I think I’m using my mouse too much. My thumb and middle finger have a permanent ache now. I think that the position of my thumb is too far under my hand, so to speak (it’s not literally under my hand, but it’s pressing in).
Anybody else have this?
Oh yeah! I have a track ball, and some days my thumb feels like it’s broken. I call it Straightdopeitis.
Best to take a break a few times during the day and do some hand stretches.
Sure. Typing isn’t the only way to get a repetitive-stress injury, ya know.
One thing that’ll help is switching to using your mouse with the other hand for a few months. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can learn to use a mouse with your “wrong hand”.
Guy, yup, I rest it and stretch it during the day, but it’s not really helping much. In fact, I recently had a five-day vacation, in which I did virtually no computing, and it didn’t really help.
I’m trying to mouse with my thumb away from the side of the mouse, and see if that helps.
At my job I attended an ergonomics class and learned what would work for me. Mouses are shaped and sized differently. You might be using one that doesn’t fit you well. Have you considered a three-button, or wheeled mouse? I use a Logitech two-button wheeled mouse. I have a right and left button, then a rolling wheel in the middle. I roll the wheel with my middle finger to scroll the screen verticall, which means I have almost NO movement of my wrists except for the occasional side-to-side motion. It helps a lot. That, and having a wrist pad that my wrist can sit on when I’m mousing around.
I have a job that has me either keying or mousing for roughly 7 hours a day, so I wanted to make sure I had proper gear.