Hi ya... just wanted to know what you guys do for when your index finger starts to freak from over use... ie.. smashing the mouse button repeatedly... I've started looking for a low impact mouse that is index finger friendly.. any recommendations would be great! Also I've heard that finger stress is related to poor posture.. anyhow looking to find out what you guys do for 'finger' excercise and the like...
Cheers..
Barry's right there! But I honestly can't deal with the sitting upright for too long. My back starts to break. I know with Troy that he gets sore thumb and wrist pains which i often have to massage those areas as well and the elbow, shoulders and under the shoulder blade to fix his hand up again.
Although I do try to get up and get a drink now and then, it's just not good on workflow if your in crunch time and your in the zone. You need to get out of the zone then try to get back in. Kina hard and frustrating after a while.
I find the shape of the mouse to have an impact on confort - My work mouse (a clear optical mac mouse with the entire upper surface as the button) to be quite bad on the index finger but my home mouse (standard Microsoft mouse) to be excellent... I guess some people might suggest trying a tablet as an alternative.
I don't really seem to get any muscular problems, maybe after about 6 or 7 hours my wrist gets stiff. My main problem is my brain and eyes feels like they're melting. x_x Though I think I need to take more breaks since I usually only take one break of about 15-20 mins in the middle of the day to get lunch.
After too much time with the mouse, my hand gets a mind of it's own and the index finger kind of gets nervous jitters or something (finger twitches). I get the same problem from my game console controllers. It's only if I go too long without a break though. I find the biggest problem for me is sore eyes, which turns into a headache. Regular breaks are essential, if somewhat difficult to force yourself to do.
Has anyone tried specialist equipment like trackballs and things? For example: [url]http://www.3dconnexion.com[/url]
I'd love to get a "SpaceBall" or equivalent, but have no idea if it would be any good. I don't want to spend the cash if I'm not going to use it.
Shit guys do something about this stuff NOW or you could regret it for years!!!
I was unable to use my hands much at all for about a year and a half from carpal tunnel syndrome (too much typing mixed with tons of stress). Think about having to ask someone to open a door for you... Not just once either, but every single bloody day :(
Loosen up your wrists and shake them around. Swim at lunch time. Acupuncture, massage, physiotherapy, t'ai chi, yoga, long walks, etc, etc, etc.
In my experience GPs did more harm than good- one in particular first told me to "type with the other hand"- I got carpal tunnel in the other wrist, then "immobalise them"- bound up both my arms in pressure bandages 24/7, which reduced blood flow and made the muscles atrophy, which made things much worse :(
Avoid anti-inflammatory drugs like sodium naproxen- they will probably stop the pain, but if you keep working when taking them you can do some real damage. A lot of them cause stomach ulcers too.
Classical musicians and ballet dancers are some of the most afflicted by OOS type complaints- they work even harder than game developers- perhaps try to find someone who treats these people all the time.
This stuff happened to me in late 1997 btw, when I was doing a music honours degree. I've been completely OK since early '99.
Alternative input devices are a great idea. I could only use my computer with a touch pad and voice recognition.
With the back problems the best and most lasting thing I've ever had done is Spinal Mobilisation. It's not manipulation, just restoring normal movement to each vertebra. Musculoskeletal physiotherapists can do it.
I agree with Lorien.
And I would like to say that if you aren't playing a sport or something, you should be. Make time to excercise..
Also, if you have a wacom, use it where possible, and use your whole arm to move it, rather than the smaller muscles in your hand/wrist.
This is shit you don't want to shrug off, or say 'fixed' after a few seconds of rubbing down. Don't sacrifice your health for the sake of a model or few pages of code. In my experience, it's more important what you're capable of, not what you have done.
"IMHO no game or contract is worth crippling yourself for."
Of course, but what is your house/car worth in work & labour? I used to work part time on a factory floor... THAT is one thing that is not worth the damage & I quit due to it. Your body is grinded down in those situations unless you're naturally built...
Ways injury was prevented was by placing 3" rubber mats where we stood for hours on end... somewhat similar to that soft 'attachment' that goes on keyboards :)
Anyway, rsi certainly translates from the workbench to the computer desk. I prefer to have monitors high so that I have to sit upright to view them evenly. If they are the 'suggested' heights I have to bend my back too much and it often aches. Also my fingers, as Me109 said... it's usually after excessive 3D work where you have to hold a mouse button with the index finger for pan/orbit. :)
Cheers for all the feedback guys.. I've start my adventure into user friendly motion controller devices! I love the look of the spaceball 5000 and functionality... [img]http://www.3dconnexion.com/img/spaceball1.jpg[/img]
however at a retail price of AU$800.. i'm not so sure .. but could be worth it if it extends the lifetime of my index finger... I found a interesting project here [url]http://web.media.mit.edu/~jackylee/isphere.htm[/url]
[img]http://web.media.mit.edu/~jackylee/img/isphere_foam.jpg[/img]
this kinda device would be cool!
cheers guys!
Wow, that?s cool!
I think I saw something like that being used on Star Trek once?
What we really need is technology that allows the mind to directly interface with a computer without physical contact with devices. It might take a while to develop, but one way to do this mental interface involves scanning eye movements and interpreting that into computer commands. The technology is in very early stages of development/experimentation, but it is theoretically possible. If the technology is ever successfully developed, you would be able to work ultra efficiently just by looking at the screen.
quote:Originally posted by palantir
involves scanning eye movements and interpreting that into computer commands.
What happens when you sneeze? [:D]
Seriously though there is tons of research going on in alternative interfaces, a lot of it for musical instruments (that row of switches that is the piano keyboard is a pretty stupid way of controlling a synthesiser). Here are just a few:
http://www.thereminworld.com/learn.asp
http://www.media.mit.edu/hyperins/projects.html
http://infusionsystems.com/catalog/all_categories.php?osCsid=5b1b0eeaee…
http://www.steim.org/steim/products.html
http://www.reverberant.com/TC/index.htm
You should be able to guess what my music honours thesis was on and why I was coding in a music degree now [:)]
quote:Originally posted by urgrund
"but what is your house/car worth in work & labour?"
For me a lot less than the use of my hands... Most things are less important than that (again for me).
quote:Originally posted by lorien:
quote:Originally posted by palantir:
involves scanning eye movements and interpreting that into computer commands.
What happens when you sneeze?
Sneeze and the computer might reformat the hard drive [:P]
Maybe one day tiny little cybernetic implants will solve all these interface problems?
Looking into it a bit more i've broken out my Wacom as a replacement for the mouse... Hopefully I'll get to try out a Spaceball soonish so I can try the combo.. I've a good feeling that this will rock.. The Wacom has done away with the need to 'click' as every time you place the pen it 'selects' automatically.. actually this has reduced what is a two movement process.. ( point then click ) to just a point..
I was put onto this link for those students out there... student prices on Spaceballs.. like a reduction from US$500 ---> US$199.98 a great reduction...
[url]http://www.journeyed.com/department.asp?DID=3dconnexion&SKW=3dconnexion…]
Anyhow!
Cheers!
It's usually my shoulders and wrists that give me problems but here are the usual tips for preventing OOS/RSI etc:
Make sure you have good posture, wrists roughly horizontal, mouse and keyboard in front of you not out to one side. Sit upright with feet on the floor and eyes in line with the top third of the monitor. I think buying a chair that you are actually comfortable in is important, you probably spend a large portion of your life in it. Make sure you are eating and sleeping properly, lack of either can often make your body feel terrible no matter what you do.
Take a break every half an hour, go to the toilet, refill your coffee or something. Have a quick break every 5 minutes and stretch your wrist, fingers, make sure they move around occasionally, those squishy stress balls are excellent for this.
The human body is not designed to sit motionless for days on end, like machinery it seizes up!