Mouse Accessories

Repetitive strain injuries are caused by repeated movements which damage the muscles, tendons, and nerves in various parts of the body. The most common form of repetitive strain injuries are typing injuries such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. If not properly treated, these injuries can develop into very serious lifelong handicaps.

Many options to help prevent and alleviate Repetitive Strain Injuries are now available. One of those options is various accessories created to alleviate or prevent the strain on the injured tendon. Accessories such as a wireless mouse, wrists supports, vertical-split keyboards, etc. This article will mainly be focusing on wireless mice and mouse accessories.

A wireless mouse is an excellent way to help prevent and alleviate certain types of Repetitive Strain Injuries. This is mainly because you can put the mouse in just about any position allowing relief in your wrists, forearm, and shoulder. You can bring the wireless mouse down next to your keyboard, put it farther away from you, or anywhere else that feels comfortable for you. Just changing the position of the mouse will relieve repetitive strain by constantly using different muscles.

Another accessory that helps prevent repetitive injuries is a mouse bridge. Experts agree that the closer the mouse is to the keyboard, the better it is. This keeps users from having to make awkward reaches to use the mouse and allows for greater efficiency. A mouse bridge is usually a smooth piece of plastic that hangs over the edge of the keyboard, usually near the numeric keypad. This allows the mouse to be as close to the keyboard, as possible. The only inconvenience with this is that you can’t use the numeric keypad as it is covered. There are also mouse bridges come in a variety of designs and for both the left and right hands.

A gel mouse pad with a wrist rest is another mouse accessory that helps prevent wrist strain. The wrist rest is soft and technically designed to be at the proper height for the wrist to perform at its best. If a person has to use a mouse frequently, a mouse pad with a gel wrist support will help alleviate strain on the wrist. It’s a fairly inexpensive way to help prevent a repetitive injury in the wrist.

A great accessory to help prevent mouse injuries is the No-Hands mouse. This is a foot mouse where one foot runs the clicks and the other runs the cursor. Though initially, it will be a little slower than using the hand mouse, with time, you will be able to use the computer much faster. You don’t need special hookups to use the mouse as your computer will read it as a regular two-button hands mouse. This device is an excellent way to use different muscles giving your arm, hand and wrist a rest.

There are many other types of mouse accessories that will either prevent an injury or help to alleviate the symptoms of the injured part. With proper ergonomic exercises, chairs, mouse accessories, and other supports, you should be able to prevent repetitive strain injuries.