Wrist rest for mouse-arm..?

[Bucake]

so i got some RSI going on (right arm) and i found out there are these "mouse wrist rests".
i'm talking about something like this:



so my question is;
does anyone here have any experience with them?
does it help your wrist relax?
is there a specific one you would recommend?

[MykB77]

The newest ones I have seen have a indented channel up the middle to take strain off the nerves.

[MykB77]

I forgot to add I am currently using an Allsop wrist rest that is memory foam and has sliders on the bottom and moves with your arms.

[Bucake]

thanks a lot for the reply :-)
i'll check it out

[Sc0tTy]

Wrist rests are a big no-no instead of helping you they actually make the problem worse (sorry don't have links for this but you cant find various posts on GH about it).

You should check out this post of mine from little less then a year ago: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=70338.msg1717330#msg1717330

[Bucake]

Wrist rests are a big no-no instead of helping you they actually make the problem worse (sorry don't have links for this but you cant find various posts on GH about it).

You should check out this post of mine from little less then a year ago: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=70338.msg1717330#msg1717330

hey, thanks a lot for the input.
i was already looking at trackballs and vertical mice, but hadn't thought of a tablet yet.
unfortunately i'm hesitant to try any of them, since none of them are cheap.

can i ask how long you've used your tablet now, and if there's any sign of pain/strain?
and do you sometimes play games? :-)

[Sc0tTy]

Wrist rests are a big no-no instead of helping you they actually make the problem worse (sorry don't have links for this but you cant find various posts on GH about it).

You should check out this post of mine from little less then a year ago: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=70338.msg1717330#msg1717330

hey, thanks a lot for the input.
i was already looking at trackballs and vertical mice, but hadn't thought of a tablet yet.
unfortunately i'm hesitant to try any of them, since none of them are cheap.

can i ask how long you've used your tablet now, and if there's any sign of pain/strain?
and do you sometimes play games? :-)

No pain or strain here, been using them for about 6-7 years <3 Whenever I go back to mice my issues come back slowely (only use em when I don't have the tablet available).
I haven't played games for a while but its not that great at it, specially shooters.

[romevi]

I like my mouse wrist rest. I actually use two at work, and one at home.
The ones at work I have are a 3M mouse pad with an attached rest, and then I have this little beanbag rest I use to prop my elbow. Since my elbow lies on the flat desk at work most of time, it starts to ache after a while. That, and I've noticed my longsleeves get holes right in that spot!

[zombiegristle]

The newest ones I have seen have a indented channel up the middle to take strain off the nerves.

This is the exact reason I started using certain mousepads. I rest the wrist bones on the gel and the carpal tunnel has no pressure on it, often not even touching. When I was younger I had a favorite wrist rest from Fellowes that was a similar shape, but it died a cruel death at the hands of bored callcenter grunts and I could never find another one.

[Vypr]

I use an ErgoRest (http://www.ergorest.fi/en/) 330 series articulating arm support and I've significantly reduced my wrist pain.
It's pretty expensive, but for me it was worth it.

[jacobolus]

Can you get someone to take a picture of your arms (and maybe your whole torso) as you type/mouse the way you usually do, in your current setup? (Or even a video, if you want to get fancy.)

Second, a question: how much mousing do you do on a daily basis, and for what kind of activities? Are we talking about professional CAD/Photoshop use? 5 hours of video games per day? Just navigating around a web browser? What other kind of activity do you do with your hands? E.g. are you a serious tennis player or guitarist? A rock climber? ...

People here can then probably provide some more contextually relevant advice.

Absent that, my one-sentence #1 most important piece of hand-tool ergonomic advice (goes for musical instruments, sports equipment, keyboards, whatever else): Make sure your wrists are in a relatively neutral (i.e. straight) position. The closer to neutral your wrists get, the stronger and more flexible your fingers will be, and the lower your chances of injury.

Once your wrists are straight, try to adjust your setup so that other joints are also in a relatively neutral position, with as low a continuous/static load as possible. If you need to do some activity which requires a static load on some muscles, make sure to take frequent breaks, change positions from time to time, etc. Finally, make sure you get enough sleep, enough exercise, eat healthy, and don’t have too much family/relationship/job/etc. stress in your life, if you can help it.

[zombiegristle]

I can see about getting a pic of my "work stance" in a few days when I have a spare set of hands to man a camera available.

My mousing activities include browsing, tech illustration, LOTS of Office, infrequent Minecrafting, and flying ships in Star Citizen. Various combinations of these, primarily Office and browsing, for 10+ hours every day, no days off.

My other wrist activies include weaving maille, repairing my old car, playing Splatoon and Halo, time at the pistol range, and doorframe chinups. These are less frequent except the last one, part of my "stay healthy" mantra is anytime I pass under a doorframe in my apartment I do one.

I've never had any issues with RSI, and I have mad grip strength for someone of my build. I once opened a jar of pickles...and then opened ANOTHER one right away.

[jacobolus]

10+ hours every day, no days off.

You might want to scale that back until your symptoms subside.

[zombiegristle]

10+ hours every day, no days off.

You might want to scale that back until your symptoms subside.

I've never had any issues with RSI

[jacobolus]

Oh, sorry zombiegristle, I thought you were the OP. My suggestion to take a picture and answer questions about use habits was addressed at him, since he mentioned that “i got some RSI going on”. I’m not quite sure why you responded to tell us your habits; they don’t seem especially relevant to the OP’s symptoms.

But anyway, I’m glad you’re keeping yourself healthy out there.

[zombiegristle]

Ah, I thought you were just after data gathering. OP asked some questions about folks' use of wrist rests etc, and I just assumed you were probing for more info from the masses.

[MykB77]

https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.allsop.com/images/Products/300/29538_ergo%252520wrist%252520assist_002_high%252520res.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.allsop.com/mousepads-and-wrist-rests/wrist-assist-black-/&h=300&w=300&tbnid=Gdz1iZf19MCOYM:&docid=hOQ70BZwLb2F-M&ei=9K7eVqywLYqyjgS5y5jQAQ&tbm=isch&client=ms-android-rogers-ca&ved=0ahUKEwis-veI9rDLAhUKmYMKHbklBhoQMwgbKAAwAA

That is the one I am still using.  Has Teflon sliders on the bottom and is made of memory foam.  Takes a day to get used to not knocking it off the desk but once you get it the benefits are amazing.

[-musubi]

I used to only use a wrist rest for my keyboard, but I happened to get one of those new glorious pc gaming race wrist rests for my keyboard (which are nice cause they're at keyboard height and wide), so I used my old wrist rest for a bit for my mouse hand. And I have to say it was actually really comfortable! However I've seen stopped using it since it took up so much space but I think ultimately it doesn't really affect my right wrist much as of now.

[Bithor]

Just get one of these mousepads
https://www.google.se/search?q=oppai+mousepad&biw=1366&bih=636&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjM7oP4ytbLAhVLFSwKHUhhBiUQ_AUIBygB

[Rhedone]

Just get one of these mousepads
https://www.google.se/search?q=oppai+mousepad&biw=1366&bih=636&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjM7oP4ytbLAhVLFSwKHUhhBiUQ_AUIBygB

Slight NSFW warning, depending on how light hearted your coworkers are and how much you care about what they think of you

[LuX]

I advise against wrist rests. They cause more harm than good, often keep your arm still and force your wrist to do all the moving, which probably would make the RSI worse.

i was already looking at trackballs and vertical mice, but hadn't thought of a tablet yet.
unfortunately i'm hesitant to try any of them, since none of them are cheap.

I'd reconsider the trackball or vertical mouse. For example this Vertical mouse, 5,50e shipped. Can't go wrong giving it a shot. Also trackballs are quite cheap on ebay. You can get for example the Logitech TrackMan Marble at around 25-30e from UK. I've had a drawing tablet until it broke, but I can't imagine using it for day-to-day use, unless what you do is just basic browsing.

Also, don't forget about doing wrist exercises:

[NewbieOneKenobi]

Wrist rests are a big no-no instead of helping you they actually make the problem worse (sorry don't have links for this but you cant find various posts on GH about it).

You should check out this post of mine from little less then a year ago: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=70338.msg1717330#msg1717330

Defo not an expert here, but my experience was that they were restricting blood flow by putting pressure on my veings, in a way I couldn't bear to allow, so I got rid of them. I might try a solid piece of wood (or a book in the meantime), to simply shorten the distance from desk surface. More for the keyboard than the mouse.

The problem with pressing keys while having your wrists supported is that you have less strength, so it's more painful, as your muscles need to work harder to click.

[eohmiller]

I've seen a lot of these attached to trackball mice. Kind of a neat idea.

[menuhin]

I recommend keyboard rest and mouse wrist rest with Erogbead inside.
For example, the brand IMAK.

Wood rests are too hard if you really rest and put the weight of your arm onto it; gel rests are still too hard if you apply pressure from time to time, and the more pressure you apply, the harder the gel pad becomes. Bead bags are the only truly compressible material that will really "give" and will not rebound to build up force onto your wrist. That's my real experience in search for a few years.

[FoxWolf1]

I was a fan of wrist rests when I used a mouse. Keeps your arm off the edge of the desk, but, more importantly, it actually gives you a bit of extra vertical range of motion if you use fingertip grip.