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Dealing with Wrist Pain

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Re: Dealing with Wrist Pain

#51

Post by hcayless »

steve8918 wrote: post #12

I've found that the biggest reason for neck and wrist pain is actually the mouse. The position that most people use the mouse, off to the right side (if you're right-handed), causes your arm and your hand to twist unnaturally, since it needs to be flat to the table. This puts pressure on the nerves running down your arm, and for me, this is what caused the most amount of pain, to the point where I was worried my care…

Back in 2001 I started having serious pain in my right wrist and solved it by switching to a trackball mouse. Laptops with touchpads are ok too as long as I don't pivot my wrist when I use them. Basically I've trained myself to keep my wrist pretty stable as I do things on the computer and that works well.

Re: Dealing with Wrist Pain

#52

Post by macspoofing »

steve8918 wrote: post #12

I've found that the biggest reason for neck and wrist pain is actually the mouse. The position that most people use the mouse, off to the right side (if you're right-handed), causes your arm and your hand to twist unnaturally, since it needs to be flat to the table. This puts pressure on the nerves running down your arm, and for me, this is what caused the most amount of pain, to the point where I was worried my care…

You should use a vertical mouse.

Re: Dealing with Wrist Pain

#53

Post by sunsu »

I used to have constant problems with wrist pain until I switched to a stand up desk. I have no idea how/why the standup desk helps this, but it did for me. Anyone have any insights into why this helps?

Re: Dealing with Wrist Pain

#54

Post by hopeless »

InclinedPlane wrote: post #39

I have extremely RSI resistant hands and especially knuckles (due to a genetic quirk). I can type all day on a rectangular non-ergo keyboard with my wrists on the table, and in fact used to do data entry for 60+ hours a week doing just that, with nary an RSI worry. But using a mouse for, say, 12 hours straight or through a regular 40 hour work week would definitely cause me pain, in the shoulder, wrist, etc. Here is…

Totally agree. I've been using a Logitech Trackman trackball for about 10years now. During the periods when I wasn't using it I'd get wrist.forearm pain and bursitis on the wrist (I have plates there from a car accident). Stretching is still important but the trackball is a major leap forward.

If you have to use a mouse, please don't use an Apple mouse. They are generally far too small and don't provide any support. I'm still amazed that a company which does great hardware aesthetics completely fails to understand ergonomics.

Re: Dealing with Wrist Pain

#55

Post by stevelaz »

I've been fighting this on and off for years. I've come to the conclusion that whenever I become lazy my hands and neck and eventually my back hurts. Lazy, meaning that I don't stretch and take breaks often enough. Also more importantly exercising, it's is the biggest and best solution. I don't mean lifting weights/running, I'm talking about something like Yoga. Call it girly all you want, it does miracle work for lazy folks like us that spend way too much time in a chair.

As far as stretching goes, take a look at this: http://www.eatonhand.com/hw/ctexercise.htm and just google "wrist stretches for carpal tunnel" and you'll get plenty of useful results as well as video tutorials on youtube.

Keyboards, Mice... I've used pretty much all of them. I even went out and bought a ~$1k ergonomic chair, changed desks...etc.. I figured that if my career was in danger I would need to invest a significant amount of money to recover it so that I could continue to work. So I've probably spent hundreds in different mice and keyboards. Ergonomic devices and furniture are great, but they are a temporary solution. For long term results, just don't be lazy.

Do three things to help and get rid of wrist pain: 1. Take small breaks throughout the day (or find a Rob). 2. Exercise 3. Stretch. In my opinion, these help the most.

One note, if you're just starting to try and remedy your pain and you can't work at all, try switching the mouse to your left hand. This helps a ton and it'll only take you a bit to get used to it.

Hope this helps someone as much as it has me.

Re: Dealing with Wrist Pain

#56

Post by gallerytungsten »

steve8918 wrote: post #12

I've found that the biggest reason for neck and wrist pain is actually the mouse. The position that most people use the mouse, off to the right side (if you're right-handed), causes your arm and your hand to twist unnaturally, since it needs to be flat to the table. This puts pressure on the nerves running down your arm, and for me, this is what caused the most amount of pain, to the point where I was worried my care…

Indeed, it's the mouse's fault. I switched to a trackball years ago and it's a vast improvement. Best one I've found so far is the Kensington "expert mouse" which has a wrist rest attached at the front.

Re: Dealing with Wrist Pain

#57

Post by biggfoot »

gcv wrote: post #24

I suggest building some muscle in your arms. It's amazing how much strength does to combat the physical horror of sitting at a keyboard all day. Wrist curl, reverse wrist curl, overhead press, bench press, deadlift, pull-up. All these helped me immensely. PS: steve8918 is right about the mouse. Build some strength, and stop flicking your wrist sideways to reach the mouse. A laptop's trackpad is a huge improvement.

Can't agree enough to this! If you can't make it to the gym there's always the ever-dependable push-up. It is a really simple equation - good exercise routine -> better exercise posture -> better general posture -> no annoying pains.

Re: Dealing with Wrist Pain

#59

Post by ntalbott »

I started to get wrist pain when I was about twenty, and did some reading on it. One thing I saw recommended at the time was to make sure never to sleep with the wrist bent in (i.e. a "limp wrist" position), but always straight or bent back (as if signaling someone to stop). Over a period of a few weeks I trained myself to always sleep with my wrist bent back by adjusting it to that position whenever I was aware at night, and have slept that way since. I'm now in my mid-thirties, and have had no further trouble with wrist pain.

I certainly do other things to keep my wrists healthy, such as trying to maintain good posture while typing, sitting in a good seat, etc., so I can't attribute sleeping position with all of my continued good health. But I certainly won't go back to sleeping with my wrist bent in; it's an easy thing to maintain and it seems to help a lot.

Re: Dealing with Wrist Pain

#60

Post by felideon »

steve8918 wrote: post #12

I've found that the biggest reason for neck and wrist pain is actually the mouse. The position that most people use the mouse, off to the right side (if you're right-handed), causes your arm and your hand to twist unnaturally, since it needs to be flat to the table. This puts pressure on the nerves running down your arm, and for me, this is what caused the most amount of pain, to the point where I was worried my care…

Agreed. Have you tried Microsoft's Natural Mouse?[1] The way you describe gripping your mouse is how this one is shaped: you pretty much just rest your hand on it.

I've been using it for about 5 years[2] along with a mouse pad with palm rest and I've never had any wrist issues. Granted, I tend to use the keyboard as much as I can (even on Mac OS).

Incidentally, I also use Microsoft's Natural Keyboard, which is good enough for my typing habits. e.g. I don't hack non-stop for 6+ hours warranting a more expensive keyboard such as the Kinesis, and I tend to stretch and flex my fingers often.

Edit: Hmm, I just noticed the other comments regarding vertical mice. I'd never seen them before!

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Natural-Wireless-Laser-Mouse...

[2] I had it stored for a few months when I switched jobs and kept forgetting to taking it out, but it has lasted that long. I had to remove the gel pad a few months ago because it started to turn yellow and started to fall off. Otherwise, it's in perfect shape.

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