Hippus HandshoeMouse Using a mouse in the wrong way for long periods of time will gradually and unremittingly put strain on your forearm. If you are unlucky, the damage may be permanent, leaving you in constant pain. So while you chuckle away at this funny looking mouse, bear in mind that it might just prevent years of suffering and save your …
Like a mouse mat with a gel wrist support and a decent mouse that fits your hand and plenty of disc space to rest your elbow. Funnily enough as long as you don't hold your mouse like a gimp I'm guessing you'll avoid RSI!
Then you've got at least £50 to spend on a humping USB dog! ;o)
"Typical not to make one for the left handed world, over and over idiot manufacturers do this"
Did you actually *read* the review?
They do a left-handed version - trouble is, you've got to pay through the nose (and several other orifices) for it.
Personally, being ambi-mouse-trous, I'd rather use something with a certain degree of symmetry so that I can switch hands should I feel the need to. For this reason I'm still using olde-skool MS Optical IntelliMice on all my machines and I've had no RSI issues in over 10 years of working as a developer.
The Dutch word for 'glove' is "handschoen", which literally translates into English as "hand shoe". (Kinda) Logical when you think about it - since a glove is a like a shoe for your hand.
A couple of my other favourite Dutch words and their English translations are:
"Broodrooster" = "bread roaster" (toaster)
"Stofzuiger" = "dust sucker" (vacuum cleaner)
The biggest aggro to the RSI is the mouseclicking motion, the curl-down of the main fingers to click. Mate of mine noticed the same thing. I don't think this will help as the mousebuttons require substantially the same action.
I use a trackball (happens to be an expensive kensington, but not as expensive as I'd thought looking at these prices! Actually it was cheaper than the cheapest of these meece). Mouseclick is done with thumb, side of hand or heel of hand depending on your mood.
It stays in one place so you don't need much desk space but the downsides are you need a smaller than normal keyboard (drop the numeric pad) to keep it ergonomically close, it's difficult to use at first (takes a couple of weeks) but once you've adapted you'll never want to go back and what no-one tells you, you need to keep the ball and rollers very clean. It's much more sensitive to dirt than a mouse.
-independent user, not linked to kensington.
(oh yes, there's no rip-off handed version. One trackball does sinistra & dextra both fine)
Looked at photos. Looked at my hand position on the symmertrical unergonomic-looking Apple mouse, and it's identical. Wrist is elevated,fingers relaxed. Most movement from the whole forearm.
Turn to PC on the right side of my desk to see what happened. Still relaxed, but wrist grounded.
Try to figure out the difference. Due to desk space, the Mac mouse is rotated 90º. Problem on that side is that there's no support for my left arm while typing.
My conclusion is that what people need isn't a new mouse, it's a new desk. I always preferred a corner desk, and I think this is why.
Or something.
A few years ago a collegue had a problem with his wrist so the company bought him one of these in a lovely shade on beige. I had a go and found it a bit too weird - I don't know if I'm using a mouse like a knacker but the mouse pointer moved slightly up as well as I moved the mouse to the left. Also you had to hold it in one position where as I use my mouse in whatever position I grab it (no pun intended).
I've used the same cheap as chips mouse every day for a few years now: http://www.octigen.com/DB/Products/mouse-opt-big.jpg - simple, jobber that let's my hand get on with it instead of some botched attempt at ergonomics.
Sensitivity is set to max and I've got ample deskspace. I've had no real probs.
Extensive use of a Dell XPS M1330 laptop in the evenings can sometimes induce a twinge.
After a fortnight of using the Samsung NC10 netbook my trackpad finger has ached like hell, even with max sensitvity and momentum etc turned on - there's just nowhere to rest your wrist (though this is an inherent issue with all netbooks).
I had mouse-and-keyboard related injury in my wrist by around age 28, so I switched to a Logitech thumb trackerball. Bliss! It meant I didn't have to move my hand at all (great for flights), was more precise, and the inertia of the ball meant you could spin it to move around the screen....
...until I developed thumb RSI earlier this year (age 34 - and I use my Blackberry a lot too). Yep, I said "it wouldn't happen to me", too. Vitamins, Cod Liver oil, jogging, gym - all the usual keep-your-body-healthy stuff. I thought I'd spend the rest of my life with 'special' aids for typing, but luckily my hand's recovered a fair bit and I can work normally, as long as I don't overdo it.
So now I use the glidepoint on my laptop. A lot slower. Who knows, in another couple of years, I might get ring-finger RSI, and have to move to another option. So this mouse is of particular interest to me - I might be able to expense it, too.
Don't scoff kids - listen to that Health'n'Safety blurb, pay the money, and save your wrist for more important things*.
* Like Badminton.
My girlfriend had her carpal tunnel release surgery a while ago, and she's been really happy with the results. No more pain, and no more numbness, just a pair of useful hands once again.
Interestingly the consultant she used was of the opinion that there's no such thing as RSI, only carpal tunnel syndrome.
It's important to get a good surgeon though; my girlfriend was back at work in less than a week after her surgery, and was completely pain free after a month.
One of her colleagues had it done by a different surgeon and was off work for three months, and the colleague is still in pain even now. Conversely my girlfriend can't believe how much better her life is now.
I'll also mention that although carpal tunnel is one problem, there can be other things that cause hand problems too. Just because you have pain doesn't always mean it's carpal tunnel syndrome.
Personally, I suggest you get a mouse without a wheel; a rocker switch is far better ergonomically IMO. It's that come hither motion on the wheel that caused me problems.
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