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TouchPad for PC w/Windows 7 vs. carpal tunnel ?

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bit:
Carpal tunnel syndrome is getting to me.
Each morning I start out with no pain.
Within a short time it feels like a thick rubber band around my right wrist.
I suspect my inexpensive, durable Microsoft mouse with difficult to click finger buttons.
I tried a right angle mouse, but the squeeze action with thumb made it worse.
I see they make an add-on TouchPad you just finger-swipe, and watched one vid on how to use it.
Seems a bit complicated, 1-finger for this, 2-fingers for this, 3-fingers, 4-fingers.
Some articles say 'TouchPad for Windows 8' (I've got Windows 7).
Not sure if this is a good remedial approach, or what prices for wired gear, and best brands?

My best 'cures' include;
1-hot & cold water dip alternated; tingly hot dip for 10-20 seconds, then cold water 10-20 seconds, hot...cold...(repeat as needed). I do this in a pair of 2-quart plastic food containers in the kitchen sink; works like magic.
2-herbal spray liniment;
recipe - 1 qt. 70% rubbing alcohol, 2 tsp. myrrh gum powder, 1 tsp. goldenseal powder, 1.5 tbl. cayenne powder (red pepper), 1 tsp. scullcap powder, 1 tsp. hops powder: mix ingredients, shake once a day for 10 days, settle out for one day, then fill a sore throat pump top spray bottle with clear amber liquid and spray on skin; works pretty good in combination with hot & cold water dip (i.e. do 'hot & cold' first; dry off, then spray liniment on and let it dry on).
3-Zostrix cayenne pepper skin cream; this stuff is potent, but don't get it anywhere you don't want it.
i.e. don't rub it on your carpal tunnel and then (even after washing your fingertip) rub your eye or taste your fingertip, or you'll feel a burning in your eye or mouth. :P
Whenever I put it on my wrist (i.e. at bedtime), I take a tube sock, cut off the lower part, and slip the top part over the affected area, to keep the Zostrix from accidentally transferring anywhere I don't want it to go.
In the morning, I remove the tube sock, and scrub the Zostrix off with a wash cloth and warm water.
Then the wash cloth goes into the laundry bin.
I mark a black 'X' on the white tube sock, to show which side went to the inner part of my wrist.
IOW, I practice strict application monitoring & control; prevents Zostrix ending up on the keyboard, door knobs, chair backs, pillows, etc. and transferring back to fingertips, then to mouth, eyes, and so on.
You have to be this strict, because Zostrix works, but it will get you in ways you won't believe if you get sloppy. (:

Unfortunately, the carpal tunnel is slowly getting worse in spite of all remedial efforts, short of quitting my PC.
I'm open to any and all suggestions, not just the ones mentioned here.

All posts in this thread are for educational or entertainment purposes only and not intended as actual health advice.

Ath:
Unfortunately, the only remedy for CTS is an operation on your hand/wrist. Prevention should have started years ago.
A good mouse, probably a large enough Logitech (good quality button-switches), could have postponed the CTS, but nothing will eventually avoid it with intensive keyboard/mouse use. (I'll eventually have similar issues you mention.)
You could check out specific mice and replacements like touchpads, but it'll require a very personalized adjustment to you way of working (with trial and error), and a lot of rest, to enlighten your pain.

MilesAhead:
I have a Laptop with Windows 8.0.  I use an optical mouse.  At times when it is not convenient to set up the mouse I find that any extensive use of the touch pad hurts my forearm from holding it semi-hovered over the touch pad.  If you do go that way try to support your arm somehow as the muscles in the forearm can start cramping quickly.

The other idea, if feasible, put the mouse on the other side of the desktop and switch the buttons.  You may be right handed but left handed people adapt to a lot of things designed for the right handed.  In a short time you may find the awkwardness diminishes and it should be a good way to rest your right hand.

dr_andus:
I found that it was the moving of the forearm and the wrist that caused my problems. Many years ago, at the first sign of RSI I switched from an ordinary mouse to a succession of ergonomic mice with trackballs, so all you move is your thumb (or fingers with some models), and I stopped having problems. Every time I have to use an ordinary mouse I'm amazed that they are still being made and people still use them. As long as you have a thumb (or other fingers) and you can move it, I can recommend any of these.

My current one is a Kensington Expert Mouse, but I also used various versions of Logitech Trackballs and Kensington Trackballs. Actually I find the Kensington Expert Mouse somewhat less ergonomic than the other ones (as you need to use your fingers to move the ball, as opposed to the thumb), but its other advanced features compensate for it, and I'm not having any RSI. I switched to the Expert Mouse mainly because the Logitech Trackballs died on me after a year or so, so I just got tired of replacing them (but they still worked well from an RSI point of view).

bit:
I have a Laptop with Windows 8.0.  I use an optical mouse.  At times when it is not convenient to set up the mouse I find that any extensive use of the touch pad hurts my forearm from holding it semi-hovered over the touch pad.  If you do go that way try to support your arm somehow as the muscles in the forearm can start cramping quickly.

The other idea, if feasible, put the mouse on the other side of the desktop and switch the buttons.  You may be right handed but left handed people adapt to a lot of things designed for the right handed.  In a short time you may find the awkwardness diminishes and it should be a good way to rest your right hand.

-MilesAhead (July 30, 2015, 07:09 AM)
--- End quote ---
I've been trying this approach since this morning. (:
No need to switch the buttons, since I'm already rewiring my brain from RH to LH.
It's slow, a bit awkward, but a great relief.

I tried trackballs about 10 or 12 years ago, very early models, without success.
Maybe they've improved since then.
I took a peek at the 'Kensington Expert Mouse' and like the look of it, but I see that it is $99, a bit out of my range.

I appreciate the heads-up on forearm soreness with a touch pad.

I have 3 Logitech mice, 2 have malfunctioning switches, the 3rd is wireless and like new, but has a phantom click problem, and copy & paste problems in which it copies parts of lines but not all.
So I am reluctant to get any more Logitech mice (they're also more costly and driver-bloated).

My nice durable solidly constructed Microsoft 'basic mouse' has hard to push, stronger switches, and seems to be exacerbating the carpal tunnel problem.
So a switch to a different brand of mouse that looks like a Logitech might work, as I explored in an earlier thread.
Or, I can consider a trackball, altho I've found early models not so great.
Tnx everyone, for all the comments; it's giving me ideas.  :Thmbsup:

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