[tpicco]

I have a doctor's appt on Wednesday, but for the past two weeks my shoulder blade/rotating abilities of my right arm have been painful, feeling like a warm to hot wire is in my arm... and I get tingling in my fingers from time to time as if they fell asleep... Do I have Mouse Arm? Anyone else experience this? Have any ideas? Should I get a track ball? Lower or raise my chair?

[Photo678]

For a few weeks i was reduced to working on the floor on my computer......no money for a wireless card....and couldnt move the cable modem, and no money for a desk for the computer.

anyway........yes, i had this knot in my shoulder that you wouldnt believe.....mostly from sitting hunched over......so, ask your doc about posture i guess

[Socially Awkward Solo]

I have a mouse arm for the past 3 years and it is pretty much constant.

Yoga might help.

[tpicco]

Originally Posted by Socially Awkward Solo

I have a mouse arm for the past 3 years and it is pretty much constant.

Yoga might help.

you simply live with it?

[Socially Awkward Solo]

Originally Posted by tpicco

you simply live with it?

Pretty much ya. I mean it only hurts when I am on the computer, unfortunately it is 10 hours a day. Some days are worse than others.

It stops hurting shortly after I stop with the computer.

I sometimes get bad spells where it gets pulled badly and it leaves me immobile for days.

Talked to my doctor about it, he said there really isn't much I can do about it other that treat it with aspirin when it pulls bad and to take yoga and go to a cyro.

[Photo678]

ummm, try a tablet.....put the pad on your lap, and use the pen.....???

[iREZ]

ummm...try actually exercising, like swimming or light weight training. a little goes a long way.

[tpicco]

oh I swim almost every day... and it does help... but I'm trying to figure out what I can do about the source of the problem...

[bluedog]

Mouse arm, oh that's gotta be the worst.

I had mouse finger for a few months back when I was doing Powerpoint presentations with Office 4.21 on a Mac?!!? Oh the horror.

I *did* start using a tablet and it helped immensely. If you can fashion an elastic band you can even hold the pen without much effort. It will make your job that much easier. If you can swing the tablet it'll lighten your load.

Forget the exercise, some of us are computer geeks. We would use our Jedi mind tricks to control the computer if we could.

[tpicco]

...even geeks need exercise.

[DeathMan]

I had shoulder problems for a while, and what I did was get my mouse down where my arm could hang down while working (bent at the elbow still, but hanging at the shoulder). If you have to support the weight of your arm with your shoulder and back while working, its going to take its toll. You want your arm hanging down and loose while you work. Its the same as with a guitar.

keep your keyboard and mouse on the same plane, also. I kind of want to chop the number pad off my keyboard, so the keyboard and mouse can be closer together.

What I found out eventually though, is that while the chair-height was a major irritant for the shoulder, the real reason it started hurting in the first place is surfing while lying down, which caused my shoulders to be an a strange angle. When I stopped doing this, the pain went away. So it could be a combination of things.

[chris v]

I was getting carpal tunnel in my right wrist, & I'm training myself to use the tablet more, which may relieve me more than most folks, due to being left-handed, but I've also just sort of trained myself to remove my hand from the mouse whenever I wasn't actually using it. Try not to sit with your hand on the mouse when you don't need it there, like when you're reading something, and can scroll with the arrow keys, or something, as this will break up the repetative motion with something else.

Take breaks & walk away regularly, too.

[::maroma::]

One word: ERGONOMICS

If you are getting pain in your body from working on your computer then you doing something wrong. You are either sitting wrong, or have your desk/chair heights off. I'm sure you've all seen those diagrams that show you how to sit at your desk while working. Monitor to eye level, desk chair at the correct height based on desk height and your height, etc. All that actually works.

You shouldn't have to live with the pain. You should just have to adjust your ergonomics. And of course, as mentioned above, excersize helps a lot as well.

[tpicco]

damn... the doc said I have arthritis in my neck that's causing the pain... and it makes sense... apparently the pain radiates down the arm, involves the shoulder blade, and causes some numbness in my fingers... he said I had to get a "cranial sling" kind of thing from a surgical supply place... it hooks over a door, you fill a "weight bag" with water, and attach a support to the bottom of your neck, that the weight pulls on, kinda lifting you head a little. When he demonstrated the effect in the examing room, lifting my head a wee bit with his hands cupping my chin & jaw, my whole right arm kinda lit up and said "Howdy!" He said ten minutes twice a day in this contraption will help...

[loki74]

Originally Posted by iREZ

light weight training.

This, in my opinion, is the single best suggestion in this thread... with the addition of, always, ALWAYS talk to your doctor before doing anything. And make sure you have a good trainer--it wouldn't hurt to know a thing or two about lifting.

[th3ph17]

about 6 years ago i started to get pretty bad wrist pain...i went to my boss and basically said 'this is the only thing i know how to do, and it is ruining me. I need a new chair and a tablet.'

in my current work place, i have an even better chair. i love it. i would rather keep this chair than have a raise [to a certain point.]

ergonomics is the key. Work shouldn't hurt you. I never use my mouse at work anymore. I read the instruction manual for my chair. If you make a living by sitting in front of a computer, you cannot afford to not pay attention to these things.