RSI need an alternative to a mouse

Blether

Looking for a mouse that doesn't make my RSI worse. Looked at some touchpad ones which seem dear and a lot of people seem to find them difficult to work with.

Thanks

SuzieSue

I am right handed and had to stop using a mouse with my right hand after only 5 years. I then decided to start using the mouse with my left hand and got used to it pretty quickly and have been using it like that for over 15 years with no problem. I also keep the mouse right infront of me rather than to the left which also seems to help.

Mirno

Have you tried a vertical mouse?
http://www.evoluent.com/ made the mouse I use and it's been great - although I don't have RSI. You can get them off Amazon, but they're not cheap.

Also if you're left handed (or share the PC with someone who is) you can't get a uni-handed version.

Mirno

alanwsg

What about a trackball?
I much prefer them over a mouse.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-910-002090-M570-Trackball-Cordless/dp/B0043A1F4S/ref=sr_1_2

Bowling_4_Gold

A colleague at work has a mouse where it's vertical instead of horizontal (if that makes sense) - the buttons are on the side, not the top.

She showed it to me and it looked quite effective. Where you normally move your hand left and right to move the cursor left and right, with this you are effectively moving your hand up and down which puts less strain on the wrist joint.

Nilrem

Mirno wrote: »

Have you tried a vertical mouse?
http://www.evoluent.com/ made the mouse I use and it's been great - although I don't have RSI. You can get them off Amazon, but they're not cheap.

Also if you're left handed (or share the PC with someone who is) you can't get a uni-handed version.

Mirno

That's what my brother uses as he has RSI*, it's a very odd thing until you get used to it. I think Amazon are the main outlet for those mice in the UK.
He also uses Dragon Naturally Speaking to reduce the amount of typing he has to do.

However it's also important to make sure your desk (IE keyboard height) and chair are right for you as well, as if they are wrong you can end up with things continuing to get worse.
It surprises me how few people who use computers a lot at home actually think about things like making sure their chair/desk are ok (and how many will complain about the cost of a half decent chair).


*Probably in part due to years of playing MMORPG's where the games designers thought it a wonderful idea for players to have to spend hours at a stretch in a single event to get items they need to move forward.

esuhl

When I got painful RSI, my work got me an expensive ergonomic mouse. It wasn't agonising to use like a normal mouse, but it was still painful.

Then I bought a cheap-ish (~£20) Logitech Marble Mouse (which is actually a trackball). It's symmetrical, so since my right hand was so painful, I started using my left and found it far easier than using a normal mouse in my left hand.

The design means your hand and wrist is relaxed and you vary your hand position, which helped a lot with my RSI.

Anyway, I can't really recommend it enough. :-)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001DQY9AW/ref=asc_df_B001DQY9AW12192971?smid=A1GDH8INAYPYQY&!!!!!googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22242&creativeASIN=B001DQY9AW

Jakeandme

As said before try a track ball, I am left handed but can use it right handed just as easily, best thing i ever bought computer wise.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kensington-Orbit-Optical-Trackball-metallic/dp/B000HEW0KW/ref=pd_sim_computers_3

Ectophile

I use a trackball on my home PC as an alternative to a mouse. At work, I have a "mouse bean" (http://www.mousebean.com/) stuck to my mouse. I find that both help me.

It's also worthwhile practicing using a mouse (or trackball) left-handed so you can even out the wear on your hands.

I addition, I use the Mouse Keys option under "accessability" or "ease of use" (depending on the version) of Windows. That effectively uses your numeric keypad as an alternative to a mouse. It's very slow as a way of moving the cursor around the screen, but it can be turned on at the same time as a mouse is plugged in. I often find it easier to bash the "5" key as an alternative to clicking the mouse, or the "+" key to double-click. In addition "0" is click and hold (for dragging) and "." is release. Sometimes I will move the mouse with my left hand, while "clicking" with the right hand.

Jivesinger

SuzieSue wrote: »

I am right handed and had to stop using a mouse with my right hand after only 5 years. I then decided to start using the mouse with my left hand and got used to it pretty quickly and have been using it like that for over 15 years with no problem.

Me too. Even though I'm right-handed and pretty hopeless at doing most things left-handed (my left-handed writing is total gibberish) I found it really easy to adapt to using a mouse with my left hand.

Another tip is to reduce overall mouse usage by looking up keyboard shortcuts in software you use frequently, learning them, and using them instead. There's a lot less wrist movement in using a few keystrokes than in dragging your mouse up to the top of the screen and then along a menu or whatever.

epninety

esuhl wrote: »

Then I bought a cheap-ish (~£20) Logitech Marble Mouse (which is actually a trackball).

I do a fair amount of detailed CAD work, not often, but in bursts of many hours/day for a few weeks at a time.

I gave up mice for trackballs years ago, and I'm still searching for the perfect trackball. The Logitech Marble is the closest I've come at any price. So much so I have a spare in case they ever stop making them :rotfl: My only complaint is that because I have large hands, the heel of my palm is too far down the front of the body, nearly on the desktop. Either a longer body, or a shorter one, might be more comfy for me.

Close second is the Kensington Expert trackball, but it's a lot more spendy and not nearly as comfortable.

The Marble you operate with your first two fingers, leaving thumb and 3rd/4th fingers for operating the buttons. The Kensington is large enough that you lay 3 fingers onto it, operating buttons with thumb and little finger.

Microsoft Explorer Trackball looks worth a try, but sadly out of production.

Avoid those sexy designs where the trackball is operated by your thumb.

I can't operate the trackball with my left hand, I need that for the SpaceNavigator :T