[thelist] rsi

[Abhay S. Kushwaha]

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We developers seem to face it more often; especially HTML coders on
QWERTY US-101/4 keyboards. the " and the < and > of the code... ah!

The mouse... well, i suggest you think about using a tablet or a
pressure pad meant to replace mouse (IIRC, they were standard in some
models of IBM Thinkpads).

The scrollbar has a very low rate of causing RSI. I did read
somewhere
that the ligaments (I think I have the term right here?) of middle
finger seem to get weaker due to repeated up and down movements
especially since typical user tends to push down on the scroller.
Typical symptom of this is that the finger moves by itself (rather
twitches) when relaxed hand is laid on a flat surface (not flat - a
relaxed hand usually makes a cave type thing). I have this with my
index finger (the left click one! *sob*).

The hand hurts primarily because of three reasons:
1. You are gripping the mouse too tight.
2. You are moving the mouse using your fingers and wrist instead of
   flat of the palm and the whole arm.
3. The angle between the hand and the rest of the arm (at the wrist)
   should be as close to 180 degrees as possible (read FLAT)

And relax those shoulders! Do some neck excercises!!!! I just
remembered, I put in a tip a few days back... and here it is,
verbatim:

<tip type="rsi protection">
When using the keyboard, learn to relax your shoulders.

Don't rest your palms on the table but make them float above the
keyboard by about half an inch when typing. Let them down only when
you are resting.

The keyboard should be directly in front of the monitor and
your arms should make an obtuse angle at the elbows when typing.

Keep your feet firmly on the ground, flat.

Keep your back straight -- using support of the chair (hips back,
slightly leaning forward).

Your monitor's top edge should be in line with your straight vision.
In other words, while looking at the monitor, your eyes should not
travel upwards.

When using the mouse, don't move it with your fingers but with your
palm. Move the whole hand and not just with the flick of the wrist.
Train yourself to keep wrist movement zero while moving it around -
using the arm instead. Grip it firmly but not hard.
</tip>

[abhay]

- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Van Dijck" <peter at vardus.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2001 4:11 PM

> My hand hurts, I got RSI (from using that scrollwheel on my mouse
> I think).
> What should I do? Not use the mouse for a few days?
> Any links? Hints?

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