Trackball Vs. Gel Wrist Rest
- Thread starter Quitch
- Start date
Is it some kind of RSI problem? Wrist support is not necessarily the answer. In my case it was elbow support that was the major issue, and it was resting the wrist on the table or the mouse mat that was causing the problem.
If you find yourself prone to this kind of thing I've got two recommendations: make sure you can rest your elbow on the desk, and use the mouse wrong-handed for desktop work - playing games right-handed and working left-handed splits the load. That (and two months of ultrasound!) sorted it out for me.
I expect in a couple of years my left-handed mouse dexterity will be good enough to let me play games cackhanded as well, but it certainly isn't yet.
If you find yourself prone to this kind of thing I've got two recommendations: make sure you can rest your elbow on the desk, and use the mouse wrong-handed for desktop work - playing games right-handed and working left-handed splits the load. That (and two months of ultrasound!) sorted it out for me.
I expect in a couple of years my left-handed mouse dexterity will be good enough to let me play games cackhanded as well, but it certainly isn't yet.
I already use the mouse wrong-handed where I can, though I don't like the idea of resting my elbow on the desk. Your upper arm should come straight down and the forearm should be at 90o to that. I try not to rest on my wrist, but that's easier said than done 
This is why I was wondering which of the two choices would be better for my wrist in general.
This is why I was wondering which of the two choices would be better for my wrist in general.
You could get one of those crazy gyroscopic mouses that Slashdot linked the other day.
Agreed. I need my chair and desk to be the right height too . It's easier for me as I am very long in the body so my elbow naturally rests at about desk-height. For higher desks I push the keyboard right forward on the desk and sit with my chest virtually touching the desk.
Suspending the arm with all the weight on the shoulder for long periods I find hard on the upper back.
. It's easier for me as I am very long in the body so my elbow naturally rests at about desk-height. For higher desks I push the keyboard right forward on the desk and sit with my chest virtually touching the desk.Suspending the arm with all the weight on the shoulder for long periods I find hard on the upper back.
I've just had a few months of RSI, but got rid of it. Well, I can still feel some pain from it if I do some things at the gym.
Get yourself an adjustable armchair if you don't want to put your elbow on the table. It's good for wrist, shoulders, and neck.
Be carefull to not bend your wrist backwards. This means that mice with a steep slope on the back can be realy bad. I couldn't use my MX700, even though it is a nice mouse. I got me a tiny mouse for $5 instead, and that was a great upgrade ergonomically in this situation. It's small enough that I can hold my wrist straight forward, and the mouse resides under my index and middle finger.
Only drawback is that it's got too few buttons, and the tiny, light ball locks up if I just think about a bread crum.
Another trick to try is a book under the mouse mat. This helps you to avoid bending your wrist backwards. You should of course never rest your wrist in front of the book (that would make things worse). If you rest your wrist somewhere, then do it on the mouse mat on top of the book.
And another imprtant thing is to change your position. Don't be so locked up by the 90º angles.
Of the two altenatives trackball vs gel vrist rest, I'd choose the gel. IIRC, the trackballs can often give a bad wrist angle. But if you cant stop putting much of the arm weight on the wrist, the gel won't be enough.
Get yourself an adjustable armchair if you don't want to put your elbow on the table. It's good for wrist, shoulders, and neck.
Be carefull to not bend your wrist backwards. This means that mice with a steep slope on the back can be realy bad. I couldn't use my MX700, even though it is a nice mouse. I got me a tiny mouse for $5 instead, and that was a great upgrade ergonomically in this situation. It's small enough that I can hold my wrist straight forward, and the mouse resides under my index and middle finger.
Only drawback is that it's got too few buttons, and the tiny, light ball locks up if I just think about a bread crum.
Another trick to try is a book under the mouse mat. This helps you to avoid bending your wrist backwards. You should of course never rest your wrist in front of the book (that would make things worse). If you rest your wrist somewhere, then do it on the mouse mat on top of the book.
And another imprtant thing is to change your position. Don't be so locked up by the 90º angles.
Of the two altenatives trackball vs gel vrist rest, I'd choose the gel. IIRC, the trackballs can often give a bad wrist angle. But if you cant stop putting much of the arm weight on the wrist, the gel won't be enough.
