posted on January 14, 2004 06:04:05 AM new
I just wanted to pass this hint on, in case others have encountered the COLD HAND, problem that I encounter every winter.
In the past I had tried a glove, then a fingerless glove, and nothing worked, as I couldn't functionally type with any type of glove on.
Working full time on line, I am basically sitting still all day, and I use a roller ball, not a mouse, and there are times my “roller ball” hand gets so COLD it hurts. I mentioned it the other day to my husband, and he hooked up a heating pad, put it under my roller ball, and I’ve had a warm, toasty hand ever since. My hand stays warm, my roller ball is a bit warm, and all is comfy.
posted on January 14, 2004 06:22:09 AM new
jwpc, I dont get cold hands but find some cramping from mouse. Might be something to consider with a heating pad under the mouse pad? hmmm
posted on January 14, 2004 07:54:56 AM new
Hi all,
It might not entirely be the temperature in the room. A cold mousing hand is one of the first signs of carpal tunnel.
The braces work because they keep your hand in a neutral position. When I was a secretary I was mousing 6-8 hours a day. Fierce! But I only had to use a brace for a few days until my hand learned correct posture.
Another factor can be what your wrist is resting on. Is it the hard edge of the keyboard tray?
Here's a pic of a wrist rest I bought at Staples. Like a mini-beanbag chair for the wrist. It makes a huge difference.
posted on January 14, 2004 08:12:46 AM newMelted mouse balls, the gourmet appetizer. LOL
Ms Lucy is correct about the wrist pad. A few years ago I got a Fellows mouse pad with a built in gel pad for the wrist and it works great. You have to have the support for your entire arm from the elbow to hand if you are on your computer a lot and the pad takes the tension off the tendons running to your fingers.
BTW, Ms Lucy...... you took on a whole new character for me when you started to upper and lower case your name. For years I thought it was "ohms" and I thought you were kind of scientific and interested in electricity. Hahahahaha.....
Or it could have been OHMS and that would have been On Her Majesty's Service.
posted on January 14, 2004 08:52:23 AM new
Kiara: LOL! I too called her Ohms Lucy in my head; then one day I noticed the change.
___________________________________
"I have resolved to allow my friends their peculiarities." -- Samuel Johnson
posted on January 14, 2004 08:58:47 AM new
Bet you have a very warm heart
__________________________________
"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to the people who sleep under the very blanket of freedom I provide, and then question the manner in which I provide it. I'd rather you just said 'thank you' and went on your way." - A Few Good Men
posted on January 14, 2004 08:59:11 AM new
Hi Kiara,
I got a laugh out of your post about my name. A few years ago I changed it from my email address. Didn't realize at the time it would be all lowercase.
The electrical connection didn't dawn on me for a while. I worked for PG&E, the gas/electric utility in Northern California. Got kidded a LOT about the OHMS stuff...
My boss was a screaming pain! We referred to him as BoomerBoss, the King of Transmission.
Your ESP is working overtime!
Lucy
I grow old...I grow old...I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. T.S. Eliot
posted on January 14, 2004 10:28:21 AM new
MsLucy,
Not sure what a roller bar is but I fought the numb hands carpel thing several years ago with a Logitech track ball mouse. I have not had a problem since, but I am not on the computer 8 hours a day. I also use as many keyboard shortcuts as possible to speed things up and have less mouse time. The Track ball can sit anywhere and I usually set it on my leg so my arm is relaxed and I have body warmth. Works great.
posted on January 14, 2004 12:27:12 PM new
WOW, hurry out and get a patent on heated mouse pads and key boards. Or how about ones that are warm in winter cool in summer. You will be RICH.
posted on January 14, 2004 01:26:19 PM new
A cold right hand was my first warning that I had carpal tunnel syndrome. I am going back to my hand doctor on Tuesday since the shot (steroid I think) he gave me in my wrist last May is long gone and I am having numbness again. He wants to do surgery but I DON'T WANT IT! -----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on January 14, 2004 02:21:23 PM new
I don't think it is "carpal tunnel," as my husband experiences the same thing from time to time - realize that with a roller ball, which we both use, we aren't moving our "mouse/roller ball" hand at all. We aren’t experiencing numbness either, just a cold hand. It is just extended and totally still for hours on a cold piece of plastic- we both have arm and wrist support for our arm and hands, and the "cold" doesn't occur in the summer, just the winter.
Because we are on line all the time, we have our roller balls positioned lower than our desk, to keep from placing our arms and wrists in awkward positions. I have a special pedestal on which my roller ball sits, it is the height of the arm of my desk chair.
I don't think a regular heating pad, such as I am using, will work for a mouse, as it is to "lumpy" to move a mouse around on - of course with a roller ball, there is no base movement so it can sit on anything.
I've never felt the keyboard to be cold, of course I am rapidly moving my fingers and hands when using the key board.
Just thought the heating pad hint might help someone...
[ edited by jwpc on Jan 14, 2004 02:31 PM ]
posted on January 14, 2004 03:43:02 PM new
photo, I wont let them do surgery on me either. Known one or two people that complain hands are now WORST after surgery.
posted on January 14, 2004 03:53:46 PM new
Old Japanese saying.. "Cold hands warm heart"
Do what I did in 1999...... MOVE... David
(yes you can. You just THINK you cannot)
posted on January 14, 2004 05:02:14 PM new
For those of you who "think" they have carpel tunnel, go see a good chiropractor.
I thought I had it and turned out I had a pinched nerve at the back of my shoulder. He worked on it and have been fine since. Probably from sitting on here too long. You might also consider acupuncture.
posted on January 14, 2004 07:50:05 PM new
Hi all,
Thanx for the compliment on my younger look!
Wired? Who, me???
Reminds me of a time I was in Las Vegas. I'd been assigned to work at the Diablo Canyon nukie power plant for an outage. They gave me a jacket w/logos plastered all over it.
I was at a blackjack table and the guy next to me noticed the logos and asked me if I glowed in the dark. My reply? Only when I want to!
He didn't mention it again...
Me
I grow old...I grow old...I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. T.S. Eliot
posted on January 15, 2004 08:01:32 AM new
dacreson - your answer of "moving" as a cure for "cold hand" don't think that would work too well, if I go much further south we'll be in the Gulf of Mexico, we live in extreme SE Alabama now!
posted on January 15, 2004 04:27:24 PM new
Actually Dacreson is right, it's circulation issues more than anything else.
I can't imagine wearing thermals in alabama! LOL
I used to live in El Paso, TX, but now my blood has thickened...I used to freeze in the mid '60 degree range, now I am running around in shorts in the upper '50's!!
I just mucked out stalls during our freeze, it was in the twenties and I was sweating like a truckhorse! 15 stalls! whoo hoo!
~~~~~~~~~~~**~~~~~~~~~~~
All the monkeys aren't in the zoo,
Every day you meet quite a few,
So you see it's all up to you.
You can be better than you are,
You could be swingin' on a star
posted on January 15, 2004 04:57:01 PM new
I've had the cold "right hand" every fall/winter/spring for years while having our computer ... I use the gel-filled wrist-cushion/mouse-pad year round, and add a cut off fingers cheapo knit glove over my hand to keep it warm ... works well, and I look like I AintRichYet when I'm drivin' around town ... LOL
