ergonomics

[Chilihost]

i just bought a new gel-pad for my mouse as I was finding my wrist was getting sore from a day at the computer. I have always had to take ergonomics seriously due to back problems. Do you? Are you working from a proper desk and using an office chair or do you just laptop it from the couch?

[IdolKnights]

I have a small moshi pillow but I think it's slightly fetish because of the feel. Mmmmm, Moshi...

[krunnch]

I can't use the gel pad either. The best position I've found is to have an adjustable armrest on my chair and just keep it level to the mouse pad, so you float over it.

The gel thing is too much pressure on whatever nerves/tendons,all that stringy stuff in your wrist..

[jaycar]

i use the gel wrist mouse pad thingie. When i get a little stressed, I just start squeazing it. It kinda reminds me of fake breasts...very soothing lmao :bunny:

cheers

[gaybucks_chip]

I have used this


for over 9 years. I was having some pretty severe wrist/repetitive stress problems (numbness in my little finger on my left hand) from being at the keyboard too much, did some research, and found the Kinesis was supposed to be the best on the market as far as protecting wrists. I have two of them, back when I worked in an office I had one at work and one at home. Now the other is just a spare.

It took a little while to get used to, but now I can type faster than I ever could on a regular keyboard, with fewer errors, and I can be on the 'puter all day and never have any wrist strain symptoms. I highly recommend them.

As for chairs and desk... I sit at a regular desk in a reasonable-but-not-fancy chair most of the time and that works pretty well for me

[Alex_Manifest_M]

Its the mouse and trackball that are killing me. The thumb on my right hand barely will bend at the end of the day.

[Kushiel]

Err... where's the space bar?
As child of the computer age, I've used a split keyboard before.. but that's... wow. I almost want to try it just for the novelty of it..

[krunnch]

The kinesis board is very cool. 'spensive though ?

Alex, I can not really use my index finger on my right hand due to RSI. So I've learned to mouse mostly with my left hand.

The setup I found most useful is to have two mice - one left and one right. I use the MS Intellimouse on the left for precision work but the Apple mighty mouse works well on the right because the finger can be totally relaxed when pressing the mouse - you end up using your palm mostly.

Plus I find scroll wheels essential on both mice.

hope that helps.

[Kushiel]

I adore mouse-wheels... I go nuts if I don't have one.

Plus I find scroll wheels essential on both mice.

hope that helps.

[nickbaer]

I have an "ergonomic" chair. You know, one of those award winning big ass wire mesh chairs.

Well, one day last April I started feeling pain in my left knee (behind the knee, like where the thigh muscle connects to the knee). Sharp pains.

Then my leg below the knee started swelling up. Stiff, 2-3 times bigger than my right. Even my foot was swelled, and when I walked on it, I felt a squishy feeling.

So I Googled around, and it appears that I did some damage to the muscle and blood vessles in that area, from the stress of my leg against the large wire rim seat, causing a blood clot or a rupture. The swelling was a result of the "leak" in the veins.

Now three months later, of frequent hourly exercise, nightly walks of a mile or so (necessary to help the body's circulatory system pump blood and fluid upstream), and wearing a "compression stocking", the leg is back to normal size, pain is gone (some tingling remains), and the swelling has subsided.

[gaybucks_chip]

Err... where's the space bar?
As child of the computer age, I've used a split keyboard before.. but that's... wow. I almost want to try it just for the novelty of it..

The space bar is directly below where the right thumb rests (one of the two larger keys on the right) Having the enter, space, backspace, and delete under the thumbs took a little getting used to, and one of the side effects is that when I switch to a regular keyboard, sometimes I hit the space bar when I'm going for delete or backspace, but it really does make a lot of sense in terms of using the thumbs efficiently