Help....My wrist is driving me insane

[Blinkensnout]

Hi Guys,

 

First post so go easy on me.....

 

I am a Civil Engineer who uses AutoCad on a daily basis for 2d drafting to produce typically road and sewer drawings along with all the associated standard construction details.

 

over the last few days my mouse wrist has developed what can only be described as an excruciating paing which travels along my arm and into my hand. I assume that this is a form of RSI through continual CAD use? Pretty busy at the mo!

 

Its got to the poin where it is driving me insane......so i started to do a little research, firstly i changed my mouse as i thought my original was a little small and possible causing my wrist pains, changed to a bigger possibly more ergonomic mouse and its no different.

 

i keep readoing about people who have switched to a graphics tablet and say that has helped them....

 

i have been looking at the tablets on PC World but i am a little lost so please can somebody point me in the right direction possibly the Wacom Pen & Touch?

 

also will this help/hinder me???

 

any feedback/personal experience/ suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

 

Cheers

 

Chris

[ReMark]

Perhaps because I started with and continue to use to this day a digitizing tablet set at an angle I've rarely experienced the problem you are describing but several people at the company I work for have had problems so severe they have had to resort to wearing wrist splints and using keyboards with pads at the front edge. Sounds like you may be a candidate for a carpal tunnel operation.

 

The best advice I can give you at the moment is to ice down your wrist, do some hand exercises to limber it up and work out the kinks and take a break from your normal, at desk/computer, routine and go out into the field for a change.

[Blinkensnout]

So would you recommend me getting a tablet then or carrying on as i am?

 

i would love to take a break away from it but unfortunatley we have deadlines to meet so tie away isnt an option!!!

[ReMark]

I think what has saved me is the fact my job allows me to take a break from the CAD routine and do some hand sketching in the field with pencil on paper. You, it appears, do not have such luck.

 

I like the inclined surface of my digitizing tablet because enough of my wrist area is supported when I use the puck.

[nestly]

You may find some temporary relief by raising your chair a bit, supporting your elbow on your armrest, using a gel filled wrist support, and using a comfortable mouse with light buttons. I've never used a tablet, but that may be a good solution because the only way you're actually going to heal is to give yourself a break from the specific repetitive movement that's causing the aggravation.

[rkent]

I had problems years back and I added another mouse on the left side of the keyboard and taught myself to use my left hand. I now just find myself switching from left to right and back again. I would say the discomfort in my hands has gone down by 90%. You must take a minute every 30 or 45 to do some stretching. I used a program for a while and I should get it going again that will monitor the amount of typing and mousing you are doing and have you stop working and go through some stretching they show on the screen. This is a marathon not a sprint, if you keep pushing with that pain you will be in for surgery, etc.

[Geoffers]

Yes, went through this pain situation about two years ago, I 'feel' for you. After hesitating about buying a tablet (££) had to go for it - and never looked back. Now I can use the mouse again - I pick either as they fall to hand. But just enjoy the freedom of the stylus*. Do it ... Wacom Intuos 3 - or 4 is it now...? or if you are rolling, the tablet on the screen:D:D

 

There have been similar threads here before...

 

* but do remember to twist the stylus away when you 'squidge' your ear - you know what I mean...:shock:

 

and the nib with the spring in it is the best IMHO...

[Partyball]

Have you tried a trackball?

[CyberAngel]

I second rkent. A couple of years ago I started having numbness in the heel of my right hand, along with some pain in the wrist. To avoid carpal tunnel syndrome, I started using my left hand. It would be nice to get away from the desk, but that's my entire job. If I'm not drafting, I'm doing other computer work almost exclusively.

 

Anyone want to invest in a new type of pointing device? I'm thinking about a pair of gloves with a contact (key) on each finger. You type by pressing one, two, or three keys against any surface, even each other, and you can redefine the keys to suit yourself. Possible combinations = about 10!3 = a lot. Pointing needs work.

[Cad64]

I use a Wacom, primarily for Photoshop work, but I also use it for CAD work too. It was a little difficult to get used to at first, and it did slow me down a little bit, although that might actually be a good thing. I think trying to work too fast all the time is what was causing my wrist pain. But I created special command aliases, set up toolbars and hot keys on the tablet to help me work faster and now I can move pretty seamlessly from mouse to tablet without missing a beat. And the wrist pain I was starting to develop is now gone.

 

Also, using a tablet forces you to sit up straight and rest your arm on the desk. It's pretty difficult to use a tablet while slouching in your chair with your elbow hanging in mid air.

[hugha]

Recommend switching the mouse to the other hand. I have done so with a wireless optical mouse and it fixed my right wrist problem. Now if I could only move the backspace key on my keyboard ...

 

Re using a tablet I believe you can still create a tablet menu overlay and do most input from there with stylus picks and devote the unused screen menu real-estate space to the drawing.

[irneb]

I loved using tablets previously (but for other reasons), unfortunately the present company doesn't condone tablets - so it's not an option for me. I do find that I get wrist problems when using my laptop (I have the same mouse as at work - a totally basic MS Wheel Mouse), but not when on my work PC. This is strange since I seldom work longer than about an hour at a time on my laptop, and have worked several times on the PC for 12+ hours straight (usually at least 8 hours at a time). The only thing I can see which is different is the table-screen-keyboard-mouse layout.

 

Before you spend huge amounts on "ergonomic" mouses, pads, tablets, trackballs, etc. I'd advise a simplt test: When I use the laptop space is usually at a premium so it's situated close to the edge of a table (or such), thus my mouse hand is usually resting on the wrist. My PC is setup to have the large screen as far away as possible (so I can still read the text), now my mouse and keyboard is placed so that I rest my arms on my elbows (close to the edge of the desk, i.e. chair height also makes a difference) and simply need to pivot about that rest point to move from mouse to keyboard and back. BTW this setup also eliminates most back and neck problems since it forces your posture upright.