Hello, My Name is Cephyn…
Published May 2nd, 2007…and I am a literary addict.
For the most part I’m a very reasonable, reserved guy. I don’t eat sweets. I don’t indulge in almost anything to excess. Except one thing, I lose all willpower in a bookstore. I can’t walk out with at least one book.
Tonight was book club, and usually I arrive a little late and walk right out so that I’m not tempted to browse. But today I met a friend early to hang out and chat while she stood in line for Baskin-Robbins 31cent scoop night. And that meant bookstore browsing. And that meant - I bought books, dammit. What the heck! I blame her. So now I have a HUGE stack of books - not inherently a bad thing, but my bookshelf has overflowed and I need to start organizing better. Jeez.
This is ridiculous, but I’m in some serious pain lately. You’re going to laugh, but it really does hurt pretty bad. I must be having some poor workspace posture or something, but I seem to have developed some significant tendonitis in my right index finger. Yeah. The clicking finger. Rest is probably the only way to heal it - and how the hell am I going to do that? I’ve been forced to operate the mouse with my middle and ring fingers. Typing hurts though. I may have to severely limit my computer time this weekend. Ridiculous, but painful as hell.
Laugh it up.
If you’re going to be sitting in front of a computer all day at work and a lot at home, you should really pay attention to the ergonomics of your set up. Otherwise you can do some permanent damage to your body (e.g. like my back). Since I got a new chair and worked on my posture my back has been a lot better, but I’ve also had trouble with my right (mouse) hand. I’ve been using one of these trackballs for the last couple years at work and it seems to have alleviated the pain. Although I left-click with my thumb, I do move the ball with my index finger using that trackball. Another option is a mouse with thumb buttons. You should be able to map one of those to act as a left-click so you don’t have to use your index finger.
I seem to recall that you like rest your palm on the desk and move the mouse with only your wrist. That could also be contributing to the problem by putting extra stress on your tendons. Try keeping your palm raised and using your whole arm for movement instead, or at least use a pad to keep your wrist straight.
Yeah, I use a pad for my mouse hand 100% of the time. Maybe i need one of those pads that attaches to the mouse so that my arm can move too.
That’s why I use a trackball; so I don’t have to move my wrist. My biggest problem has been with my wrist, though. With a trackball you still need to use your fingers so I’m not sure it will solve your problem.