Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Biotech Hardware

User Interface and Carpal Tunnel - Tech Solutions? 120

Posted by Cliff from the something-different-than-the-usual-ergonomics dept.
the_REAL_sam asks: "I've been using computers since the apple 2+. I've played many games, and worked in silicon valley. I can't even guess how many hours I've logged at a keyboard. Now I'm 32 years old, and my hands sometimes shake and get numb after using a keyboard/mouse for too long. So I'm asking Slashdot what, if any, affordable technology exists to circumvent the traditional (potentially RSI-inducing) means of human-computer interface."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

User Interface and Carpal Tunnel - Tech Solutions? More

User Interface and Carpal Tunnel - Tech Solutions?

Comments Filter:
  • That shaking hand problem has another cause.. frequent exercise.. not that i know anything about that.. ;)

    • Re:Hand Shaking (Score:2, Insightful)

      by cujo_1111 ( 627504 )
      I agree. Get up from the computer and do something else, anything really.

      Take up a hobby/sport where you perform different actions with your hands. I have been using computers fairly continuously since I had my Commodore 64, yet have never had any pain or numbness associated with RSI. I play golf, go bike riding, take photos and lots of other things.

      Simple solution, get away from the computer for a bit each day and do something else (using a TV remote doesn't count either).
    • Controlling caffiene intake may also help.

  • What I do. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by damu ( 575189 ) on Tuesday April 27, 2004 @05:48PM (#8989957) Journal
    I am not a doctor, but what I do is have various input devices, wheel mouse, regular mouse, split keyboard, regular keyboard and every couple of months change my main computer's devices. I don't know if this will actually help but the change feels nice.

    • Re:What I do. (Score:2, Interesting)

      by lerxstz ( 692089 )
      Agreed. I had a similar problem (*very* bad numbness/tingling in my arms, going up to my shoulders at one time). Stretching my arms (before going to work), exercise, and variation worked wonders. I ended up getting a wacom graphics tablet and use it instead of a mouse on my desktop computer at work. It works great for me. I can work with that much much longer than a mouse. At home, instead of sitting at a desktop computer and using the tablet, I use a laptop and it's built-in trackpad. That way I can

    • Re:What I do. (Score:3, Informative)

      by sleepingsquirrel ( 587025 )
      Get a wacom graphics tablet [wacom.com] with a stylus (works with linux [sourceforge.net] also). Then download dasher [cam.ac.uk] for doing long sessions of text entry. You spell out words by "driving" the cursor in the direction that the characters come flying toward you (see the animation [cam.ac.uk]). Also get xstroke [xstroke.org] to do graffiti like handwriting recognition. My next goal it to start looking into voice recognition [sourceforge.net].
  • Well, there's always Microsoft's much touted voice interface system. Productivity might dip a bit though.

  • body! (Score:5, Informative)

    by jkakar ( 259880 ) on Tuesday April 27, 2004 @05:54PM (#8990046)
    The only technology you need is in your body. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a symptom; not the root of a problem. Your hands are taking a beating because likely your back, shoulder and pelvis are all out of alignment. I've been using computers since I was 9 (I'm 26 now) and having been working full-time at a computer for the last 8 years. I've found the only thing to fight of musculoskeletal dysfunction is Pete Egoscue's Pain Free for the PC [amazon.com]

    • Another book (Score:3, Interesting)

      by linzeal ( 197905 )
      I have not read that book, but as employees of the school we have access to a bookshelf of contempoary workplace books and the most accolades I have heard is for this book [amazon.com] .

      It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome! RSI Theory & Therapy for Computer Professionals

  • Take up music? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by JabberWokky ( 19442 ) <slashdot.com@timewarp.org> on Tuesday April 27, 2004 @05:57PM (#8990082) Homepage Journal
    Learn to play a musical instrument. Seriously. Most people I know who are in IT and play tend to have wrists in perfect shape. Both guitar and using a PC tend to cause RSI, but switching between both seems to counteract the effect.

    --
    Evan

    • Ehh, I've studied keyboard and string instruments (including piano, guitar, and viola) since second grade. During high school I worked as a church pianist and substitiute organist, but I never had a problem with carpal tunnel syndrome until I reached college and began using computers on a regular basis. Ironically, I can no longer hold and write with a pen for more than a few minutes. My wrists feel fine while I type, but when I sleep or prop my head on a hand, I suffer excruciating pain and/or numbness.
      • Odd. I've mentioned this several times on Slashdot and have always gotten many responses of agreement. I've even gotten several that mirror my own experience that when I stopped playing for awhile, my wrists felt poorly, and picking up a violin, woodwind or guitar always seemed to have an immediate beneficial effect.

        I don't play piano (not for many many years in a college class far far away)... possibly the "spider", "palm down" position is too similar to using a keyboard (putting the R in RSI)?

        --
        Evan

        • Re:Take up music? (Score:2, Informative)

          by Rhonwyyn ( 773611 )
          Considering that CTS and all the rest of those annoying ailments are a direct result of repetitious exercises, arguing whether the chicken (musical instruments) or the egg (computers) came first is pointless.

          My wrists start to hurt after a few hours of playing piano, but so far I haven't had any significant problems on computers. My symptoms usually occur in the evenings after I leave work.

          I find it absolutely hysterical that my CTS developed within one year after I started using computers on a frequent
        • I used to play the oboe. Did not help my wrist pain one bit (made it worse....)

          • That may actually be the best argument against playing oboe that I've ever heard. At least, it's the most logical. I'm not a winds person, but I've always loved the oboe's sound and wanted to play it. My best friend (an sometime-oboist himself) has tried to discourage me from learning, but I haven't listened. However, if it's destined to be physically (and not just audibly!) painful, I may have to retire my dream. :-/ Why is it that in life the things you like/want the most seem to hurt you? :-P
    • I second the suggestion. I took up bass awhile back and it strenghtened my hands in addition to greatly reducing carpal tunnel symptoms. I still can't play worth a damn, but it's fun trying.
      • The thing to stress when practicing is correct hand position. Bending your wrist while playing will do more harm than good. Ever watch a classical guitarist or top-notch pianist play? You could balance cups of water on the pianist's hands and they wouldn't fall off. Same with the guitarist's hands, at least in a world where guitarists hands are held parallel to the floor. :-P
    • I don't think so. When RSI damaged my tendons, it also took away my ability to play the cello for more than, say 10 minutes. I've played for 20 years.

      So I sat down and thought, what instrument can I learn that doesn't use my hands?

      The harmonica!

      That was four years ago. I'm reasonably good now (good enough to play with the church band), but the instrument was much harder to learn than I thought it would be! They say it takes 9 years of practice to master. Others say you never really master it.
    • Learn to play a musical instrument. Seriously. Most people I know who are in IT and play tend to have wrists in perfect shape. Both guitar and using a PC tend to cause RSI, but switching between both seems to counteract the effect.

      Are you sure? Maybe I'm doing this all wrong. I'm probably at my computer a bit more than playing my guitar, but somehow my wrist still hurt. My right wrist is bugging me because of the mouse, and my left wrist is irritating me because of the guitar.

      Right now I have a left w

    • Re:Take up music? (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Maybe breathing would help you. Seriously. Most people I know who are IT and breath, tend to have wrists in perfect shape.

  • alternate stuff (Score:5, Informative)

    by theMerovingian ( 722983 ) on Tuesday April 27, 2004 @05:59PM (#8990095) Journal

    Maybe some form of weightlifting would help you.

    I never have any pains other than sore muscles, and I routinely log 12-14 hours daily on a computer. A big part of that is time spent in the gym. You don't have to be a bodybuilder, just exercise 3 or 4 times a week at some light to medium weights. Figure out what the maximum weights you can lift are, then do about 60-70% of that weight for 4 sets of 8 repititions. Recheck your maximum weights every couple months, and adjust accordingly.

    It will make you feel better, and improve your concentration when you have to sit still and type all day. Also, the women like guys with a little muscle on them :)

    • I routinely log 12-14 hours daily on a computer. A big part of that is time spent in the gym.

      How does sitting at a computer in the gym help?
    • I never have any pains other than sore muscle [...] A big part of that is time spent in the gym.

      I second this. And for those people who don't like going to the gym but do spend some time commuting: do some weightlifting in the car!

      Seriously, I spend about 2.5 hours every day travelling. I have two small weights in my car and everytime I hit a traffic jam, I do some lifting. Keep it low, otherwise you'll get some blank looks... And ALWAYS KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD!

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday April 27, 2004 @06:10PM (#8990214)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • and a trackball

      I prefer the mouse, but I turn up the acceleration to obscene levels. It has the same effect as a trackball of having only finger movements, but without annoying me. I you hate trackballs, but don't want to hurt your wrists, you should try it.

      • You can also try a very small mouse, the type you get for use with laptops. They allow to rest the heel of your hand on the desk and move them between pinkie and thumb so that you don't need to move your wrist or shoulder. Personally I find the huge things shaped to fit your hand and advertised as ergonomic to be anything but.

        • resting your wrist while using a device is about the worst thing you can do CTS wize. that's why tying instrucors are always bitching at people to get their wrists up. Mice are about the worst contributor to RSI anyway, the big ones are also mainly designed for people with arthridis.

          Mods and trolls, please forgive my spelling.

          • Sorry I didn't explain myself very clearly. If you take your hand and wrest the heel at the edge of a desk and allow your elbow to drop then you'll notice that your arm is in a comfortable position. Your elbow is at your side and there is no strain on your shoulder, also your wrist is bent slightly forward like the way we're supposed to type. With a very small mouse you can put your hand in the correct this position and control it with only your fingers. With larger mice I find either my wrist is bent ba

    • I almost never need to use the mouse outside
      of web surfing. I use emacs to edit files, compile, read news, read mail, debug (with gdb) and run shells. I even use the keyboard to switch between subwindows (c-x o). Since I started this system (and got a split keyboard---comfort keyboards are amazing) my wrist problems have more or less gone away.

      When someone makes a web browser that has an emacs interface, I will use it. Aside from that, if it cannot be done in emacs, it is not worth doing.

      dtg
      • I was thinking `if you're worried about carpal tunnel syndrome, just do the exact opposite of whatever emacs does.'. The alt-meta-cokebottle stuff is very hard on my left pinky :)
        When someone makes a web browser that has an emacs interface, I will use it.
        I do believe that emacs does have a web browser mode.
        • The Real Reason Unix Hackers Get R.S.I.

          From: Patrick Sobalvarro <pgs@pa.dec.com>
          Subject: RSI epidemic
          Date: Sunday, August 13, 1995 1:26PM

          Friday I was talking to my friend Johnson from the CDC, who told me that the CDC had been doing an epidemiological study of clustered RSI cases among computer scientists. He said that they've been waiting to act until their internal review process is completed, but it seems that there is indeed an infectious agent causing RSI. But it's not a biological agent. It'


    • 1. Traded in the stick-shift for an automatic.
      2. Got her a smaller and lighter purse (less crap in it).
      3. Went to a trackball.
      4. Went to a split keyboard (Microsoft Natural).

      I mentioned Pete Egoscue's book above. He suggests that the reason so many people have RSI's these days is because we are motion deprived; before the past 40-50 years life was harder- more manual. It kept our bodies in shape. Egoscue contends that we require food, clothing, shelter and motion to survive.

      I can't dispute your clai
    • I have two logitech trackballs. One is thumb operated, and the other is operated with the index and middle fingers. The thumb controlled trackball is easily the better gaming device, but generally I can't complain about the other one. It's cordless, and has a lot of buttons, which works out well for me on my Mac (I bind 3 of them to Expose functions).

      As for keyboards, I DON'T recommend the Microsoft Natural keyboards. There's nothing natural about the position that they put your hands in. Personally, my ar
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • 10-12 years ago, I was getting pains down both forearms. I got one of the Microsoft Natural keyboards. The pains went away.

        Now I have several of them. One for my home system, one for the office, and a spare for "whatever". I strongly recommend them.

        You claim their is nothing natural about the position they put your hands in, but that is verifiably not true. The positioning that the MS Natural keyboard leads to is *much* more natural than what a regular keyboard forces you into.

        • To a certain extent, I agree with you. On the other hand, I think that the problem with using a standard keyboard for most people is that they do it wrong.

          When I put my hands on a MS Natural keyboard, I find it pushes my elbows out, rolls my wrists up, and forces my wrists to curve up unnaturally. As an experiment, hold your arms out, and let your wrists drop down. Wiggle your fingers. No problem, right? Now push your wrists up and wiggle your fingers. You'll probably feel some tension in your forearms. Th
  • Try a Twiddler [handykey.com]. Comes in PS2 and USB models.
    • The Twiddler is a great device - I got one when one of my hands totally went out due to RSI - but it's not really a good long-term replacement for day-to-day use as a keyboard IMHO. It's too slow (I got to about 30-40 WPM, whereas my normal typing speed is ~70-100), and actually requires quite a bit more movement to type than more ergonomic solutions. If you're building a wearable, it's probably the best single handheld keyboard out. But for RSI reduction, I dunno..

      The stuff I've tried that's kept my han

      • Is there something like a cordless twiddler?
        • A quick google turns up an upcoming wireless product called frogpad [frogpad.com]. There are probably others - the only keyboard of that sort I've tried is the twiddler though, and they don't offer that as an option currently. You could probably build or buy a USB or PS2 -> Wireless adaptor if you were really wanting one.

          If you're really interested in wearable stuff, check out MIT's wearable computing lab [mit.edu] - they have reviews on various keyboards and other hardware. I wouldn't recommend buying the stuff to avoid RS

  • Get thee to a doctor (Score:5, Insightful)

    by FattMattP ( 86246 ) on Tuesday April 27, 2004 @06:16PM (#8990289) Homepage
    Talk to a doctor right away. If your hands are going numb and shaking then you need a qualified physician to look at them. Also, JWZ has some good information about RSI [jwz.org].
    • Talk to a doctor right away

      Don't talk to a doctor. They can't really add to the solution. You'll read more information googling and asking slashdot than your doctor can tell you.

      Besides, these problems (RSI, carpal tunnel) are highly personal, as well as the solution. For some people, exercise helps. For others, putting a halt to stress helps. But your doctor, he didn't spend a couple of hours thinking and browsing on your problem.

  • missing the point. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Spudley ( 171066 ) on Tuesday April 27, 2004 @06:40PM (#8990577) Homepage Journal
    The injury is not caused by *what* you do, but how often you do it.

    Any user interface method will suffer from this in exactly the same way - if you spend too much time doing the same action, you will cause damage - tennis players and coal miners will tell you that they also suffer.

    The only long term solution is to vary your actions. (I guess I'm saying you should tear yourself away from the computer for a few minutes each day, but I know that's asking a lot of some folk here ;))

  • Quick Answer (Score:4, Informative)

    by !3ren ( 686818 ) on Tuesday April 27, 2004 @06:53PM (#8990737)
    Quickie... STRETCH!
    Every hour or two and before you start in the morning, stop working and stretch your hands and arms. http://www.mydailyyoga.com/yoga/rsi.html
    I had problems a few years ago with these types of symptoms, and after seeing a physiotherapist (and performing these types of exercise) for a while they went away.
    Unfortunately, if you are experiencing numbness you may have damaged some of your nerves. I would recommend seeing a doctor/physiotherapist very soon or you could completely lose use of your hands.

  • 1. Do google searches on 3 types of wrist deviation.

    2. Get keyboard that help with deviations. Kinesis Keyboard [kinesis-ergo.com]

    3. Get multiple pointing devices [ergocube.com] like this [ergocube.com].

    4. Switch among devices, using left and right hands.

    5. Take a break to stretch every 20 minutes minimum.

    6. Do a google search on stretches for CTS and wrists, arm, shoulder, back, chest.

  • Ergonomic basics (Score:5, Informative)

    by waytoomuchcoffee ( 263275 ) on Tuesday April 27, 2004 @09:21PM (#8992119)
    I was developing numbness in my mousing hand at work, was sent to workers comp, and found out I had tendinitis (lucky it was only that). A few things I found out:

    1) The computer screen should be directly in front of you, at eye level. Should be obvious, but quite a few people don't do it. If you are one of the dual-screen types (I expect there are a lot in the /. crowd), your primary one should be directly in front of you. Look on the back of your LCD screen if you have one - you will see a mounting area with 4 screws. These are all the same, and you can buy a monitor arm for them.

    2) Your knees should be at a 90 degree angle. This might mean a new chair.

    3) Your forearms should be parallel to the ground when typing on the keyboard. This might mean a keyboard tray, which is a wise investment.

    4) Your forearms should also be parallel to the ground when using the mouse. No putting it on the top of the desk.

    5) If you read from documents while you are working, you should seriously consider a copy holder that puts it near eye level (many monitor stands have this feature, or you can get a model that puts the document next to the monitor).

    6) Look for ergonomic equipment. For mice, I use a Humanscale mouse [humanscale.com], which forces my wrist to be straight when I use it. Trackballs are good for people as well. The split keyboards are very useful for some. You can actually get mice you can operate with your feet as well.

    7) Learn to use the mouse with your opposite hand, and trade off.

    8) Learn keyboard shortcuts.

    I'm not a doctor, don't take this as medical advice, blah blah blah.
    • Something people dont seem to realize is that the problem comes from overuse of the flexor muscles in the wrist/hand. You need to offset all this "exercise" (typing/clicking) by exercising your extensor muscles. use a rubberband around fingers and stretch the fingers outwards. or get some therapy putty, put your fingertips in and stretch outwards. A lot of the other comments here are great as well, switching mouse hands, etc. A combination of these has kept my pain in check after i started having problems a

  • Get a kid (Score:4, Funny)

    by jvj24601 ( 178471 ) on Tuesday April 27, 2004 @09:35PM (#8992203)
    I am also 32, and I've also been using computers since the Apple ][ days, and I've found that regular excercise that uses my hands (basketball, baseball, throwing a football around) is invaluable. Having a 9 year old son who is active in sports helps a ton, too.
    • The poster requested an affordible solution.

      Additionally, obtaining a kid usually takes about 9 months, so this won't offer immediate relief.
  • On every PC you use, have a different keyboard and mouse. Particularly mouse. Change the mouse on at least one PC every six months. I've been using computers for what feels like forever (~25 years give or take), but because I'm always swapping between different hardware, seating and posture I don't have any problems.
  • If your looking at Voice Recognition applications first thing you would need to do is get a good microphone and makesure the soundcards decent.... Training the applications is pretty easy but id suggest reading all the books/samples it wants you to read several times to it so it has a good chance. I have done alot of Dictation stuff with "Dragon dictate's" series and they seem to work pretty well. I found an australian version and spent about 10 hours training it the first few days. Once it gets the han
  • I'm a hard core rock climber and college student. Typing papers on stressed hands had to stop when I was using the Qwerty layout. I switched to Dvorak (Vowels on the left home row, most used consanants on the right, bottom row is all obscure things) and it took a month or so to get fast again but I never look back.
    • I too have been using a dvorak layout for about 6 years now and have no desire to ever use qwerty again. Although sometimes touted as being a faster layout, dvorak's main advantage, imho, is comfort. It is very nice to have a even fingering distribution between both hands. With qwerty it is too common to have multiple sequential letters on the same hand. Also, the dvorak layout only requires 1/3 the finger travel as a qwerty layout.

      If you're not familiar with dvorak, it's an optimized layout that plac

  • RSIGuard has been really helpful at making me take breaks. It comes with a feature which remembers how many times you've skipped breaks and calculates your willpower from that.

    It thinks I have very low willpower and won't let me skip any breaks. Locks me out of the computer completely, keyboard doesn't work.
  • Sure, input devices is one area that has been under some scrutiny now by a lot of vendors to better devices. Unfortunately, most new devices that come out are re-designs of existing devices (a better style mouse, or keyboard wrist supports, etc), and not any significant change in the devices themselves.

    However, given the innovations and improvements in all fields, rather sooner than later we will have some new devices or mechanisms of input (there is talk already of speech-based input devices).

    Howeve

  • Eye Watcher (Score:2, Interesting)

    by KingRob ( 698441 )
    I'm a user who has gone through serious pain due to mouse overuse.
    I really want something that watches where my eyes are focused as a pointing device.

    Then if I tap my index finger against my thumb, it's a left click.

    Second finger against my thumb, it's a right-click.

    Index finger stroking the thumb, it's a wheelie scroll.

    I understand that there are issues. Like that eyes get "jitters", but surely these problems can be overcome.

    Then there's the keyboard - but don't get me started on that!
    • I've done a little work on using eye movements as a pointing device myself. It's not so bad at present, and if you divide the screen into a 3x3 grid it can reliably determine which section you are looking at in realtime.

      Adding a little filtering introduces a small lag, but accuracy improves. I estimate that a desktop icon size area could be found on about .25 - .5 seconds filtering.

      Of course the amount of lag that is acceptable is determined by what you are trying to do. For word processing moving the cur
      • Do you have an URL to any commercial products? I'm very interested in convincing my employer to have me trial one.
        • www.seeingmachines.com.au

          FaceLAB is used primarily for creating logs of eye and head movement for later study for use by, for example, reaserchers into tiredness.

          I was involved in a project to create a demo game that can be used to show off Seeing Machines' technology in real time at trade shows and the like.
  • Surfing the web is sometimes that may cause serious injuries to your wrists.

    You must constantly try to click on very small links. In order to do so, you first move the pointer near the zone you need to click, and then you unintentionnally stress all your muscles in order to "slow down" the pointer and put it to the exact target location. _This_ is exactly what brings RSIs.

    If you have to work with browsers all day long, definitely use the Mozilla suite or Firefox. Instead of having to use the mouse, everyt
  • I'm not a doctor, but two things have helped me... 1. Try to have a variety of motion. I think the key part of "repetitive stress injury" that most people overlook is "repetitive". Think about it- human bodies are designed to be in motion as long as you're awake. But evolution has not designed our bodies to make the same, small, twitchy, repetitive motions over and over again for 8, 9, or 10 hours a day. So rather than trying to reduce the amount of motion your body and hands do, switch it up a bit-chan
    • The parent is responding to an ask Slashdot, not being redundant.

      In any case, I try to keep the back of my hand even with my forearm so my wrists aren't bent, and I've never had trouble with the whole RSI thing. I think form is the most important aspect of prevention.
  • I'm not a doctor, but two things have helped me...

    1. Try to have a variety of motion. I think the key part of "repetitive stress injury" that most people overlook is "repetitive". Think about it- human bodies are designed to be in motion as long as you're awake. But evolution has not designed our bodies to make the same, small, twitchy, repetitive motions over and over again for 8, 9, or 10 hours a day. So rather than trying to reduce the amount of motion your body and hands do, switch it up a bit-chang
    • I am also not a doctor... However, I tried suggestions 1 and 1a (1a got me into the RSI camp, I think), and they did no good. Doctors have told me that 2 is bad. This is not to say that they didn't work for the parent poster, since they may very well have. Just talk to a doctor.

      1. Changing positions isn't (I'm guessing) a necessarily bad idea... However, make sure you keep changing them, and don't do anything ridiculous... like put your feet in your chair. I think the problem most people have with thi
  • I've had many of the same problems for years. I am a software developer as well as a writer and so the ability to type is rather important for my livlihood. I investigated a number of alternatives (I'd been using the M$ ergo keyboard for a number of years), and finally decided on the Fingerworks Touchstream [fingerworks.com] to solve my problems. It's taken me a while to get used to it and has dropped my overall typing speed. But in general, it has worked quite well as a keyboard/mouse replacement and I highly recommend
  • I've been using computers daily since 1979, and using a standard
    keyboard at least eight hours a day since 1983. I have always used
    the mouse as little possible. For the past ten years or so I've
    used a trackpad for the little mousing I do (mostly the occasional
    copy (I paste via keyboard) and the times I have to access a web
    site that can only be used with javascript active (and even there
    I use the keyboard shortcuts in Mozilla/Firefox as often as not)).
    Oh, and it's probably worth noting that I use only the *
  • First, RSI is a result of, well, repetitive action. Especially repetitive action that involves tightened muscles.


    You could soak your hands in warm-to-hot water. Ideally, the water should have a moderate sulpher content. But that doesn't prevent RSI, or answer your question about HCIs.


    To build a human-computer interface (HCI) that doesn't pose a risk of RSI is a challange. A lightpen-driven GUI would probably help.

  • 1. Software
    2. Mouse use
    3. RSI alleviating device
    4. Anything else

    1. Software:

    Various man machine interfaces are helpful for handicapped people. I'm not sure that these devices are the best approach for the rest of us. The way we interact with our computer is possibly most often due to the software design. Graphical systems definitely have their place, though they often place a disproportionate bias towards the use of a mouse, trackball, etc., where a simple key based interface might be both more appropriat
  • midway through my CS major I was doing a lot of coding for class as well as for my internship, and my wrists were really bothering me. Here's what I tried:
    • I switched from standard keyboards to MS Natural (the original or the new multimedia version, the middle version was crap and the oddly oriented arrow keys sucked for games)
    • I learned to mouse ambidextrously (is that a word?). At school I moused left-handed, at home with the right.
    • I exercised my wrists, avoiding movements that caused discomfort. I wa
  • and get a proper diagnosis first.

    Just because you have wrist pain and numbness does NOT mean you have carpal tunnel syndrome. I have had similar symptoms to what you state but not due to carpal tunnel problems. Heck, excessive bending of the wrists while typing for extended periods can bring on pain and numbness. From what I have read, carpal tunnel syndrome really sucks. And what is required to treat it (often surgery) is not required to treat run of the mill really painful wrist pain.

    For a start, on
  • The underside of my ergonomic Logitech keyboard (which makes it very annoying to copy!) suggests the following:

    - Take frequent short breaks. Get up and walk around at least a couple of times every hour.
    - Vary your tasks throughout the day.
    - Keep your shoulders relaxed with your elbows at your sides. Position your keyboard and mouse so you don't have to reach.
    - Adjust your chair and keyboard so your wrists are straight.
    - Avoid resting your wrists on sharp edges. If you use a wrist or palm rest don't use

  • Raise your monitor (Score:2, Interesting)

    by pfafrich ( 647460 )
    Postition of chair, keyboard and monitor is very important. By simply rasing my monitor by 6 inches greatly reduced my RSI. With a low monitor you tend to hunch down creating bad posture a high monitor means that your head is level and instantly produces a better posture.
  • The Touchstream Keyboard [thinkgeek.com] use finger muscles less and in a different way from a normal keyboard. Add the fact that it does mouse as well. It does take a bit of learning, but is otherwise pretty cool.

    I agree with other people that changing imput devices - mice, keyboards - would be a good idea. I run the touchstream and a conventional Qwerty in parallel. When running apps which use a lot of F keys or the numpad (which my favourite editor prefers), I need a conventional keyboard. Wne word-processing, I switc
  • Read this document to learn what "RSI" is really caused by:

    http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu/handout.doc [harvard.edu]

    For more info, Google for: sarno tms
  • Personally, I find that when I was changing my input devices or setup in some way, it'd only help in the short term. Yes, the wrist rest helps, but then it's just a different repetative motion that I'm making.

    I've found that switching to a laptop at home (which I actually use from my lap, not a desk), and a desktop at work has helped significantly.

    This way, I'm getting my hand/wrists making two different sets of slightly different repetitive motions, rather than the same thing every time I'm in front of
  • I use:

    1. kmousetool [mousetool.com] to click the mouse for me. Takes some getting used to but I can't live without it now.

    2. Xwrits [freshmeat.net] to force me to take 5 minute breaks every half hour. Use the breaks to get up and stretch.

    3. A good massage therapist.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Aikido stretching... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Dinosaur Neil ( 86204 ) on Friday April 30, 2004 @11:04AM (#9018800)

    I've been computing since the early 80's (an Apple ][+) and mousing since 1986 (an Atari 1040ST). Somewhere around the early 90's I started having pains in my right wrist. I tried a wrist brace and supportive pads for my keyboard and mouse usage and they reduced the discomfort, but didn't eliminate it. What finally worked (and still works) for me is some wrist stretching exercises I learned for Aikido. There are some fairly clear descriptions here [aikido-world.com]. The most effective (for me at least) is the kotegaishi, with nikkyo a close second.

  • I've had a lot of trouble with RSI through the years, sometimes to the point I couldn't button a shirt. Here are some tips--

    First, though, see a doctor! If you ignore it, you risk making symptoms permanent. Treatment will speed recovery time. Keep an open mind, too-- naturopathy and massage therapy have helped me more for this than the standard HMO treatment.

    As for input devices, I've had a lot of luck with the Datahand Keyboard. It's a lot of money up front, and it has a very steep learning curve,

  • You could always get a life and leave the keyboard once in a while.

    Seriously, as someone who also has carpal tunnel... rearrange your life a bit. Different keyboard, mouse, chair height. See your doctor or hook up with someone else who has CTS/RSI and get some advice. Then there are exercies etc. Advil and cold compresses work best for me.

    But nothing beats getting away from the keyboard for periodic rest periods. Just don't do equally strenuous activities on your away periods.
  • Don't use the setup I'm currently using. My computer chair is a metal folding chair (plain jane chair like what you might see at an old school). Without any chair arms I have to prop my arms up with my elbows and knees. This means I have to lean forward to type. My keyboard i sitting on top of one of my servers (the taller of the 2 servers) at an angle. The other server is sitting about 2 inches away parallel to the first server. The mouse sits between the top front edge of that case and the angled ke
  • I know this reply is a little late, but I'm a musician and spend lots of time on computers (8 hours a day or more.) I developed symptoms like this at a fairly early age. What causes carpel tunnel is a fluid buildup that puts pressure on the median nerve in the wrist. When you start getting periodic numbness and tingling sensations in your hand/fingertips you're in trouble, and either need to seriously lay off or start some sort of treatment. If untreated it can develope to be pretty debilitating making
  • The pain and numbness in your hand are definitely symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome or repetitive stress injury. I'm 20 and I suffer the same thing.

    Fortunately, there are solutions to relieve the symptoms.

    First, I use a wrist brace/splint from Futuro. You can buy one [drugstore.com] from drugstore.com [drugstore.com], though I got mine from the pharmacy or health/wellness department of Zellers [zellers.ca]. They range in price from $16 to $25, depending on where you buy it from and what country you live in. Definitely well worth it, though.

    As well
  • What I'm going to suggest sounds so simple that most people have trouble believing me. My doctor gave me this advice 5 years ago, if you follow what I suggest ALL THE TIME your carpel tunnel will stop getting worse and in most cases your symptoms will go away.

    Here's what my doctor suggested:

    Stop playing fast paced computer games with your mouse; this will screw up your wrist more then anything else.

    Write in big letters on your monitor (just above the screen)

    "Monday morning: move keyboard, mouse and cha
  • An elbow rest helps heaps for your mouse hand. Keep it at the same level as your wrist so that your forearm is parallel to the ground. Takes most of the pressure off your wrist. Provided instant relief for me.
  • The chief controllable factor causing carpal tunnel syndrome is an imbalance in the strength of the forearms. The back/upper side of the forearms is much stronger than the front/lower side of the forearms. This put the nerves and tendons in the wrist under tension. To solve - exercise. I do Yoga. Also watch how you type. Try to avoid pulling your fingers back up. Instead keep your wrists flat. See a good physical therapist.
  • Try BreakReminder by cheqsoft which is free or the more feauture filled Workpace or RSI Guard. I remember doing a Google search and there was heaps of returns. Try download.com too Here's how it works, firstly you have micropauses every say 4 minutes where your forced to rest for 20 seconds. Then say every hour you have a rest break that is good at 10 minutes. You can configure it easily to increase the number of micropauses, rest breaks and the length of them which is useful if you really need to use th
  • I'm a software engineer and I spend many hours riding a keyboard and mouse.

    I use an MS Natural Elite keyboard and the cheapest Logitech trackball.

    The trackball I use is ambidexterous (may be used with the right and left hand) and only costs $20. It's NOT the trackball mouse that requires right hand usage and thumb movement of the ball.

    When I'm at work, I use my right hand. I switch for my work at home to my left. This way, both hands are equally utilized and the strain is distributed as well. Also, t

Slashdot Top Deals

One way to make your old car run better is to look up the price of a new model.

Close