Digital Workshop

Hi everyone

In February, I was seconded to undertake a work audit project.

Since then I have spent five days a week constantly using my notebook mouse and I'm having mouse hand thumb problems.

After using the mouse for hours, I'm finding my right hand thumb joints seize and are really painful.

I recon the cause might be too much mousing but there would be members of this forum who probably use a mouse, hour after hour to earn a living as well.

Has anyone else had a mouse thumb problem and if so, what treatment or cures are there apart from ceasing mouse use? Unfortunately, the project won't be completed until mid June at the earliest.

Age of right hand thumb will be 55 years this month.

Cheers

Graham

Hi Graham,
This is becaming very common, and most computer users I know have this problem. Over the last few years I've had to make alterations to how I work.
I have various mice of various sizes that I can change if pain starts to become a problem, although for me, the smaller the mouse the worse the problem gets.

The worst ones are the small notebook mice with no weight for you to feel when moving it. Lighter mice require a more delicate touch and encourage a very light grip to move the mouse, which tends to make the pain worse.
The best mice have some weight you can feel -- cordless mice have more weight so I prefer them.
Fine, precise adjustments on screen, like drawing with the mouse or dragging an object to size can cause pain to appear early in a session, use snap to grid if possible so you can release the mouse as soon as possible.
Take your hand off your mouse when you not using it; for example when reading a PDF file. Drop your hand into your lap; like any habit, it can take a while to unlearn. We sometimes sit there flicking the cursor around -- let go of the mouse.

Adjust the mouse pointer speed to work a little slower, not faster -- a larger hand movement is better than a very small hand movement.
If the pain starts to intrude on your work, walk away for a while, break up your work sessions, have your coffee break away from the computer.
In any application you use; Avoid drilling down for an often used function, make a new toolbar so you can one click, even better use keyboard shortcuts if they are available.

cheers
Paul

Graham,
You can get topical preparations for this type of problem, I managed to get tennis elbow from using a nailgun and a 4 lb hammer, but not at the same time!! and was prescribes a cream (Movelat) which is an anti inflamatory. Something like that may give you some relief. Old age never comes alone!!! I know!!!

I'm right handed but find it helpful to move the mouse over to the left side of my keyboard so that my arm crosses across my body when mousing. This seems to alleviate the pain/strain that I get in my right elbow from extended mouse use in the more usual position.

I've not had this problem related to using a mouse, but severals ago I was involved with a major project that involved an enormous amount of copying/cutting and pasting using Ctrl+C; Ctrl+X; and Ctrl+V. This went on for 8 hours per day over about 6 weeks. I had developed a rhythm which allowed me to put my brain in neutral. (OK, I know that's the state many believe I live in all the time )

Everything was OK until the final week when I began to experience severe pain in both wrists. The problem seemed to be related to the stretching between thumb and little finger in my small hands.

I took some anti-inflamatory tablets, used a cream (available in Australia as Dencorub) and wore elastic supports (available from pharmacies) that covered the base of my fingers, all of my thumb, extending to include my wrist.

I was lucky, because after several weeks of applying this treatment and stopping the repetitive actions, everything returned to normal.

Re Paul's comments: I find that when I switch to using the Notebook with the supplied smaller mouse, I can feel a twinge returning to the joints in my right hand. Like Paul, I find this is exacerbated by using a small, light-weight, corded mouse.

Graham,

Don't change a thing. Put up with the pain. It is all part of a grand experiment of natural evolution... and you don't want to interrupt that process. How do you think we got opposable thumbs? Some apes getting repetitive pain, no doubt working with early, unfamiliar tools.

I make sure my keyboard and mouse are at or below elbow height.
Also, try to catch myself if I am getting too much of a tense grip on the thing.
Lastly, I switch to left-handed use for a few days or week at a time.

Good luck.

Hi Graham,

With the wonder of USB, I have now added both mouse; tracker ball and graphics tablet to my system.

It wasn't the tracker ball I wanted, as this clocked in around £100, but it's still pretty good. It's large enough to rest my entire hand on and the ball control is easy.

You can get some decent cheep ones, about £15 and if they work for you, then invest in an expensive one.

I tend to switch if my wrists begin to hurt or if I'm just doing general work. for finer control, I switch back to mouse. On which point, a cordless mouse is a lot less painful, in my opinion, than a wired one.

The GT isn't just for drawing, it works well for tasks that don't involve lots of clicking, as the pen buttons are a little annoying, and drag and drop and general click to edit properties etc work easily by tapping the stylus.



Mack,

Hi Graham, I also had this problem in the past but my physio suggested to purchase a wireless mouse and use both hands in 30 minutes breaks between one hand and the other.

At the begining was weird because I am right handed person but now I am quite skillfull using my left hand. Yes, productivity decreases at the beginning but soon picks up and no more problems with RSI.

I hope this helps.

Cheers mate

German
Australia