Using your computer mouse with the same hand all the time can aggravate your muscles. That can cause muscle pain, numbness, tingling or other symptoms in your hand and arm.
What’s the answer?
Switch!
And you might have to change position a bit. See the end of the article for more suggestions.
There are two ways to switch hands.
1. If you have another mouse just plug it in and have one on each side.
2. Here’s what I do. I just switch my
mouse pad and mouse to the other side of my keyboard for a few days.
I suspect that if I had two mouses (mice?) I would still favor the one on the right hand side.
Using the opposite hand allows the arm you usually use to rest. It also causes you to use your brain and body in a new way. Those are both good things.
Learning how to mouse with your opposite hand will seem a bit strange at first. After just a short time–a few days–your muscles and brain will adapt and it will become second nature.
Switching hands actually builds new connections between brain cells!
If you use a trackball mouse, you may be able to position the mouse in the middle front of you (perhaps on your lap if that is a good height for you) and switch from one hand to the other.
If you use your mouse in different positions with the opposite hand you can lessen your carpal tunnel symptoms. If the mouse is the main cause of your carpal tunnel pain, this may get rid of it altogether.
Also, it might not be just the mouse.
If you are STRETCHING to reach the mouse, that’ll cause carpal tunnel symptoms, too. Keep your elbow as close to your waist as possible.
Stretching and reaching to the mouse or keyboard strains the muscles in your arm. That’s what causes arm and hand pain. The goal is to keep your elbows next to your body.
That might mean adjusting the location of your keyboard and/or mouse.
Ideally, when you mouse, it’s as close to the midline of your body as possible. Your hand should be in front of you–not off to the side somewhere–not way out in front of you.
I’d like to invite you to check out Carpal Tunnel Natural Relief. It’s a simple program I designed to help you get rid of your carpal tunnel pain, naturally and forever!