress that causes, but your tendons will.

- Replace worn keyboards! If you have any keys that are even just slightly sticky, those keys are causing additional stress on the tendons in your fingers. I've had this situation myself... horrible pain in my left forearm... I realized it might be caused by a sticky "S" key. Sure enough, I replaced the keyboard and the pain was completely gone within 2 days. Little things like this can make a huge difference.

- Consider getting cushions to rest your hands on while working. Resting hands on hard surfaces, and especially on edges of tables, can pinch nerves and tendons.

Personally, I've gotten mixed results from using a trackball. One one project I did, I really messed up my left hand (my mouse hand), to the point where there was severe pain in my left arm, and the 3rd and 4th fingers were numb and completely unusable. Switching to a trackball reduced the pain and restored the use of all my fingers. On another occasion, it seemed to cause more problems, and I switched back to a mouse. Maybe different brands/designs work better than others... not sure.

My own opinion is you do the most good just by keeping your equipment in good condition, and arranging your workspace to minimize stress.

Kate

[Johanna]

I don't like thumb trackballs. All my thumb has to do is click and scroll. My three fingers control the ball, and my pinkie or ring finger right-clicks. My wrist is supported and straight (that's like a beanbag on top of a gel pad underneath). If you look closely you can see the scars where the 4 pins held my wrist together after i broke it. If it weren't for the track ball and support I know I'd have trouble. I also use a split keyboard, but that's just because I'm a crummy typist, not for ergonomics.

~J

[Denise]

Thanks for all the information, and for the picture Johanna. Now I know there is such a thing as a track ball! I have an optical mouse and seems to be in good working order. I managed to find and enable the snap to in the control panel, but I don't see any difference in how the mouse acts. What is that supposed to change?

Keyboard, monitor and chair are set in a straight line. I have an older desk with an added slide out beneath it. The mouse is beside the keyboard. The arms on my chair are an inch or two higher than I would prefer and that puts my hands about 1 - 1 1/2 inches above the keyboard if the are horizontal, but when I curl my fingers down to type they are pretty flat. I don't have any rest for my hands when typing or when using the mouse. To use the mouse my arm is about 30 or a bit more degrees out to the right, but I tend to hold the mouse straight so my hand is tilted back the other way. Never noticed that before.

Johanna, your rest pad is under your wrist. Does it affect the tendons and vessels on the underside of your wrist at all? A neighbour has a similar thing. I tried it out and it just felt weird but it would cut down on the pressure on the heel of my hand for sure. I'll try a towel in there for a bit and see how it goes.

Of course, the simple answer is quit using the computer, but sometimes that isn't as good an option and I would like...