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

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MilesAhead:
Once I started buying HP tower Media Center PCs I had a surplus of the mice with the rubber ball.  My mouse had the paint removed from the left button from me clicking it over the years.  I could see inside since it was clear plastic under the paint.  But anyway, when I got a laptop and had no desktop machines I bought a mini-usb keyboard and a usb optical mouse.  To my surprise I got a pretty good one from Walmart online for $5 or $6.  I have to carry everything around so that lets out wireless mice.  Batteries are heavy.  But this standard usb wheel optical mouse is easy to use.

I got a cheapie mousepad, less than $2.  Unlike the ones for the old mechanical mice this has very little friction on the surface.  The mouse glides around easily.  For less than $10 you could try them out.  If there is a Walmart nearby you could order online and pick up in the store for free.  There tends to be more stuff to choose from online than if you just go to the brick and mortar Walmart.

Deozaan:
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.-dr_andus (July 30, 2015, 08:08 AM)
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I recently had to switch from a (Logitech M570) trackball to a regular mouse because my thumb starts hurting any time I use it on my trackball. >:(

Come to think of it, it's been nearly a year since I made the swap, and my thumb still starts to hurt after a few minutes of using it in a similar manner (such as swiping around on my tablet).

Thumbs are not immune to RSI (or RSI-like symptoms).

dr_andus:
Thumbs are not immune to RSI (or RSI-like symptoms).
-Deozaan (July 30, 2015, 12:37 PM)
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I guess I must have a superstrong thumb  ;) There are some trackball mice though where you can use the bottom of your index finger and middle finger or your palm to move it, instead of a thumb (e.g. the Kensington Expert Mouse or the Kensigton Orbit I linked to above).

Deozaan:
Thumbs are not immune to RSI (or RSI-like symptoms).
-Deozaan (July 30, 2015, 12:37 PM)
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I guess I must have a superstrong thumb  ;)-dr_andus (July 30, 2015, 03:50 PM)
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I've been using trackball (thumb) mice for probably 15-20 years. I'd probably be having wrist problems if I had been using a regular mouse all this time. I think it's just that anything used repetitiously over long periods of time will lead to these kinds of issues. Maybe it would be best to swap between the two every so often to give your body a break.

tomos:
My experience is that you have to stop using the injured hand in the manner that caused the problem - i.e. if mouse, change hands completely, and let your other hand rest completely - or as completely as possibly. Since I had problems, I use a symmetrical mouse - I never bothered with reversing mouse-buttons either, and have little problems when changing. Try and keep your wrist as vertical as possible, as much as possible. If you have to work with the wrist rotated e.g. typing, rotate the wrist as often as possible in the opposite direction.

This sort of thing can kick in very quickly - e.g. if you rest your wrist on the sharp edge of a table, or I find with laptops on your lap where you work a lot with the wrists bent.
Or if you have to use crutches for a while :-(


Here's some exercises for tendonitis - disclaimer: I dont know will these help you if your tendons are seriously damaged:

Lifehacker ... have this video embedded
Video podcast - exercises for tendonitis and carpal tunnel which they better describe as "Use exercises to ward off RSI" - they're very good exercises if you spend a lot of time at the keyboard and/or using the mouse -
it feels really good to stretch those tendons ;)
-tomos (November 23, 2009, 07:58 AM)
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