1k1mgm@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (02/24/90)
A True Story: Was at doctor's today to check into pain, numbness in right arm. After a little poking around doctor ruled out carpal tunnel syndrome and various other 'named' entities. Said condition was probably a generic nerve inflammation of the sort acquired by factory workers who engage in steady repetetive movement. I told him I was not aware of doing anything like that; that I spent most of my day sitting in front of my Macintosh writing and editing.... Then, like a shot, it hit me. "My god," I said. "I've got MOUSE ELBOW." Which is what it seems to be. Recommendation is (a) wait and see if it gets better or worse, and (b) get tennis-elbow-style pad/brace if it doesn't get better. This has probably been discussed here frequently before, but I don't check out sci.med or comp.sys.mac much. Advice would be appreciated, unless I'm too disabled to log in and read it :-).... Christopher Gunn Molecular Graphics & Modeling Lab SPAN--KUPHSX::SYBYL Department of Medicinal Chemistry 913-864-4428 University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045
ianf@nada.kth.se (Ian Feldman) (02/26/90)
In article <22351.25e565db@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> 1k1mgm@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes: > > A True Story: > [.....] > Then, like a shot, it hit me. > > "My god," I said. "I've got MOUSE ELBOW." > > Which is what it seems to be. Recommendation is (a) wait and see > if it gets better or worse, and (b) get tennis-elbow-style pad/brace > if it doesn't get better. (c) set up Menu-command-aliases where appropriate, to replace as many mouse-events as possible and QuicKeys to navigate between your most often used applications. Though my rationale for doing it was _not_ any fear of a possible Mouse_Elbow condition I recently became aware that I hardly ever use the mouse anymore; certainly not for everyday tasks of telecommunicating with ZTerm, text-processing (MicroEmacs does it all from the keyboard and quicker than any other editor known to me) and archiving with MacCompress, which are the main three applications that I most often use. Add DiskTop for nearly all file-handling ops, QuicKey-callable DAtabase for small-filing needs and a properly set up set of other utilities and it's `good-bye ye olde mousee'. --Ian Feldman / ianf@nada.kth.se || uunet!nada.kth.se!ianf / "Go ahead, make my day, tell me to RTFM"
gdavis@primate.wisc.edu (Gary Davis) (02/27/90)
From article <3026@draken.nada.kth.se>, by ianf@nada.kth.se (Ian Feldman): > In article <22351.25e565db@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> 1k1mgm@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes: >> "My god," I said. "I've got MOUSE ELBOW." > > (c) set up Menu-command-aliases where appropriate, to replace as many > mouse-events as possible and QuicKeys to navigate between > other utilities and it's `good-bye ye olde mousee'. > It's repetitive movements without changing arm position that can cause disorders like mouse elbow or carpal tunnel syndrome. Using the keyboard heavily is well known to lead to the latter problem, which is apparently much more common than mouse elbow. The recommendation I've seen for decreasing the chance of CTS is to shift arm position occasionally. So it seems to me that switching between mouse and keyboard is a good way to decrease your chance of coming down with one of these disorders. Of course, it's possible that individuals may differ in their susceptibility to one or the other problems. So the optimal mix of keyboard and mouse activity may be different for different people. Gary Davis
kovar@popvax.harvard.edu (David C. Kovar) (02/28/90)
In article <22351.25e565db@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> 1k1mgm@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes: >This has probably been discussed here frequently before, but I don't >check out sci.med or comp.sys.mac much. Advice would be appreciated, >unless I'm too disabled to log in and read it :-).... Get a trackball. Seriously! I use the one in my Portable all the time and am quite happy with it. Very little arm motion, no desk space required, etc etc etc. -David -David C. Kovar Consultant ARPA: kovar@popvax.harvard.edu Eclectic Associates BITNET: corwin@harvarda.bitnet Ma Bell: 617-646-0428 MacNET: DKovar "It is easier to get forgiveness than permission." [All opinions expressed are my own. Noone else assumes responsibility for me.]
davide@cs.qmw.ac.uk (David Edmondson) (03/01/90)
>In article <22351.25e565db@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> 1k1mgm@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes: >>This has probably been discussed here frequently before, but I don't >>check out sci.med or comp.sys.mac much. Advice would be appreciated, >>unless I'm too disabled to log in and read it :-).... You shouldn't have to move your elbow if you: Make sure the mouse is set to fastest in the control panel and remember that the faster you move the mouse box the higher the effective 'gearing' of the mouse is, i.e. a quick flick moves the cursor further than a slow shove of the same distance. Let your fingers do the walking, rest the base of your hand on the table and hold the mouse between thumb and a couple of fingers. Good luck -- David Edmondson UUCP: davide@qmw-cs.uucp or ...seismo!mcvax!ukc!qmw-cs!davide ARPA: davide%cs.qmw@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk Post: Dept of Computer Science JANET: davide@uk.ac.qmw.cs Queen Mary and Westfield College Applelink: UK0087 University of London Mile End Road London E1 4NS Voice: +44 1 975 5250 England
werner@aecom.yu.edu (Craig Werner) (03/04/90)
In article <3026@draken.nada.kth.se>, ianf@nada.kth.se (Ian Feldman) writes: > In article <22351.25e565db@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> 1k1mgm@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes: > > > > Then, like a shot, it hit me. > > > > "My god," I said. "I've got MOUSE ELBOW." > > > > Which is what it seems to be. Recommendation is (a) wait and see > > if it gets better or worse, and (b) get tennis-elbow-style pad/brace > > if it doesn't get better. > Actually this condition has been described before, and various names suggested at the first description included 'murine tenosynovitis' before deciding on the more catchy, 'MacWrist' (although it's really the forearm in most cases.) -- Craig Werner (future MD/PhD, 4.5 years down, 2.5 to go) werner@aecom.YU.EDU -- Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1935-14E Eastchester Rd., Bronx NY 10461, 212-931-2517) "If you think you might faint, don't worry; you can always go into psychiatry."