Vertical mice

I've been battling increasing pain in my mouse hand lately, and I was thinking about switching to a vertical mouse to see if that helps.

Anyone here using one? If so, what brand and how well is it working for you?

Vertical mouse? (Googles)

Wow, haven't seen one of those before. I'd be interested to see how good they are for gaming.

Heh heh… yeah, I only just found out about them a few weeks ago, but apparently they've been around for quite some time.

They're supposed to be a lot better for your hand and wrist.

Here's one made by Anker to give an idea of what they can look like. I've seen variations that are shaped quite differently though.

I had a coworker with sever tendon issues. The guy was quite brilliant - overnight he reworked dragon speak to handle is coding and computer interactions. He spends more than 50% of the time talking to dragon speak now to code; write email; ….
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As for vertical mouse first time i heard of em.

The solution is resting, not buying more gadgetery.

If you can't survive without playing anything, pick games that aren't clickfests. I'm not saying you should switch to mushrooms or touchscreens - instead of your hand nerves being temporarily on fire, those will destroy your spine and eyesight - permanently. You're not 15 any more.

I don't know if there's any respectable research to support them, but a general principle is that changing up positions and motions regularly is a good thing.

Right?
Please explain that to those damned developers who do not want to put orgies in games already!

I have one, shaped like a gun (kind of) bought it like 8-10 years ago on a sale ($12 or so), i've totally forgotten about it. From what i remember i really liked it especially in in shooters haha. damn i should look for it..

I think a lot has to do with angle of the wrist (duh) but yeah i can get pain too depending on how sloppy i am with placement of my wrist or arm. using one of those gel pads to level up my hand helps a lot (no idea how people can be without them i think its very uncomfortable to have the wrist against the desk for perhaps hours sometimes - usually it ends up really red), but the pad also helps with getting the correct angle.



edit: and this is my current setup.. "Ergotron Neo-Flex Underdesk Keyboard Arm" to make it more comfortable, i think most desks are too high up, good for monitor placement but not for mouse/keyb.

Have you been checked by a doctor or specialist - and if so, what did he/she say about it?

Have you considered a trackball? Such as this one.

Before thinking about other mouses you might want to check your ergonomy. Do wrist and elbow rest comfortably on the desk / while using the mouse? One of the biggest problems is, if parts of your arm are constantly in the air while using the mouse. A google search for "ergonomy arm wrist mouse" will find some pages explaining that. I have been through that and found in the end that the type of mouse was not the real problem, but my wrong working position, where some muscles in the arm or in the hand were constantly under stress by the weight of the hand/arm. Had that when playing too much Gothic for two weeks in that unergonomic way :lol:

vurt said:

I have one, shaped like a gun (kind of) bought it like 8-10 years ago on a sale ($12 or so), i've totally forgotten about it. From what i remember i really liked it especially in in shooters haha. damn i should look for it..

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Interesting. I guess I could see using that in first-person shooters, but it doesn't look very comfortable.

Darth Tagnan said:

Have you been checked by a doctor or specialist - and if so, what did he/she say about it?

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Not yet. I was hoping that wouldn't be necessary, but I'll probably go eventually.

Drithius said:

Have you considered a trackball? Such as this one.

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I haven't tried using a trackball in at least a decade. I remember sampling a few, but they just seemed awkward to me compared to a mouse.

bkrueger said:

Before thinking about other mouses you might want to check your ergonomy. Do wrist and elbow rest comfortably on the desk / while using the mouse? One of the biggest problems is, if parts of your arm are constantly in the air while using the mouse. A google search for "ergonomy arm wrist mouse" will find some pages explaining that. I have been through that and found in the end that the type of mouse was not the real problem, but my wrong working position, where some muscles in the arm or in the hand were constantly under stress by the weight of the hand/arm. Had that when playing too much Gothic for two weeks in that unergonomic way :lol:

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You touch on some very good points there. My M+KB sit too close to the front of my gaming desk for me to place my arm on the desk. If I push them back to get closer then I find I'm too close to my monitor which has nowhere to go.

My arm isn't in the air though. I use an office chair with adjustable armrests, and my forearm and elbow are supported by that.

I was doing some reading last night though, and it seems a common belief is that the "proper" way to manipulate a mouse is by moving your entire arm. In other words, we're supposed to be using our elbow and shoulder to move the mouse. Do people really do that? If that's the case, that might be my problem. I move only my wrist/hand when using my mouse.

Well, I've used a mouse for something like 30 years and I've only ever used my wrist - and I use very small movements. I rest my wrist on the mat - and I don't think I move my wrist more than a centimeter when I use the mouse.

Almost all my movement is done with the hand and fingers.

I've never had the slightest notion of a problem in this way.

But it doesn't necessarily relate to what you're doing with the mouse. If you're doing other things with your arms/hands - and putting some kind of strain on them, that could be what's causing this.

I'm only mentioning what I've read.

I'm beginning to suspect it could be from not keeping the rest of my arm more in line with my wrist/hand. That happens because the armrest of my chair is rarely the same height as the edge of my desk.

As far as strain from something else, there's nothing I can think of that's repetitive enough to cause a syndrome. My first thought was the gym, but the discomfort is very specific to my right hand only and is worse after long gaming sessions.

As mentioned before, check out these ergonomic mouse pads (e.g., mouse pad with gel pad for your wrist). Can't stress enough how much this helped me (when I did not yet have a controller ). Even if the pain is in your thumb or some other place than your wrist, the bad position and strain on your wrist can be the cause. I would make a quick visit to the doctor if it persists for a month or so. At least he can give you proper tips.

ilm said:

As mentioned before, check out these ergonomic mouse pads (e.g., mouse pad with gel pad for your wrist).

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I'm not sold on the various cushioned pads for the wrist. I've read several articles that claim those might actually be more detrimental than helpful due to increased compression on the underside of your wrist.

JDR - I don't comment often here as I generally prefer to lurk, but I would like to try and save you from my fate. At this point, I have messed up wrists in both wrists and both elbows are also messed up. Tons of gaming and typing for work, plus intermittent weightlifting and racquet sports. Here's what I would suggest. By the way, don't go cheap on your solutions. It's worth spending money to preserve your gaming habit without pain.

1. You can plug in a second mouse into another USB port. Use your right hand to move the mouse and your left hand to click. Works for any turn based game, or even action games if you save your right hand for only firefights. For example, I'm playing through Mass Effect 3 right now, and I do all clicking other than shooting with my left hand. (unfortunately, if you have bad tendons or whatever like i apparently have, eventually your left may hurt too, but hopefully not).

2. Get Dragon Naturally Speaking plus a headset. Then play a purely turnbased game. You can tell the mouse to click and you can say "go left, right" etc. to press the arrow keys. Recent games I played through doing this: Dungeonmans and Sword of the Stars: The Pit. There is a also a free game I enjoyed called Bludgeons & Krakens that I was able to play ENTIRELY WITHOUT the mouse, so that was a good break.

3. Like you, many years ago I was intrigued by the vertical mouse and spent like $80 to get an evoluent one. It didn't help in the long run.

Hopefully I've shown that you can continue your gaming habit while getting the necessary rest. It will get worse if you do not back off ASAP, and past a certain point, it will NEVER get better.

JDR13 said:

I'm only mentioning what I've read.

I'm beginning to suspect it could be from not keeping the rest of my arm more in line with my wrist/hand. That happens because the armrest of my chair is rarely the same height as the edge of my desk.

As far as strain from something else, there's nothing I can think of that's repetitive enough to cause a syndrome. My first thought was the gym, but the discomfort is very specific to my right hand only and is worse after long gaming sessions.

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For my feeling you should try to have armrest and table in about the same height. Your shoulder should be relaxed, when your arm lies on the armrest and your hand on the mouse (I don't use wristpads). Your upper arm should be nearly vertical and your lower arm nearly horizontal, so they form (nearly) a right angle. Normally I do not move my whole arm but only the hand. But if you need to move the complete arm it should be possible keeping it in the same height (i.e. arm stays on armrest and wrist on the table).

Do you work at/have contact to a bigger office/company with many people working at desks? They should have somebody who can show you how to "install" an ergonomic working place.

I have my monitors attached to arms, which means I have way more room for the mouse and keyboard. I can slide the M&KB much farther toward the back of the desk. This extra space is nice and comfy when needed.

When using the mouse I have my elbow on the chair arm, not the desk. When I type, both forearms and elbows are on the desk reaching forward.