Have a look at these sites: http://jaxmed.com/articles/wellness/mouseErgo.html Note the angle of the forearm in the image...essentially flat. It is difficult to get this angle unless you have a very low desk or a dropped keyboard tray (my recommendation - get an adjustable-height tray with a mousepad attached to your dominant hand's side). Ideally your wrist should be an inch or so below your elbow for good blood flow; I use a chair with an adjustable arm, and when my arm is resting on the chair arm, my hand falls naturally on the mouse. My keyboard is perhaps only two inches above my lap when adjusted properly. As others have stated, set your mouse to be able to move to all four corners without moving your wrist...only finger movements should be necessary. Also, as in this image, you'll want your monitor center somewhat below your eye level. Many places will tell you to place it at eye level but in the long run you'll be more comfortable the other way. The tops of my monitors are about 2" above my eyes, and the centers about 4-5" below eye center. http://www.streamingmediaiq.com/resources/tips/1284-eMedia%20Tips.html
Not much here but something other places miss: if you use a mouse with a rubber ball, clean it weekly, along with the rollers or whatever it uses to sense motion. I can't begin to tell you how many users I've helped just by cleaning their mouse and speeding up the response. It's not very noticeable but the effort required to make a dirty mouse track well is accumulative. Better yet, get an optical mouse and run it on a solid-color cloth-topped mousepad. The solid color (I use a dark blue or a dark red pad) will improve optical tracking, particularly with Dell opticals. Try various keyboards and mice...I've found that for myself, I prefer a traditional straight keyboard over an ergonomic model (I don't use typical number keying technique and the split keyboard throws me off), and I prefer optical mice over trackballs (too much thumb movement). These combinations have kept me relatively pain-free for many years of programming. But if you're to the pain stage, the ONLY thing that's going to work is to stop whatever it is you're doing...right away. Switch mouse hands. Get your keyboard where it belongs. Get a good chair (it doesn't have to be expensive; you can get good-quality armed height-adjustable chairs for less than $50 now). Stop every five or ten minutes and flex your wrists completely in circles. Get your monitors where they belong and get the refresh rates up as fast as they'll take; make sure the picture is using the full size of the monitor screen as well. Your face should be at least two feet away from a screen. If you're in acute pain (i.e. it doesn't go away overnight and your wrist or arm hurts just thinking about a new day of work), get to a doctor. A little over a year ago I had wrist surgery on my left wrist, with a plate put in, due to a motorcycle accident. I had an excellent doctor who took the time to shape and attach the plate to allow full-range motion...but on top of that, I was careful to keep my ergonomics correct while returning to the job, and it has completely recovered without any signs of carpal problems. I just started doing pushups a month ago, however, and while the wrist is finally up to taking the pressure, I have to psych myself up for them every time. :-) Nothing like three failed bone-set attempts in the ER to make a guy nervous. LOL Tim _____________________ Tim Furry Senior Systems Administrator Denver Public Schools ____ • The WDVL Discussion List from WDVL.COM • ____ To Join wdvltalk, Send An Email To: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] or use the web interface http://e-newsletters.internet.com/discussionlists.html/ Send Your Posts To: wdvltalk@lists.wdvl.com To change subscription settings, add a password or view the web interface: http://intm-dl.sparklist.com/read/?forum=wdvltalk ________________ http://www.wdvl.com _______________________ You are currently subscribed to wdvltalk as: unknown lmsubst tag argument: '' To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe via postal mail, please contact us at: Jupitermedia Corp. Attn: Discussion List Management 475 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10016 Please include the email address which you have been contacted with.
