Many patients say they suffer from "mouse hand" or "mouse pain". While those are not actual medical terms, they're very descriptive of the problem. They mean when using a computer mouse, pain and other symptoms begin to intensify in the fingers, hand or wrist. 

Actually, the problem is a lot more common than you might think. And it's wonder that the National Institutes of Health says that secretaries and clerical personnel are at high risk for getting carpal tunnel syndrome.

So what's happening? And more importantly, what can be done to eliminate such pain?

• FIND OUT: do you have carpal tunnel? No strings attached self-test.
  
  

If you have signs of carpal tunnel syndrome, are you blaming your mouse? Maybe your keyboard? You might be like most people who complain that sitting at their workplace all day long or gaming for endless hours gave them carpal tunnel syndrome. But is that the true cause-and-effect?  Not necessarily!

Most people performing such activities will see hand pain. But usually it's due to simple muscle fatigue. Carpal tunnel syndrome and muscle fatigue are two very separate and distinct problems.

 Want to know how severe your carpal tunnel really is?

 Take this 60 second Quiz designed by Dr. Z.

In fact, you should pray that your pain is just simple fatigue and not carpal tunnel syndrome. That's because carpal tunnel syndrome is much harder to treat.

Having mouse pain (or keyboard pain) alone is commonly due to muscles begin overworked. It's no different than getting leg pain from walking or jogging extensively.

Using a mouse extensively may cause fatigue, which results in pain as you continue using the mouse. The pain is often accompanied by hand or finger numbness or tingling. 

So you would be correct in blaming the mouse for causing your problems. But it's not necessarily causing carpal tunnel syndrome.

Symptoms caused by carpal tunnel syndrome (sometimes its just called carpal tunnel) are slightly different than ordinary muscle fatigue. And again, it's much more serious. 

Carpal tunnel is a progressive and painful condition that affects at least five million Americans. It occurs as a result of stressing and straining the fingers and hand -- yes, like using the mouse a lot.



Whenever you perform rapid and forceful hand movements for a long time, wrist flexor tendons tend to react badly. Unlike straining a muscle, tendons become inflamed and start to show signs of swelling. That’s when problems really go downhill. 

The flexor tendons swell inside the wrist joint in a tight space called the “carpal tunnel” (see diagram). This is a narrow, confined channel through which the tendons and the median nerve pass. The median nerve is one of the main nerves in the hand. 

Unfortunately, the swelling can push on the adjacent median nerve and slowly crush it. Since it's a main nerve of the hand, it reacts badly to being crushed. It results in all of the unpleasant sensations you get with carpal tunnel syndrome. 

In your hand and fingers (especially the thumb) you might feel symptoms like:

• pain (mild or crushing, dull or constant, shooting electric shocks)
• numbness (usually in the fingertips)
• burning and swollen feeling (even though the skin looks normal)
• tingling (or pins-and-needles)

Take this easy self-test to see in you have carpal tunnel syndrome instead of tendonitis.

Muscle fatigue pain occurs when using you hand. Then it stops when you rest.

But unlike muscle fatigue, carpal tunnel syndrome pain sticks around. In fact, it's usually worse when your hand is at rest. And it often appears while sleeping, along with numbness or tingling. It also causes hand weakness and clumsiness.

It would be natural to blame your mouse pain on carpal tunnel syndrome. But strictly speaking, it's incorrect to say the mouse “caused” carpal tunnel syndrome. It’s more accurate to say the mouse made the carpal tunnel symptoms appear. That’s because carpal tunnel syndrome is more analogous to a disease, like diabetes. 

For instance, you don’t cause diabetes by being obese. Rather, you have a propensity (or underlying tendency) to have this disease - say, if a close family member has it. Being obese simply brings on symptoms.

Similarly, mousing doesn't cause carpal tunnel syndrome, it merely brings on the symptoms.

It's a huge advantage if you can recognize you have a problem before they advance any further. That means you have a much better chance to eliminate the problem for good. 

Different computer tasks affect the upper extremities in detrimental ways. In particular, using an ordinary computer mouse (and keyboarding) for long periods of time is a recipe for biomechanical disorders. If you already have pain, throw away that old mouse (pain will also go away). Instead, get an ergonomic computer mouse. This is an easy-to-use computer mouse specifically designed for those prone to having mouse pain.

The "vertical mouse" is a popular design because it feels more natural in the hand. The vertical mouse forces you to rotate your hand in a more natural position. This reduces stresses from the hand to the elbow.

A new version of the vertical mouse is the UllmanMouse. This is a pen-type grip to make fine movements easier.

But most of the pain from mousing is not how you hold your hand, but how you click. Clicking a mouse stresses flexor tendons tremendously. But one design reduces that stress.

The QuadraClicks RBT mouse is specifically designed to reduce clicking stress in the finger. By making clicking less stressful for flexor tendons, this mouse actually reduces fatigue and also prevents the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome. It's the only mouse designed specifically to lessen tendon stress, and I highly recommend it.

If you use a conventional computer mouse, make sure your fingers do not curl around the mouse in the same position for a long time. The simple act of hovering over the click button increases pressure inside the carpal tunnel space by two-fold. Therefore, avoiding such hovering can avoid serious problems down the line.

Next, pay close attention to the position of your fingers and hand - especially as they type on a keyboard. Make sure they're not overly bending or reaching for keys and buttons. There are various types of ergonomic keyboards which offer the best solution to this problem. The split keyboard is usually the best solution.

The combination of the following three measures are tremendously powerful in preventing hand pain and carpal tunnel syndrome:



• Good posture
• Frequent stretching exercises
• Night bracing

At the first sign of keyboard or mouse pain, incorporate the above measures into your life. You won't regret it one bit!

Adjust your workstation’s chair, table, and monitor height so they feel comfortable. Be sure the keyboard and mouse are like extensions of your fingers that don’t require much movement. Be conscious of your most common posture and hand movements and be sure to keep those movements to a minimum.

While working on the keyboard and mouse, take frequent "mini-breaks" to stretch your finger and hand tendons. It’s best that for every 30 minutes of work, you do 30 seconds of finger stretches. I tell my patients this the '30-30 rule".  I've designed fast and effective stretching exercises for almost everybody.

Click here to see this short video on how to do these fast and effective stretching exercises.

For specific stretches, see these specialized exercises for:

• gamers
• hairdressers
• transcriptionists
• artists
• guitarists
• knitters
• dental hygienists

At the first sign of keyboard or mouse pain, you MUST wear a carpal tunnel brace at night. This is most crucial if you have more severe symptoms.

But no matter how severe, you must nip this problem in the bud right now and focus on carpal tunnel prevention and treatment. Otherwise, you can be certain you’ll be facing carpal tunnel release surgery later on. After surgery, your carpal tunnel surgery recovery time can be from  many months up to a year. So avoid this surgery at all costs.

Your keyboard and mouse pain may be just simple muscle fatigue. But it can also be a sign of carpal tunnel syndrome. There are simple and reliable ways to treat the symptoms so they don't worsen.