# Anyone else have mouse-thumb? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 17, 2000, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-mouse-thumb/25897 "2000-07-17T21:47:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![maralinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@maralinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maralinn)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-mouse-thumb/25897/1 "2000-07-17T21:47:08Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-mouse-thumb/25897/2 "2000-07-17T21:51:20Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-mouse-thumb/25897/3 "2000-07-17T22:23:20Z")
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”. ---
**Author:** ![maralinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@maralinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maralinn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-mouse-thumb/25897/4 "2000-07-18T21:41:16Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Baglady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Baglady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baglady)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-mouse-thumb/25897/5 "2000-07-18T22:42:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by maralinn \* > 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). 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.