Mouse Recs to Reduce Wrist Pain?

[heyarnold13]

Greetings lovely nerds,

 

I've recently found that my right wrist has been REALLY bugging me to the point where I can't snatch because I get flares of pain. At first I thought it was workout related (too much yoga, planking, pushups, etc), but I described the pain to my coach who used to be a graphic designer and she had the same feeling in her arm/wrist and it was due to her mouse and desk setup. Sometimes I'll be at rest and it feels like shards of glass are going up and down my forearm right above my radius.

 

SO!

 

Any recommendations on a good mouse out there? Looking at all those gamers out there. If my fellow desk monkeys have recommendations on keyboards and mouse pads, too, that wouldn't hurt. Right now I have the "you work for an underfunded federal unit LOL" starter pack, aka a Dell keyboard from the early '00s and a Logitech mouse that has seen better days. The cheaper the better, since this is coming out of my own pocket, but I understand you have to spend a little money for good quality.

 

Any and all help is appreciated!

[Nedwin]

Wear a wrist brace? That's what my mom did when she got carpal tunnel in both wrists from her desk job. Just until they got better.

[QuirkyDM]

I don't find it's the mouse that causes the issue, but the use. Make sure it's at a good height so your forearm wrist and hand are all in a straight line and definitely not with your hand turned up at all. A wrist support might be helpful to elevate your wrist. For wrist issues, it's better to have your mouse too high rather than too low. (That can be harder on your shoulders, though)

Next, consider switching hands. It is awkward for a few days or maybe even weeks, but it comes very quickly. More than a few people at my office have used this and now I do mouse work with my left hand at work and my right hand at home to keep the use distributed evenly.

If your wrist is that sore, treat it like an injury- rest, ice, elevation. When I had the same issues, it was wrist tendinitis. Besides icing my wrist to bring down the swelling, some stretching and massage on my forearm was needed to release the muscles and remove tension from the wrist tendon. The big exercise was pushing the back of your hand down and holding it and when that gets too easy, do it with a closed fist. You should check out the Assassin's board. They have a "happy hands" routine to keep hand and wrist pain away. I haven't used them, but many of the assassins swear by them.

[The Reel Godfather]

A few years ago, mine started to bother me so I switched to a M/S Natural Mouse 7000 and the M/S Natural Keyboard 4000.  I setup the keyboard with the elevated wrist portion.  It took a couple of weeks to get used to the keyboard and mouse but since then I have been pain free and really enjoy the keyboard/mouse combo.  Whenever I use another keyboard or mouse at someone else's computer it feels super strange, that is how much I like mine.