Wrist pain

Perkin · Post by **Perkin** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:39 am

I regards to mouse mat -

I use a A4 sized blank white pad, when it becomes dirty - remove top sheet & voila - new mousemat.

If you have enough room go for an A3 one, then you won't have problems with the edge of pad causing height differences in arm/wrist/hand.

thefool · Post by **thefool** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:54 am

edit: nm

codewalker · Post by **codewalker** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 6:28 pm

This mouse does it's job even on a glass desk or shiny table,
clear glass and lacquered desks—surfaces that stump optical
mice and standard laser mice—are no obstacle anymore.

It uses darkfield laser-tracking

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/349/6 ... |Darkfield

This mouse will be dark forever

cw

rrpl · Post by **rrpl** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 7:59 am

Good on you Talisman. Ah and just who was it that first recomended you should see a specialist and not a GP?

Talisman Wrote:

One thing also the doctor mentioned was that I should try if at all possible, get rid of *any* mouse pads. Does anyone know a mouse, which can work on any surface? Optical definitely won't work for me, not sure about laser either, because my desk has a very flat polish and glossy finish making it impossible to use my current mouse with it.

I don't use a mouse pad on any of the computers in my home with no problems at all. All the computer desks in my house are just plain light brown artificial wood laminates. Myself and my daughter both use Labtec optical - Model Number M-BR91's (as cheap as chips), and my son uses a Genius - Model Number GM-04003P. I don't even know if these models are made any more, its so long since I've had to replace a mouse (not like the old ball mice). But I'm sure most optical mice will probably do the job if on a suitable surface. If your desk is unsuitable for optical mice you could perhaps fasten a piece of cheap laminate to it in the area of the mouse. Sorry about the sacrilege - your probably very fond of your desk, but at the end of the day anything that helps your issue must come first.

talisman · Post by **talisman** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 7:43 pm

rrpl wrote:Good on you Talisman. Ah and just who was it that first recomended you should see a specialist and not a GP?

I am very grateful for your advice, thank you very much.

codewalker, that Logitech mouse looks really good and the price is just sweet. My current mouse is a Logitech so I do trust the brand. Great find!

Do you believe there is anything more I should consider or just go and order that Logitech for me? Thanks!

blueznl · Post by **blueznl** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:43 pm

Ah, one more thing that might be of interest... I found out in practice that cold surfaces (glas, metal) tend to worsen my wrist problems. No problems with wood or a regular (laminate + MDF) desk top.

talisman · Post by **talisman** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:17 pm

Mine is MDF + laminate

Kale · Post by **Kale** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 3:57 pm

Mouse that operates on glass:

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/0 ... s?from=rss

byo · Post by **byo** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:08 pm

My wife has what is called a Carpal Tunnel Syndrom and she sometimes can't feel her arms and can't hold something like a glass or bottle for a long time. I too have a lesions for repetitive efforts but mine is more subtle. Sometimes I just can't play the guitar without feeling pain on my fingertip and elbow.

She has a surgery scheduled in 4 months because if it's not taken care of her nerves can become seriously damaged.

So it's always nice to not let it go when you feel that's something that's preventing you from living your normal life.

SFSxOI · Post by **SFSxOI** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:45 pm

Kale wrote:Mouse that operates on glass:

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/0 ... s?from=rss

The dark field? Sounds like the mouse was invented by Einstein.

SFSxOI · Post by **SFSxOI** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:47 pm

byo wrote:My wife has what is called a Carpal Tunnel Syndrom and she sometimes can't feel her arms and can't hold something like a glass or bottle for a long time. I too have a lesions for repetitive efforts but mine is more subtle. Sometimes I just can't play the guitar without feeling pain on my fingertip and elbow.

She has a surgery scheduled in 4 months because if it's not taken care of her nerves can become seriously damaged.

So it's always nice to not let it go when you feel that's something that's preventing you from living your normal life.

Believe me, once she heals up completly from the surgery life is going to be much better. After I had mine things vastly improved. You'd be suprised how something like that affects your entire life.

ricardo · Post by **ricardo** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:13 pm

Joakim Christiansen wrote:For the last 2 years I've had (because of the computer) so much pain (hands, arms, neck, back, you name it) that I haven't been able to work with anything serious on it anymore. And I had to cut out online chatting too... (which I for some reason did a lot before :S how else can a geek be "social"?) The problem has really fucked up my life (even made me suicidal), I could have earned a living doing programming, but it seems that I now have to find something else to do. And yes I've been to doctors and specialists and whatnot...

So nowadays I try to put in more exercise and stretching and use the computer much less (that's why I'm not so much around anymore). But I think that I am starting to get a little better since in the last few nights I have actually been able to go to sleep without feeling pains everywhere.

I wish you (and myself) good luck, and I think the most important thing we can do is to just stay as much as we can away from the computer (until we get better).

I don't think you need to avoid the computer, but find another way or position to use it. Its not likely that every position will still hurting you.

Good luck and i hope you find a solution, don't stop programming, thats much drastic.

talisman · Post by **talisman** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 12:16 am

Just an update of my progress so far;

Currently I use an A4 sheet of paper as my mouse pad and so far it works good, although quite often there are problems like the mouse "sticking" to some point and needing readjustment to make the cursor glide on the screen again. It is however a temporary solution till I either get the Razer Kabuto or one of the Logitech mice with Dark Field tech.

There is currently no pain anymore. It's virtually gone and it amazes me that it vanished this quickly in so little time. Still the current posture is hard to adapt to and it feels very uncomfortable after a while; but regular breaks and stretching helps to reduce this discomfort. It is however not pain I am experiencing.

The only pain I am experiencing right now is my fingers hurting quite bad after writing lengthy documents or coding non-stop for some time. It is just that when I'm in a coding session and I have a problem to solve, I don't really look at the clock to see when I should take a break, instead I stay in the IDE as long as it takes to get it done. That is my problem and this I can not really overcome, so are there any tips for this? Can a new keyboard do wonders? I've considered DVORAK already so I don't need to move my hands/fingers too much, but the fact I write in so many different languages than English makes QWERTY a bit more preferable. Thanks in advance for any help!

blueznl · Post by **blueznl** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 8:44 am

Tried a 'natural keyboard' yet?

As for extenden periods of time... we're all PureBasic programmers here (or aspiring ones, in my case

) why can't we cook up a little tool that displays a 'pie chart' style of clock in the icon tray, that's adjustable, and can be configured to, for example, stay out of sight for 45 minutes, then bother the user for 15?

THat way we'd be FORCED to take our breaks.

For Fred, we'll put in some different settings, of course, no need for him to take breaks

<edit>

Just browsed a little, looking for a freeware app for this, and most of the stuff is simple basic countdown timers for which they charge (!) from $25 (!!) to $169 (!!!)... amazing...

Mistrel · Post by **Mistrel** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 9:18 am

Try seeing a chiropractor. My wrist/arm issues extend from a pinched nerve at the base of my neck.