Re: Help! Need an ergonomic mouse

[Kimberly <JKWilson -at- CONCENTRIC -dot- NET>]

Hi Rowena. Re: ergonomic mice...

I suffer from considerable mousing fatigue and RSI as well. I bought an
Anir mouse in January. I've been using it daily since then. It's an
improvement, but not perfect.

As you said, the mouse looks like a joystick. (And after you install the
driver you get a lovely little Anir joystick icon in your toolbar, which,
on first glance, most people mistake for male anatomy--so you've been
warned. <g>) The instructions say the mouse will take 3 days to get used
to, and that is exactly right. It took precisely 3 days for me. But on the
first try it's really difficult to master. I use it full-time at work, and
use a touch pad or standard mouse at home.

The Anir is designed to let your hand and wrist rest in a comfortable,
neutral position -- about halfway between flat down (like a standard mouse)
and full vertical (like a handshake). You left- and right-click with a
rocker switch under the thumb, which is almost strain-free compared to
standard mouse buttons. The base is raised and contoured to mold against
your wrist, so that there's no bending up from the desk. Again, it
maintains a neutral position for the hand and wrist.

How you move the mouse is the part that's hard to get used to. You actually
hold your hand and wrist still, and slide the entire mouse around. This
method requires a bit of time to develop the precision mousing skills your
fingers produce on a standard mouse.

The drawbacks of the Anir...

First, it can still strain your hand if you have to do a great deal of
extreme precision mousing, as many graphic artists do. On days when I am
creating web graphics, or spend a great deal of time on the web (scroll,
click, scroll, click...) my arm and wrist get very tired. But it isn't true
RSI strain, just some muscle soreness and stiffness (in the wrist and
shoulder). And if you mostly mouse and click for editing, or for less
precise graphic work, it shouldn't be a problem.

Second, it isn't very forgiving of nontraditional workspaces. For best
results, you need plenty of clear horizontal work area, the desk needs to
be at the proper height, and you need to rest your elbow on the table while
you mouse. My cubicle isn't conducive (the desk is too high and there's not
enough room to rest my elbow on the surface) and that reduces the
effectiveness of the Anir mouse. That's also what causes the shoulder
soreness.

The biggest drawback, to me, is that if you suffer from true carpal tunnel
syndrome the inflamation and irritation of the carpal tunnel can move from
the wrist and forearm area up into the elbow. A small elbow muscle is what
does most of the sliding around of the Anir mouse. With a traditional mouse
my arm and wrist would hurt intensely, and my grip could be affected, from
a lot of mousing and clicking. With the Anir, I have a chronic little pain
in my elbow now, but I seldom feel more than a twinge of soreness in my
hand and wrist.

Best of all, I seem to be able to type more, and longer, now that I don't
have the standard mousing actions fatiguing my fingers and hands.

You should carfefully assess what actions cause the strain for you.
Problems from clicking with the index finger can be corrected by using a
trackball + side click mouse. Problems from bending at the wrist can be
corrected by raising it with a wrist rest. Problems from moving your hand
around at the wrist, plus repeated clicking, can be helped by a touchpad.
** If twisting your hand into a flat, parallel-to-the-desk, position causes
you considerable strain, in addition to the clicking finger fatigue, then
an Anir would definitely be a good route for you.

Hope this helps. I'd be interested to hear if you decided on another model,
and how it worked out.

Kimberly Lyle-Wilson
Atlanta GA


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