Experience using a vertical mouse or fleeing tunnel syndrome

This Monday I’ll talk about a mouse that helps to avoid tunnel syndrome. Go!

Under the cut - a medical educational program about the causes of the tunnel syndrome, about how to avoid it, and of course, a review of the vertical mouse.

About carpal tunnel syndrome

As we know, tunnel syndrome - it is also called CTS , Carpal Tunnel Syndrome , carpal tunnel syndrome (though those who translate this way must be killed, this is even worse than alkaline. Carpal is just a brush), carpal tunnel syndrome, wrist syndrome, in the general name RSI , Repetitive Strain Injury ( chronic disease of the hands ) is a lesion of nerve tissue (neuropathy) due to some adverse conditions. Strictly speaking, to call it tunnel syndrome is not entirely correct - tunnel syndrome can occur not only in the hand, while carpal tunnel syndrome - by definition, only in the wrist :)
Adverse conditions can be very different - usually it is the monotonous work of the brush or prolonged exposure to unnatural positions. Accordingly, those people whose work or pastime involves prolonged wrist tension and / or prolonged brush work - forever alone , cyclists and bikers, collectors, packers, musicians, artists, and, of course, people working with the mouse and keyboard fall into the risk group .

To make it clearer, look at the picture above. We are interested in the median and ulnar nerves - a bundle of nerves whose branches innervate most of the hand (shown in lilac in the figure):

They are located next to the formation, called the carpal tunnel:

This is the structure that holds the flexor tendons relative to each other and the wrists - the tendon bag (the blue part in the figure). It is located between several bones and ligaments - in the tunnel of the wrist joint.
What happens with prolonged bending of the joint, uncomfortable position of the hands and a lot of uniform movements?
Prolonged tension in the muscles of the hand leads to a deterioration in their blood supply, in violation of which destructive processes in the tendons and muscles begin. By themselves, they do not yet cause harm, the body knows what to do - the blood flow through the damaged area increases, which ensures normal nutrition and timely withdrawal of decay products. When the harmful effects cease, unpleasant sensations will pass by themselves.
But if we continue to work with the brush in the same way (there are not very many painful endings, and it is problematic to notice the onset of the disease), while continuing to tighten the muscles, and at the same time reducing the lumen of the tunnel by bending the brush, then we get swelling of the muscles and tendons - the fluid is not properly discharged way.
Developing edema presses on the median and ulnar nerves and adjacent vessels, causing hypoxia (oxygen deficiency) and edema of tissues and nerves. A nerve in this state cannot fully perform its functions, because of this there are such unpleasant effects (paresthesias) as: a decrease in sensitivity, soreness, tingling in the fingers, weakness of the palm. The muscles of the hand and fingers, which are controlled by the nerve, gradually “relax” - the signals from the brain do not reach them completely, and they begin to atrophy. All this against a background of pain that intensifies at night and keeps you awake.

Fearfully? Only with the help of a special , vertical mouse can you cure your hand... Just kidding, unfortunately. No, even the most expensive mouse will not help you - the disease arises from several factors that must be removed comprehensively. In 90%, the simplest gymnastics performed regularly 10 minutes a day will remove all symptoms. You didn’t miss the word regularly , right? If the only thing you do with the symptoms is to buy a mouse, this will not save you, unless they delay their strengthening.

The main idea of ​​gymnastics is rest from harmful factors, but not from movement. Get up, walk, wave your hands. Unclench-squeeze your hands, shake the brushes. Many problems arise from uniform movements - that’s why you need to get rid of them by regularly making movements that are different from normal ones. Here there is great everything is described.
I’ll talk about getting rid of only one factor - the incorrect position of the brush lying on the mouse.

Right or wrong?

Stand, relax your hands, lower them down. What position did they take? The palms are turned inward, "to themselves." Now, put your hand on the table without changing its position anywhere except the elbow. How does she lie? Elbow and edge of the brush on the table.
Now put it on your mouse. What happened The brush turned about 90 degrees relative to the elbow. This position of the hand perfectly fits the prevailing paradigm of using a computer - left mouse button, right mouse button, middle, etc.

But it is not physiological - the muscles that provide inward rotation (pronators), the arms and hands are constantly tensed, and the arch supports (muscles that rotate “outward”), on the contrary, are stretched. What the constant muscle tension leads to, I already wrote - edema, and then increasing.

For example, a square pronator - a muscle that rotates the forearm inward, is most stressed when the hand is in the wrong position. And it is located near the carpal tunnel, respectively - its edema will primarily press on the nerves and blood vessels, which will cause unpleasant sensations.


In the case of using a vertical mouse, the brush retains its “normal” position, in which there is no additional load on arch supports and pronators.

True, there remain problems with the uniform movements of the fingers - when you press the keys and spin the wheel. Only a cardinal change in the input principle will help you with this - touchpad, trackball ( dlinyj is invited to the thread , who will talk about his experience with trackballs), delayed hotkeys or a graphic tablet.

As usual, I wanted to write very briefly about the syndrome, but it turned out that the details make up most of the text. I wrote it, showed it to a friend, he asked about something, I had to add it. He showed the doctor - he corrected a couple of inaccuracies, said a lot of clever words, which had to be explained ... Okay. About the mouse.

About the mouse.

Packaging:

An extremely strange packaging, getting out of which the mouse is quite problematic. We will have to deal with Velcro, duct tape, a cunning system for attaching a mouse and wire, to understand the anguish of the Chinese developer of the box, torn between convenience and beauty. In the fight against these problems, I completely forgot to show you the back of the box, here it is:

Finally, we got a mouse.

What catches your eye is a thin but long wire, even with a filter at the end:

Very soft, bends well, and does not interfere with mouse movements. No longer remarkable. Back to the mouse: The key on the end - the DPI switch (from 800 to 2400), allows you to adjust the speed of the mouse to fit your needs.



On the right side are two buttons (“left” and “right”, heh), and a standard wheel. It doesn’t swing to the sides, however, this function is performed by two buttons on the reverse side: they are located next to the recess for the thumb, and honestly, a couple of times they unintentionally hit them. Apparently, you should not hang functions with an irreversible action - deleting files, for example. I have tab switching in the browser hanging on them.


The surface on which most of the palm rests is made of rubber-like material, which is almost impossible to clean from dust particles and fabric fibers - they stick to it remarkably even immediately after wiping. In fairness, I note that the rest of the dirt is washed off and erased from this surface is quite normal. The rest is ordinary plastic, which has neither serious advantages nor critical shortcomings. There is only a sensor on the bottom of the mouse: Sliding legs are present in large numbers (6 pieces), and fulfill their function quite well. As the most attentive readers probably guessed, the “sole”, designed to take on the support of the brush, disconnects. It’s quite comfortable with her, but all of a sudden.

Results of use

The first week was very unusual. So unusual that several times I thought about switching back to classic mice. Although I was able to fully work after a couple of days, a few days later every time I took it in my hand I had to make an effort to remember which button, which one. But after a week I used it quite calmly, and after two - the classic mice seemed strange and very uncomfortable, to the point that I did not want to pick them up.
Here's what the mouse looks like in my hand: I especially liked, oddly enough, playing with such a mouse in various shooter toys - almost like a joystick.


Another feature that I noticed is that you have to move the mouse not with the brush, but with your whole hand, because the wrist is less flexible with such a grip. I understand that this is more useful for the brush, but still, a little unusual.
The DPI button was very useful - after getting used to it, DPI can be increased, you will have to move less with a brush.
The good news is that my hand doesn’t hurt. But she had not been sick before.

Cost

Mouse ordered at BuySKU for $ 26.
Near the catalog there is the same, but wireless , though its maximum DPI is lower - 1600. It costs a little more - $ 47. I doubted its convenience, so I bought a version with a wire, which I regret now - without wires it would be somehow more convenient.

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