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Are You Using the Mouse Wrong? How to Correctly Use Your Mouse and Avoid Injury

Sore Wrist
Evidence suggests that about 3% of women and 2% of men will be diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome during their lifetime…”

– The New York Times

You sit long hours at your office desk in front of a computer. You read. You type. You click and tweet, and respond to forms and Facebook. Your wrist hurts. Your shoulder aches. Your neck is killing you.

There are some simple ergonomics solutions to help you avoid injury when using a mouse. You can learn a new ergonomics way to use your mouse both at the office and at home.


Try These 2 Ergonomics Tips:

  1. Use Proper Form – When using the mouse, it is important to keep the wrist and hand in a neutral position. The picture of the hand positioned in good form below reduces your risk of developing a cumulative trauma injury.
    mouse ergonomics
  2. Watch Your Grip – Another thing to be aware of is how you grip the mouse. Improper grip puts you at risk for cumulative trauma injuries. When you are involved in prolonged activities, like reading, egg-cartonkeeping the mouse gripped in your hand the whole time contracts the muscles without a break.When you are reading, give your hands a break and rest them in your lap. Also, always pay attention to how hard you are gripping the mouse – you should grip the mouse like it is a raw egg that you don’t want to crack.

These are just a few of the tips from our ergonomics experts at Solutions Northwest, Inc. For more ergonomics advice, Contact Us or visit SolutionsNW.com

Ergonomics While Traveling- The Laptop

When traveling for work, bringing a laptop is often necessary. If you must use a laptop on the plane, consider using a lightweight foldable laptop riser. This will prevent laptop hunch.

If you are using the laptop in your hotel, using the laptop riser plus a wireless keyboard and mouse is a good idea.

When sitting in a hotel using a laptop, the desk may be too high for you. If it is, raise your chair so that your elbows are .5″-1″ above the worksurface. If your feet don’t touch the ground try to find something to put under them.

If you need to travel with a projector to hook up to your laptop, a mini projector is much lighter than the standard ones and takes up less space.  3M makes a good mini projector which only weighs 1 pound.

 

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