Re: OT: was back pain, now mouse-hand pain

[Sylvain Poitras <sylvain.trombone@gmail.com>]

I've suffered from musculoskeletal disorders in the past...  never again.  Setting up your office properly is crucial to avoid injury.  So is taking breaks, stretching, diversifying your tasks.  See below for some advice on setting up your office:

 

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/occup-travail/checklist-aidememoire-eng.php

 

Sylvain

 

On 5/14/09, tEd ® KiLLiAn <tedkillian@charter.net> wrote:

Tilmann,

I'm sure others will come up with a variety of very good solutions and suggestions too.

I used to suffer with pain and fatigue in my right arm and shoulder from using a mouse (I'm right-handed).

I'm a graphic designer and make a living with my computer, so I couldn't very well stop feeding my family.

Now I use a track ball (a Kensington Orbit) and have none of that difficulty whatsoever.

Sometimes it's not that you have to stop doing what you're doing, but change something a little so you're using different muscles.

Good luck!

Ted

On May 13, 2009, at 10:08 PM, Tilmann Dehnhard wrote:

dear fellow loopers, please be very careful with the computer mouse.
after mixing a recording using almost only the mouse i had terrible pain in the hand and inflammation around the elbow. my right hand got slow and kind of numb. i changed to the left hand for a year. took some serious conditioning to stop reaching for the mouse with the right hand...
today i am able to switch hands whenever fatigue and stress build up.
letting go of the mouse when not in use and simply moving and massaging the fingers regularly has helped me, too.

one of the main problems is that the mouse-clicking finger joints do experience stress from the operation. unfortunately the movement is too small to trigger blood circulation and other recreative measures usually maintained by the body.
this was discovered when a condition surfaced called the "sms-thumb" - a terrible stinging pain in the thumb from using cellulars for messaging.

best - tilmann