Home Treatment for Repetitive Stress Injury

[Update: 2/3/09]

Why does a standard mouse hurt so many people? To answer this question, let’s take a look at how the mouse forces us to sit, and why that’s unnatural — then I’ll give a list of some of the alternative choices you have (to get to the list fast, click the More! button).

First, reach for your mouse. Then take a look at your wrist and hands. Is your forearm in a straight line or at an angle to your fingers? Are you leaning your wrist on the desk and lifting your fingers up for the mouse? Is your shoulder relaxed, or are you trying to hold your elbow up unnaturally?

All of these little posture changes seem small, but over the 8 or more hours a day you spend at a desk, they add up to big stresses on your body, which builds up to injury and pain over the long haul. Tension anywhere in your arm, from your wrists to your shoulder and neck, can cut off some of your circulation, meaning that the materials your body needs to stay healthy get cut off too. Inflammation can build up in a stressed-out area of your body, and you need the oxygen and building blocks available in your bloodstream to wash that gunk away and bring in new materials like vitamins and minerals to help heal the injury.

Those odd angles you sit in, combined with built up inflammation, can also pinch your nerves. You will know if you’re having nerve problems, because you’ll start to feel a tingling sensation or frequent numbness. Your arms might fall asleep easily, even when you’re not at the computer. This is sometimes a symptom of Carpal Tunnel, but it could come from other places in your arm too.

Standard mice also make you twist your arm in a strange way. If you stand up and hold your arms at your sides, you’ll notice that your palms rest against your thighs — but if you reach for the mouse, you have to twist your palm down to reach the buttons and move it around. This twisted posture is called ulnar deviation, because you are deviating your ulnar bone away from the natural posture. This puts extra stresses on your arm and shoulder over time, especially if you don’t stretch regularly.

Most of the ergonomic choices below try to address this problem, by allowing you to rest your arm in a more natural posture.

The Comprehensive Guide to Alternative Ergonomic Mice

Slanted or Tilted Mice

Many basic ergonomic mice are available at office supply and computer electronics stores. The slanted styles incorporate a more natural slant into the design, so that you don’t have to turn your palm to face your desk, in order to use the mouse. This helps the hand maintain a healthier posture, and is still easy to get used to.

• Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse
• Logitech G5 Laser Mouse — designed for gaming
• Humanscale Switch Mouse
• Ergo Click Mouse — Works as a giant button you can press with your palm while using a regular mouse in the other hand
• Whale Mouse — much like a standard mouse, two buttons and a scrollbar, but it has a rest for the thumb and pinky on the sides, and a built in wrist rest.
• Logitech, Microsoft and others also offer a range of other styles. But the best way to evaluate them is hands-on in a store.

Trackball mice

Track ball mice enable you to move a wheel to move the mouse around, instead of moving the entire mouse around your desktop — great for a small space, or elbow problems.

Some also allow you to do the moving or clicking with your thumb rather than clicking with your fingers, which helps your forearm if you have pain there, and helps prevent stiffness and overuse in your hands and fingers too.

• Logitech Optical Marble Mouse — Central trackball, with buttons on either side — good for left or right handers, and you click with your thumb. (I’ve used this one for two years and I love it. It took me some time to get used to. Good for small and large hands. )
• Kensington Orbit Optical Trackball — A larger version of the previous one, with bigger buttons.
• Logitech Cordless TrackMan Wheel – the wheel’s under your thumb, buttons and scrollbar for right handers.
• Logitech Optical Trackman – the opposite of the previous — wheel’s under your fingers and buttons under your thumb, for right handers.
• Kensington Expert Mouse Trackball – large, square design with central trackball and four buttons.
• BigTrack Trackball Switch – a ginormous trackball with small upper buttons
• Fellowes Handheld Trackball – Small enough to hold in your hand, and scroll/click with your fingers or thumb
• Perific Mouse – (No longer available, but an interesting design: a wireless mouse with a hand grip/trackball so you can use it in your lap, or you can move it around on the desk like a standard mouse.)

Vertical mice

Vertical mice aim to eliminate the tilted arm posture (ulnar deviation) you need to use a standard mouse, and put your arm back into a neutral position that doesn’t strain the arm.

• Evoluent Vertical mouse — The vertical mouse resolves the problem of ulnar deviaton and lets you mouse in a more natural posture. Also the buttons are highly customizable. Here is a left handed version (I can say from personal experience, it’s a great product though a too big for someone with small hands like myself.)
• Aerobic Quill mouse — another vertical mouse, and this one is built with a rest for the hand. That link is the right-hand version and here is the left hand version
• Zero-Tension Mouse — This is another vertical mouse made of some gel material that is supposedly easier on the hands, requiring less grip. It’s also available in multiple sizes.
• 3M Ergonomic Mouse Joystick — A joystick made for ergonomic mousing

Left-Handed or Dual-Handed Mice

One strategy for overcoming pain related to mouse use is to switch off between using your right and left hand when mousing. Spend half of each day using the left hand, and half using the right — or switch off each week. This strategy is also helpful because you can use any neutral flat mouse, either standard or trackball.

• Logitech basic standard mouse – Three buttons and a scroll wheel, that has no slant and is good for right or left handed mouse, also good for laptop users.
• Logitech LX7 Cordless Optical
• Logitech Optical Marble Mouse - My favorite these days!

Many of the other trackballs listed above are also ideal for both left and right handed use, and many vertical mice listed above offer a version specifically for left handers, so go take a look there also if you want something a little different.

Small, Portable Laptop Mice

Laptops are great for letting you move around to more comfortable chairs or positions, but the trackpads and little trackballs built in aren’t the best option for everyone, or for every desk.  So, here are a few small mice made for carrying around with your laptop:

• Belkin Mouse Trap – This little mouse tucks into a zip-up mouse pad so it’s easy to carry with you.  It can also hold some cords or a charger, according to reviews.
• Logitech VX Nano
• Logitech V450 Cordless Laser Mouse
• Microsoft Wireless optical Mouse–It’s pink!  For all the ladies who like that sort of thing.
• Microsoft Arc Mouse – it folds
• BMW USB Optical Mouse — it looks like a little car, and for $5, I don’t know how ergonomic the thing is but the price is right and it’s sure to catch a few comments

In addition to the options listed here, there are many other mouse-like pointing devices out there — from joysticks, remote controllers, and trackpads, to ones that track your head movements or operate in other novel ways.  Just check out the Guide to Alternative Pointing Devices.

Or if you want a keyboard to go with your mouse, check out our Alternative Ergonomic Keyboards Guide.

Feel free to post in the comments if you have experience with any of the products listed above, or if you’ve tried another kind that was helpful that we haven’t listed.

Possibly Related Articles:

• Guide to Non-Mice: Alternative Pointing Devices
• Improve Your Mousing Style: How to Click and Point More Comfortably
• Alternative Ergonomic Keyboards–The Comprehensive Guide
• FAQ– Why Are Good Ergonomic Products So Expensive?
• DIY Computer Input Devices