Mousepad for wrist pain

[Virgorising]

I can, but the problem is that if I increase the height of my chair then the armrest hits the bottom of the desk because if I sit back into the chair, it reclines back slightly. Since the armrest hits the bottom of the desk, I have to move my chair back a little. If I increase the height and move my chair back, then I can't sit in it properly and have my back resting on it because the stupid armrest hits the bottom of the desk.

It's just a crappy all around combo :$

Very helpful clarifications.

Check to see if you can remove the arms. I am, as of this moment, sitting on the only kind of task chair I use: basic, black leather, no arms, the usual adjustments.

Hard to believe those arms are not removable. And, if it takes a hack saw.....so be it. But it shouldn't.

Feels to me now you feel constrained, hobbled.... in a prison, and as if you have no no options but to settle for that.

You have them! Options. And my evolved take is, we start with THE CHAIR.

Edit: Cause I think putting that central impedient right would render all the other elements moot. And not doing that would put you on bandaiding/floundering autopilot......... forever.

 

[Virgorising]

Late addenda: we who are fitness nuts, learn that using giant Cybex machines in gyms for resistance work has a huge downside. They force the body into one static position. As is yr chair with the arms doing. Resistance work free of those machines, which allows for integrated freedom of movement, full range of motion and requires balance....is the way to go.

Beyond using free weights for upper body (but with good form, proper breathing, sets and reps), a good example is nothing will ever work every core muscle better, and in normal concert with all other muscles and less stress, than using the right diameter, simple, cheap, Swiss balance Ball.

Dismantle that Cybex machine holding you hostage. Divest it of its imprisoning arms. Get the wrench.

 

[Virgorising]

I didnt notice any downside in using splint in 2 years.(actualy i dont remember when i used it the last time ). I made it when my hand was in most relaxed position for work. Splint just take care,that i dont have any pressure on the parts which makes ME problems. I use splint for 2 little fingers, cause i constantly twiching with those 2 little fingers when i do photoshop( for example : 1000 fast mouse clicks.)

My opinion is ,that no matter what is ur problem splint can help u alot. The biggest issue is, that u need to make it, when ur hand is in relaxed position ready for work, and u need to make it that way, that you can put it On or OFF with no problems. Guess for 2 little fingers is easier, but i realy tried everything for my pains. Even stupid Rat 9 crapy mouse- i bought it cause mouse had option to regulate size and height.

If ur serious about pain, and u use some of ur creativity u dont have nothing to lose. Maybe u just need some help from frend, so he can help u make splint, when u hold ur hand in most comfortable position for working.

And off course,dont forget to make it the way u can take it off Paper inside on ur skin, duck tape outside, so u get form. Paper on skin, so u dont get sticky splint.

As i mentioned, if ur creative u can always use some other materials. I tried to find any solution for working with mouse and i didnt find anything that works on market.

Splint works

PS: i had such pain, that i needed salt bath everyday.

I despise you had this off the hook pain, accept you found a, to me, dramatic route to mitigating it, but I am convinced the OP's central/nuclear problem is his CHAIR. It's ARMS forcing him into a rigid, not at all natural position.

Please, re "Whatever the problem" a splint will help.....no way. I believe the goal always is to make a proper differential diagnosis, and nail the source of whatever the problem is.

Not to mention, splints, whose purpose goal is to stabilize, preclude the normal use of the musculature, joints, tendons, ligaments in an integrated way. If such is actually is necessary, so be it. But, I would think the need for that soultion would be rare. A splint, over time, can actually lead to muscle ATROPHY.

 

[Virgorising]

muscle ATROPHY lol
Dont u think ur going in extreme waters with that?

Not at ALL. As we say, use it or loose it. Even the muscles of just sedentary people...without hobbles such as splint/braces... atrophy. Related to we start loosing cardiovascular health achieved by doing good, consistent cardio....in 72 hours.

And, given the amount of time most people spend on their computers per day.... in what we are addressing here, that adds up. Bet any orthopedist or even PT would confirm this.

So, I stand by my post in this. Including keeping ligaments and tendons and joints healthy and flexible.

Even re those with inflammatory disease, i.e. arthritis, the more active they are, the better, the fewer the symptoms and the lower the severity.

 

[Virgorising]

lol, guess we just need to stop using computers

OK, shocked yours was even some sardonic takeaway from my last posts....must mean I was not being clear.

Not the time we all spend at our computers....I was addressing the downsides of using some SPLINT ongoing during that time! I said, "....in what we are addressing here."

Hope this is now clear.

 

[Virgorising]

ol ok. I didnt told him that he need to use splint all the time. Just to take away the pain. Off course its pure logic, that he needs to find cause. But if he works too much on computer, can be hard to eliminate the main problem.

Again, I submit the pain may well owe to using the chair in question as it is. And the splint is a bad bandaid with downsides, to address the symtoms resulting.

for example: he can fix things with chair, but when he will be tired,he will not notice,that he doesnt sit like it should. Or another example: whenever i do little pixel work i tend to go in to the monitor, so chair doesnt fix my sitting, cause i am leaning across the table.

I agree, posture maters. When I work for very long intervals at this system, my posture may not be ideal.....but, I still have no pain.

Again, I came to feel, in the OP's case, however unwittingly, he came to live in an actual, Physical, UNNATURALLY CONFINING prison because of the arms on his chair, vis a vis the rest of his setup, wherein he can not even adjust the height of the chair because of the arms conflicting with his desk.

The set up as I ended up seeing it and "experiencing" its reality....precludes the simple freedom of his body's ability to be relaxed, pain free, with full range of motion and normal.

And that has lead to all the problems it SEEMED involved the mouse, the KB, etc.

Remember, just if we wear shoes with badly engineered soles---and I don mean Alexander McQueen 7 inch stilettos--it impacts our WHOLE BODIES! Many people go to physicians with all kindsa muscular skeletal pain....and it ends up being badly engineered shoes! This is also why, some people using orthotics fixes that stuff. Some people get custom orthotics. Bet those are way expensive. But they work!

 

[shortylickens]

You might be surprised to find that adjusting your chair height will solve problems that new hardware doesnt.

 

[Imaginer]

IME, the only way to get rid mouse-related problems was to get rid of the mouse. I can game all day w/ no RSI, but regular desktop computing I just can't do, regardless of mouse shape, weight, etc.. There are touchpads, digitizers, trackballs, joystick devices, and more, out there. Don't limit yourself to a mouse, OP.

This. X1000.

My "mouse" setup?

No desk. No cushions for the table edges. No fancy unnecessary mouse boobs. My forearm rests by my side on a couch, with my hand on a trackball. My monitors? On a mobile table and my viewing can be directed at the TV as well.

If you want to still use a desk, posters above me have mentioned matching your seating height with your desk surface in correlation to your arms. But for wrists, nothing beats the health of alternative "mouse"/pointer devices. But for that, my vote goes to the trackball (thumbball is fine, but there is no modern, small wireless receiver, fingerball nor are there a variety of sizes).

 

[Morbus]

My forearm rests by my side on a couch, with my hand on a trackball.

Yeah, I hear that's great for gaming and productivity work like photoshop...

 

[Virgorising]

You might be surprised to find that adjusting your chair height will solve problems that new hardware doesnt.

BINGO. Scroll, up, that is what I got way back. Asked him, he said he could not adjust the height of his chair because its ARMS CONFLICTED WITH HIS DESK and rendered adjustment impossible.

Solution as I delineated it....while also offering countless parallels to illustrate the core problem: REMOVE THE ARMS.

 

[Imaginer]

Yeah, I hear that's great for gaming and productivity work like photoshop...

Funny you mention this, I do CAD with this setup and game as well.

For a time, I used a Intuos 4 on my lap, and the keyboard off to my left for some shortcuts.

To clarify, my two 24" monitors, stacked on top another, are on a table about four feet from my eyes to screen. Those monitors are a bit off to the side, keeping the big TV screen shown that is side by side to those monitors but from a distance. (that TV is connected to a separate HTPC, but I can have that as a third monitor).

My keyboard and trackball are both wireless, and on my lap. My keyboard usage is about the same as my trackball, my forearms rests on my legs and lap along with my keyboard. My trackball is off to my right by my legs.

This has been way more comfortable, long term, compared to a desk and chair. Because the cushions have some give, I sink into a natural position for me that I can't get with a office chair. My arms aren't stressed by having them held to match a desk height or have arm and wrist movements to use a drag and lift mouse.

The back of the couch rests my back.

 

[Cerb]

You might be surprised to find that adjusting your chair height will solve problems that new hardware doesnt.

Chairs are often way too short. Actually, every office chair I've ever used at work, except for an Aeron, never went high enough for the desk, and the desks have alwys been right about 3 feet. It's consistently puzzled me, over the years, being that I'm quite average in height, and plenty of people are shorter. Also ironic was when I had the Aeron, I worked in a cube farm. So, we had chairs that could be adjusted, and the desk (countertop) height could be adjusted, as well.

My chair at home does go high enough, but at work I just have to take beaks.

 

[Virgorising]

My chair at home does go high enough, but at work I just have to take beaks.

That, your reality at work.....is disgusting. Forget counter productive. I would report this to someone. Bet you are hardly the only one having his productivity being eroded in this needless way!!!!

 

[Virgorising]

Chairs are often way too short. Actually, every office chair I've ever used at work, except for an Aeron, never went high enough for the desk, and the desks have alwys been right about 3 feet. It's consistently puzzled me, over the years, being that I'm quite average in height, and plenty of people are shorter. Also ironic was when I had the Aeron, I worked in a cube farm. So, we had chairs that could be adjusted, and the desk (countertop) height could be adjusted, as well.

My chair at home does go high enough, but at work I just have to take beaks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6j8SFJs4lA

Not to be cavalier cause I hear all this but in no way personally relate to any of it....but mousing by anyone healthy and normal does not bear the challenges/dangers something truly artificial---like throwing a 90 mph fast ball accurately----does.

I think, could be wrong, these guys.....all oddly around same age and cute....may not be punking us. But not sure.

But witness the ostensible MD who is also an MBA.

 

[Cerb]

That, your reality at work.....is disgusting. Forget counter productive. I would report this to someone. Bet you are hardly the only one having his productivity being eroded in this needless way!!!!

Yup. I should totally report how it gets in the way of browsing and posting on AT at work . Some people get keyboard trays installed, but I need to get to what's on my desk too much for that to work, since that would add almost a foot of forward distance (phone, KVM, HDD dock, etc.). TBH, my productivity is largely unaffected by it, doing support work.

 

[Virgorising]

Yup. I should totally report how it gets in the way of browsing and posting on AT at work . Some people get keyboard trays installed, but I need to get to what's on my desk too much for that to work, since that would add almost a foot of forward distance (phone, KVM, HDD dock, etc.). TBH, my productivity is largely unaffected by it, doing support work.

K....the self abrogating sardonic stuff was cute......but sorry, you should not have to be taking breaks cause the basics are badly configured!

Think of a team working in an OR: goal is to potentiate the best possible result, and first, the basics must be configured properly to support each human on the team.

And, am positive tons of delving by engineers goes into configuring every part of say, some assembly line. Bet even Henry Ford got that. Din make him nice person, but bet he got it.

 

[Cerb]

That may be so, but there are limits, and here, office furniture seems to be one of them . I don't want to spend my money on it, so I deal with it as is. If I were typing all day, it probably wouldn't be remotely acceptable, but that's never the case. On good days, I don't even spend half my time sitting at my desk.

 

[Virgorising]

That may be so, but there are limits, and here, office furniture seems to be one of them . I don't want to spend my money on it, so I deal with it as is. If I were typing all day, it probably wouldn't be remotely acceptable, but that's never the case. On good days, I don't even spend half my time sitting at my desk.

Interesting. U bet, we are each unique, as are our situations, and we are each meant to make the right differential decisions in everything facgtoring in all the options available!!!

But I think it's funny that "office furniture" is some kinda issue with limitations. But I also totally believe you that it is.:|

 

[Cerb]

If I want something computer-related, I end up having to worry that I'll get something that's $300 I don't need when I asked for a $100 gizmo (I'd be happier if all the extra money spent on me was spent on 120GB+ SSDs for everybody else's PCs, since desktop support is part of what I do ). With furniture, there's a few rooms of spare desks and chairs: have fun.

 

[Virgorising]

If I want something computer-related, I end up having to worry that I'll get something that's $300 I don't need when I asked for a $100 gizmo (I'd be happier if all the extra money spent on me was spent on 120GB+ SSDs for everybody else's PCs ). With furniture, there's a few rooms of spare desks and chairs: have fun.

A FEW ROOMS??????? Are they hoarders?:sneaky:

Re SSDs....my bias: perhaps they don't wanna risk sudden death and loss of data.:sneaky:

 

[Cerb]

Re SSDs....my bias: perhaps they don't wanna risk sudden death and loss of data.:sneaky:

No, it's that they cost too much as upgrade options, and aren't included in any otherwise reasonable preconfigured systems. But, by getting aftermarket ones, one of us has to take time to clone and reconfigure, or just reload, the OS. If the cost difference from OEMs were as little as it is when specifying a build from parts, all the new PCs would have SSDs.

If an HDD death causes more to be lost than contacts and calendars, why wasn't it all on the network drives? :twisted:

 

[Virgorising]

No, it's that they cost too much as upgrade options, and aren't included in any otherwise reasonable preconfigured systems. But, by getting aftermarket ones, one of us has to take time to clone and reconfigure, or just reload, the OS. If the cost difference from OEMs were as little as it is when specifying a build from parts, all the new PCs would have SSDs.

If an HDD death causes more to be lost than contacts and calendars, why wasn't it all on the network drives? :twisted:

All of the above: true. Clearly, a brand new Optiplex---many businesses choose them---and I monitor these things, cause I choose them, tho always pre-owned--- offers SDD upgrades from the factory, but the cost is significant.

But it still wouldn't surprise me if reliability, and how they go, if and when they go, vs mechanical drives, might still not be a factor too.

 

[nwo]

I can't remove the stupid armrest from the chair because I don't have the special "key" to unscrew them.

I bought Wow Pen Joy Vertical Ergonomic Optical Mouse Black By Ergoguys to give it a try. If I don't like it, I can always return it for free. :wub: Amazon prime!

Next step:
sawing off the arm rest (yes, there is only 1... and it's for the mouse off-hand).
or...
buying a new chair

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6j8SFJs4lA

:thumbsup:

 

[Virgorising]

I can't remove the stupid armrest from the chair because I don't have the special "key" to unscrew them.

I bought Wow Pen Joy Vertical Ergonomic Optical Mouse Black By Ergoguys to give it a try. If I don't like it, I can always return it for free. :wub: Amazon prime!

OMG..... This makes me SERIOUSLY unhappy and frustrated. If, by "key" you mean some hex wrench.....bet you could either buy the right size or borrow a set! WISH YOU WERE AROUND THE CORNER!!!!!!!

Please, I can't bear you feel hostage to elements of a stupid chair assembly FOR SIMPLE WANT OF A TOOL!!!
_______________________________________
Edit: Jus now saw what appears to be an addendum to yr post re Sawing ARMS OFF. Not necessary! I was KIDDING---tho hack sawing is kinda fun. All of these things are modular and require some assembly when shipped. Either look on eBay for a no money set INCLUDING the size or sizes you need, or measure the openings in case you need more than one and go to yr local hardware store and tell whomever, you need hex wrenches of that or those sizes. Take pics with yr phone!!!!!

YOU HAVE OPTIONS!!!! Simple, viable options!!!! Absolutely!!!!!! (Cheer leading smilie)

Where do U live?????
____________________________________
Edit: K...I just went to ebay......TONS OF THEM, all sizes, all configurations, all prices....and some there are at auction nobody seems interested in! You could get a decent set for close to nothing!!! And, if you need only one size which is likely, you could get an individual one there!

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=m570.l3201&_nkw=hex+key+wrenches&_sacat=0

Yr foundational issue IS NOT YOUR HANDS....it's yr upper body and yr arms. You deserve better than BANDAIDS.

 

[Virgorising]

K....see this Swiss Army fold out type set for no money! If the bigger ones cover the sizes you need, pls consider this! I have individual ones, and they sometimes escape. With this Swiss Army thingy.....none will ever escape.

But my take is you may ONLY NEED ONE SIZE.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-14pc-Fo...54614757?pt=US_Hand_Tools&hash=item415e4771e5

Heads UP! You are not crazy glued to the arms of that thing, it only FEELS as if you are; and the arms are not epoxied to the chair!!

GET THE WRENCH! Reclaim upper body freedom and health and normalcy!!!! Another cheer leading smilie.