Painful fingers

[BlackRockArt]

Hi y'all

After 40 years of intensive mouse use, I’m starting to pay the price. About three years ago I began developing persistent pain in four fingers on my right hand. Interestingly, the pain is minimal while I’m actively using the mouse, it tends to appear afterward, when the hand is at rest.


I’ve tried a number of interventions so far: hand and finger stretching/strengthening exercises, multiple mouse designs (different shapes, sizes, vertical mice, trackballs), and occasional use of anti-inflammatory pain medication. Unfortunately, the symptoms keep recurring. I’ve consulted with physicians, but the only consistent recommendation has been to reduce overall computer time.


Before switching entirely to a pen tablet, I’m curious whether anyone here has dealt with a similar issue (e.g., overuse injury, tendonitis, RSI, or nerve compression) and found effective solutions. The symptoms have noticeably worsened over the past year, to the point where I now have to limit mouse usage periodically.


Any insights on ergonomics, hardware, therapy, or alternative input devices would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Oliver

 

[AlanLichty]

I have a neuropathy problem with my right hand but it's a side effect of pinched nerve roots in my neck. Neurosurgeons pulled the bad disks and relieved the primary problems but my right hand hasn't really worked all that well since. I switched to doing a lot of things with my left hand and am still doing that. I didn't even try to reprogram a mouse for left hand - especially that one which I do have. I am on a Mac so I use a standalone track pad set up on the left hand side of my keyboard.

It took a while to train myself to use all of the gestures left handed but at this point its second nature for me. Any time my right hand gets painful or too stiff to work correctly any more I just switch to using my left hand on the trackpad.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Almost 2 decades back I had tendinitis in my right elbow as well as some rsi symptoms. Had an ergonomic evaluation done at my work. The two recommendations helped me a lot.

1. Keep the keyboard and mouse close to reduce the arm movement. Essentially avoid reaching out to the kbd and mouse using the forearm muscles.

2. Using the vertical mouse which I have been using ever since.

 

[JimFox]

Switching to your left hand might be the thing to do. And like Jameel said, find a position both your height compared to the desk, and distance from the keyboard/mouse. If you are sitting too low, that will cause strain to your hands.

 

[AlanLichty]

One thing I also did that helped was to redesign my workspace for better ergonomics. The height of my desktop is based on me sitting in a chair with thighs parallel to the ground as well as my forearm being parallel to the ground when I reach forward. The correct desktop height for me with those parameters is 25" from the ground which is lower than standard desktops. I did have the advantage that I built my own desk system and could include those modifications in my original SketchUp design.

 

[BlackRockArt]

I have a neuropathy problem with my right hand but it's a side effect of pinched nerve roots in my neck. Neurosurgeons pulled the bad disks and relieved the primary problems but my right hand hasn't really worked all that well since. I switched to doing a lot of things with my left hand and am still doing that. I didn't even try to reprogram a mouse for left hand - especially that one which I do have. I am on a Mac so I use a standalone track pad set up on the left hand side of my keyboard.

View attachment 86948

It took a while to train myself to use all of the gestures left handed but at this point its second nature for me. Any time my right hand gets painful or too stiff to work correctly any more I just switch to using my left hand on the trackpad.

Alan, that's a really neat idea ! I have moved one of my mice to the left hand side, from now on, I will use the left side mouse more often.

Oliver

 

[BlackRockArt]

Almost 2 decades back I had tendinitis in my right elbow as well as some rsi symptoms. Had an ergonomic evaluation done at my work. The two recommendations helped me a lot.

1. Keep the keyboard and mouse close to reduce the arm movement. Essentially avoid reaching out to the kbd and mouse using the forearm muscles.

2. Using the vertical mouse which I have been using ever since.

Jameel, these are really helpful tips ! I keep my desk, monitor & mouse in the right alignments, I will have my desk checked later.

Oliver

 

[Kyle Jones]

When I used to do a lot of CAD work I developed carpal tunnel in my right wrist. I completed switched to using my mouse left-handed for at least a decade. Things got better over time and now am back to using my mouse right handed, but I am still ambimousetrous.

 

[BlackRockArt]

Switching to your left hand might be the thing to do. And like Jameel said, find a position both your height compared to the desk, and distance from the keyboard/mouse. If you are sitting too low, that will cause strain to your hands.

Thank you, Jim, I will try to use my left hand more often.

When I used to do a lot of CAD work I developed carpal tunnel in my right wrist. I completed switched to using my mouse left-handed for at least a decade. Things got better over time and now am back to using my mouse right handed, but I am still ambimousetrous.

Thank you Kyle, it seems the way to go.