3. Mousing … essential tips
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Bring the mouse close to your body
Rest your mouse arm- take the load off
Hold- don’t choke the mouse
Get a mouse that fits you
Take frequent rest breaks- micro breaks
Stretch out the stress- every chance you get
Squeak!
Mousing- Bring the mouse close to your body
The ideal location for the mouse
is right next to your keyboard and
at about the same level.
Mousing
… getting the mouse close to your body
Mouse on a swivel tray- okay!
Mouse on the keyboard tray- okay!
The mouse should be positioned
right along side your keyboard
which can be done on a keyboard /
mouse tray or on the work surface.
Mouse on the work surface- okay!
Mousing / Pointing
… getting the mouse close to your body
AVOID!
Your mouse should never be
positioned on the surface beyond your
tray- unless you rarely use it.
Over extending your arm to reach the
mouse can result in arm, elbow and
shoulder problems in a very short time.
If you use a keyboard tray and there’s
no room for the mouse, get some help!
Mousing
...too far from your body
AVOID!
Using the mouse on the surface beyond your keyboard with the arm fully
extended can produce forces on your shoulder equal to 90% of your entire
body weight. If not corrected, over time it can result in a WMSD injury to
your arm, elbow, shoulder or even your back.
Mousing
…getting the mouse close to your body
Mouse close to body
on an adjustable tray
Mouse close to body
on the work surface
Ergo Fun Fact
A biomechanics study comparing an average size man and an average size woman using the
mouse found that women work with twice the load on the shoulder due to their smaller size
(arms and shoulders) and the reach distance to the mouse placed at the side of the keyboard.
Mousing- Rest your mouse arm
If you mouse on the work surface,
try pushing the mouse and keyboard
in several inches and resting your
forearm on the front surface.
This will reduce loads on your
shoulders and minimize fatigue.
This will also allow you to pivot your
forearm and float your mouse hand
to avoid planting your wrist.
If the surface edge is sharp
or uncomfortable, try using a
padded rest under your forearms.
Mousing- Rest your mouse arm
If you mouse on the work surface or
on a keyboard tray, you can sometimes use
the chair armrest to support your forearm.
This will reduce loads on your
shoulders and minimize fatigue.
This will also allow you to pivot your
forearm and float your mouse hand to
avoid planting your palms.
The armrest should support you at the forearm
not at the elbow and armrests should be well
padded to avoid pressure at your elbow.
If the armrests don’t fit you (too high, too
low or too wide), try another method to rest
your mouse arm.
Mousing- Rest your mouse arm
If resting your mouse arm on the work surface or
on chair armrests is not an option for you
because…
- your chair armrests don’t adjust
- your work surface is too high
- you don’t like arm support
the best thing to do is to use an adjustable
keyboard / mouse tray set low over your
lap with a little downward slope.
Although your mouse arm is not supported
in this posture, the lower height of the mouse will
reduce fatigue on you shoulders.
This will also allow you to float your mouse hand
and avoid planting your palms.
It’s ideal to have a little downward
slope of keyboard and mouse
tray to make sure you achieve a
straight wrist in this posture.
Mousing- Hold, don’t choke the mouse
Avoid using finger forces to grip the mouse.
Studies show that most people use twice the
force necessary to grip the mouse, which puts
stress on the muscle/tendons of the fingers
and wrist.
Practice resting your hand over the mouse
(not gripping it). Shuffle the mouse between
your thumb and pinky fingers for side to side
movements and use your palm to move it
front to back. Your index and forefinger
fingers can rest on the buttons for clicking
and also help to guide the mouse.
Mousing- Hold, don’t choke the mouse
In many instances, people grip the mouse tensely because the
mouse is not responsive enough for their work style or task.
This is referred to as mouse resolution or sensitivity.
There are typically 3 reasons for such problems…
1. The mouse resolution settings are not properly adjusted
2. The mouse needs a cleaning
3. The mouse is defective
First, test the mice of a few coworkers to see if they feel more
responsive than yours. If they do, try the following:
Adjusting Your Mouse Settings
On your Start Menu click Settings, then Control Panels
and look for Accessibility Options and select Mouse.
In this menu you can usually adjust the Pointer “speed” and
“acceleration” which controls the sensitivity of your mouse.
Experiment with these settings to see if it improves the performance of your mouse.
If this doesn’t work, read on.
Mousing- Hold, don’t choke the mouse
Cleaning Your Mouse (standard ball mouse only- not optical)
Over time your mouse can get clogged with dust and lint, which
can make pointing quite difficult. If you have a standard mouse
with a ball on the underside, you need to clean it periodically.
Unplug the mouse from your computer, open the hatch on the
underside of your mouse, remove the ball and rub it between your
fingers a few times to remove dust.
Using a toothpick, clean the rollers inside the mouse cover by lightly
flicking them with the toothpick.
If little wads of dust and lint are removed, you’re making progress.
Replace the ball and the hatch cover and test your mouse. If it performs
better, congratulations.
If not, it might mean that your mouse is defective and needs to be
replaced. If tense gripping is your problem, you should first consider
a wireless mouse because you can easily shuffle the mouse between
your fingers without the cable drag.
Mousing- Get a mouse that fits
There are a wide variety of mice and alternate pointing devices
out there but studies have shown that there is no “ideal” mouse.
That is, no one device will fit all people, all tasks or is
“ergonomically correct”.
However, there are some basic problems that an alternative
pointing device can solve…
• Provide a better fit for your hand or handedness
• Reduce your reach to operate the mouse
• Reduce the amount of hand and arm movement involved
• Allow you to operate the mouse with a neutral wrist posture
If you think you would benefit from any one of these features,
read on.
Not “Ergonomically
or Politically Correct”
Be aware that selecting the right mouse can be tricky and might
require the expertise of an IT person or an Ergonomist so talk to
your Supervisor or Ergonomics Contact about getting some assistance.
Mousing- Get a mouse that fits
A better fit for your hand
Most conventional mice are designed to fit the “average”
size hand and should fit most people.
To test whether or not the mouse is a good fit, pretend
you are holding a golf ball between your thumb and 2nd
and 3rd fingertips.
If your fingers are closed up significantly more than this,
your mouse is probably too small. If your fingers are
opened a lot wider than this, your mouse is likely too
large.
Contour Perfit Mouse
available in 4 sizes
right / left hand models
Many mice, track balls and joysticks are available
in at least 2 sizes to fit smaller and larger hand sizes.
If your mouse feels too big or too small for your hand,
talk to your Supervisor or Ergonomics Contact about
trying an alternate mouse design.
Kensington Pocket Mouse
…a real mini mouse!
Mousing- Get a mouse that fits
A better fit for your handedness
There are also many mouse designs for left hand pointing
and clicking to accommodate lefties or to allow righties
to switch hands if they’re experiencing problems with their
current mouse hand / arm.
Alternating between left and right hand pointing is a viable
method of preventing problems by reducing the repetition on
any one hand. “Mouse splitter” or “Y adaptor” cables are also
available to facilitate an easy change of mouse hand over the day.
If you intend to alternate mousing between the right and left
hand, select a mouse with a very symmetrical shape and button
layout or things can get awkward.
“Y adaptors”
for using 2 mice
Mousing- Get a mouse that fits
Reduce hand and arm movement
If you find moving the mouse to be difficult because of too little
mousing space, too far of a reach or it causes discomfort, there
are several options to consider.
Trackballs require little to no hand or arm movement, instead the
cursor control is a ball that is operated with the fingertips. Note, that
many experts give the thumb activated track ball a big “thumbs
down” since they often lead to thumb problems. The fingertip activated
trackball appears to be the most promising alternative to the mouse.
Touchpads also minimize hand and arm movement since they rely on
fingertip control of the cursor on a small tablet. They look appealing but
have a low adoption rate because the forearm is often held elevated and
the fingers are held tensed.
There’s a device called a Roller Mouse that allows you to activate
(roll) a small cylinder built into a wrist rest just in front of your keyboard
to control cursor movement. This can reduce hand and arm movement and
eliminate the need to reach to the side of the keyboard to use the mouse.
Trackball w. index
finger activation
Trackball w. thumb activation
NOT RECOMMENDED
Touchpad Mouse
w. finger activation
Keyboard sits on Roller Mouse platform.
When you center yourself on alpha keys,
the mouse is at the centerline of your body.
Mousing- Get a mouse that fits
Operate the mouse with a neutral wrist posture
There are a few pointing devices that are designed
to be used in a thumbs-up or handshake wrist posturea neutral position. These devices can be really comforting
for people who experience discomfort in the wrist or
elbow when using the mouse with the wrists rotated
inward and the hand flat, as with most conventional mice.
One option is the joystick type mouse that positions the
hand vertically with the button / toggle at the top that is activated
with the thumb. You operate the device similarly to a mouse but
it involves upper arm movement rather than forearm movement.
You must make sure that you select the right size (small / large)
to avoid over-extending the thumb to reach the toggle on the top.
Another option is referred to as a vertical mouse which is
really just a conventional mouse that is flipped on its side.
The advantage of this design is that it functions just like a
mouse but your wrist is held in a more comfortable position
and you can adjust to it very quickly.
Both of these options are available in right and left hand models
and the joystick is available in large and small sizes.
Renaissance joystick
type mouse
Evoluent vertical mouse
Mousing- Get a mouse that fits
Reduce your reach to the mouse
There are a few alternate pointing devices that can
help reduce your reach distance to the mouse, which can
be a real bonus for smaller persons or those who experience
problems extending their mouse arm.
GoldTouch split keyboard
with detached numeric pad
A touchpad integrated into the keyboard itself is one option.
Another is a Roller Mouse device that is integrated in a
wrist rest with a platform that slides under your keyboard,
positioning the mouse directly in front of you.
Each of these devices is a viable solution for getting the mouse
close to the center of your body to reduce reach. However, they
do take a little getting used to since the hand and finger motions
are quite different from those used on a conventional mouse.
Roller Mouse built into a
wrist rest and platform
that the keyboard sits on
One of the best ways to reduce your reach to the mouse is to consider
a smaller keyboard or a keyboard with a detached numeric pad since
both allow you to bring the mouse closer to the centerline of your body.
If you are having problems and feel you might benefit from any of
these mousing features, talk to your Supervisor or Ergonomics Contact.
Keyboard with
integrated touchpad
Mousing- Get a mouse that fits
Special Note on Mouse Clicking and Dragging
If you are experiencing discomfort while mousing and you feel it is
because of the amount of clicking and / or dragging, you should talk
to your Supervisor or Ergonomics Contact about the problem.
There are pointing devices and keypads that include buttons that
can be programmed to minimize some of the clicking and dragging.
There are also software products available to minimize this problem.
There’s the option of learning how to use keystroke commands to perform
basic mouse functions, often referred to as “hot keys” to reduce clicking.
It’s likely that your current software can be programmed to perform
many more keystroke commands by modifying settings in your Control
Panel / Accessibility Options / Mouse.
Each of these options would require the expertise of an Ergonomist or
an IT person and some learning on your part.
Your Supervisor or Ergonomics Contact should be able to assist you in
getting the support you need.
Mousing- Take frequent rest breaks
Short rest breaks of about 3 to 5 minutes taken
every twenty minutes or so can help to break up
the routine of repetitive mousing and provide your
muscles and tendons with needed recovery time
…relax, deep breath, stretch or just change what
you’re doing for a few minutes.
We call these “micro-breaks”.
Think of your body as a 20-minute hour glass
…you need 3 short breaks per hour to nourish
and refresh your musculoskeletal and visual systems.
eyes
hands
&
arms
seated
body
Rest & Recovery
Ergo Fun Facts
The National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOSH) actually found that workers
who take lots of short rest breaks get as much work done in a day as those who just
take the standard twice-daily 15-minute breaks. And they experience less end of day fatigue.
Mousing- Stretch out the stress
Mousing Stresses
A neutral wrist position is actually a thumbs-up or
handshake position. Using the mouse requires you
to rotate your wrist inward to a flat position.
Mousing also requires a lot of finger flexing such as
gripping the mouse and activating the buttons.
If you do a lot of repetitive mousing over the day you
definitely want too offset these stresses on the hands
and fingers.
Try some “finger fan” stretches and “thumbs-up”
relaxation techniques
Every 20 minutes or so stretch your hands by doing
finger fans. Spread your fingers wide, while keeping
your wrists straight. Hold for a few seconds-relaxrepeat several times.
Or, just relax your hands by resting them on your lap or
on your worktop with wrists resting in a thumbs up
position. You can twiddle your thumbs to work out the
kinks or just rest them on your fingers.
Finger Fans
Relax Hands in
“thumbs-up” Position
Mousing- Stretch out the stress
Mousing Stresses
Mousing often involves extending your arm outward and to the
side of your body, which puts extra loads on your upper arm,
shoulders and back.
The hand-eye coordination necessary to operate the mouse and
follow the tiny cursor with your eyes puts a lot of stress on
your head / neck and causes you to sit in a very static position .
Pectoral Stretch
If you do a lot of mousing over the day, particularly exacting
work like spreadsheets or graphics, you definitely want to
offset these stresses regularly.
Try some “pectoral stretches” and get up and move about
Every 20 minutes or so clasp your hands behind your head,
press your head into your hands and then gently stretch your
elbows backward. Hold this position for a few seconds-relaxand repeat several times. Stretching your hands and arms
skyward is another good source of relief.
Every half hour or so you should get up and move about which
could include access to the printer, face to interaction with a
co-worker versus another emails or a trip to the water cooler.
Get out of your
chair and move about