Ergonomics

[da]

I just got an ergonomic assessment of my office. It was useful, for helping me track what's causing my shoulder to hurt recently. I knew it was mouse-related, since it hurts precisely when I use the mouse. It turns out I'm holding up my arm too much. Way too much. I should be resting it on the arm-rests. All right then.

I need to investigate:

• a footrest. The assessor said when I'm not using my keyboard or mouse, I might want to be tipping my chair slightly back (something about blood-flow in the back being increased). She recommended putting my feet up. I like putting my feet up.
  
• I still need a windows program that will simply go 'ding' every 20 minutes- to remind me to take a break. Options: many.
  
• a split keyboard without a keypad? She doesn't know of any. I'm going to let this one go, it's only to make my mouse closer at hand and I don't really need it.
  
• I need to ask the kinesiology gym people about two exercises which may be OK for my shoulder, since I've been skipping the arm-lifting exercises at the gym. "prone fly" and "shoulder retraction".
  

20 minutes very well spent.

Comments

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised that if it's mouse related, none of these options involve replacing your mouse.

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

The mouse I use is this, which has helped with my sore-hands problems of the last few years (mouse-clicking == bad for my middle/pointer fingers). The ergo assessor says it's common for people with vertical mice to then have exactly the problem I'm having, with their shoulders, because instead of using their wrists to move the mouse, they're using their shoulders, which need to move properly too.