Advantages Of Ergonomic Mouse

Last Updated on May 1, 2024 by Daniel Lawrence

Long-hour users of computers experience some pain in their hands after using the mouse. However, that pain you feel will be gone, if you use an ergonomic mouse. In this guide, we’ll tell you the importance of using an ergonomic mouse. Do make sure to read through.

WHAT IS AN ERGONOMIC MOUSE?

The meaning of an “ergonomic” mouse is a type of mouse created to lower the strain of muscles and reduce discomfort while you are using the mouse. It helps to prevent injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, and arthritis.

While you compare an ergonomic mouse to other types of computer mice you will find it is created to fit the hand naturally when in use.

Unfortunately, the ergonomic mouse is a bit expensive, but can you put a price on your health? The main reason why many computer users tend to feel pain and discomfort in their hands and wrists is that a standard mouse is not the right fit.

It’s hard to believe something as simple as switching to an ergonomic mouse can make you more productive and energetic, but it’s like any time you make changes for better health. When you remove harmful elements or behaviors and replace them with healthy ones, often you can’t believe you waited so long to make the change. Let’s look at seven ergonomic mouse benefits that will change how you work and play:

1. Reduces Risk of Mouse Arm Syndrome

You probably didn’t expect your office job to put you at risk of injury, but frequently using a regular computer mouse does exactly that. One of several ergonomic mouse benefits is that a vertical mouse reduces your risk. Mouse Arm is a general term that refers to several different types of injury that cause pain in the neck, arms, shoulders, and hands, but they’re all caused by repeated mouse use.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) published a study in which researchers concluded: “too frequent use of non-ergonomic computer mice causes extreme discomfort in the muscle and tendon system of the hand along with various manifest symptoms in the shoulder and forearm.”

Mouse arm can cause numbness or tingle in the fingers, aching forearms, wrist, elbow, or shoulder pain, neck stiffness, or loss of hand flexibility. As time goes by, that pain gets more intense and harder to reverse.

An ergonomic mouse keeps that inflammation from occurring. There’s no more holding your wrist, fingers, arm, shoulder, and elbow in a cramped position. You modify your environment to fit you instead of contorting your body into unnatural positions throughout every workday.

2. Better Productivity

Once you find an input device that meets your needs, you’ll be able to work for longer periods throughout the day and you will miss fewer days due to mouse- and keyboard-related injuries. Your muscles won’t feel the fatigue and ache caused by a traditional mouse, so you can concentrate on the job at hand. Even though you’ll be capable of getting more done, remember to take frequent breaks and use a gel-filled mousepad wrist rest for best results.

3. Prevent Carpal Tunnel, RSI

Think about what your body goes through each time you use your mouse. Your dominant hand leaves the keyboard and your elbow and shoulder rotate out. You twist your forearm to hover your hand over the mouse and stretch your fingers to wrap around it, reaching for buttons or the scroll wheel.

The whole time you’re using the mouse your arm stays twisted, putting tension on your wrist and other joints. Over time, that repetition can cause carpal tunnel syndrome or repetitive strain injury (RSI).

Both conditions cause pain in the forearms, elbows, wrists, hands, neck, or shoulders. The more mentally demanding your job, the faster that damage could be occurring. A National Institute of Public Health study used electromyography (EMG) to record forearm, shoulder, and neck muscle movement when subjects performed computer tasks with different levels of mental demand.

When subjects had increased mental demand, they also had increased muscular activity, potentially accelerating the damage.

An ergonomic mouse can ease existing wrist pain and help prevent you from developing Carpal Tunnel or RSI. They reduce the range of motion necessary for the operation and allow you to extend your hand and arm naturally. A user of a Semi-Vertical Mouse reported, “It’s saving me. I was ready to go on disability I was in so much pain before using this mouse.” It could do the same for you.

4. More Comfortable For Arthritis Sufferers

A traditional mouse is bad for everyone, but use can be especially painful if you have arthritis. When you already have joint inflammation, the last thing you want to do is a twist, stretch, or strain. With an ergonomic mouse, you don’t have to.

Ergonomic mouse features include a vertical design or an optimized angle to avoid wrist pronation, contours that allow your fingers to rest instead of reach, and oversized buttons for easy clicking.

5. Working Pain-Free Reduces Fatigue

After work, do you feel drained, wiped out, mentally and physically exhausted? When your work environment makes you uncomfortable, you become fatigued from repetitive tasks and long hours. Chronic fatigue syndrome is a constant state of tiredness that doesn’t go away when you sleep. Fatigue makes you more susceptible to illness and less able to deal with stress.

Most people don’t start their computing lives using an ergonomic mouse. This leads us to a frequent problem we run across as ergonomic experts at The Human Solution: wrist pain. While it may not always sound like much, wrist pain can be excruciating, and it is only further worsened if your job requires you to use a computer for most of the day.

When you switch to an ergonomic mouse, fatigue melts away because there is no strain. The energy you used to expend dealing with discomfort is now available for things you enjoy doing

6. Help Prevent Future Injury

Don’t wait until you have the pain to get started with an ergonomic mouse. Working with an ergonomic mouse can help prevent any problems in the future by promoting a neutral mousing position and relaxed grip. All it takes to change your mousing form is an ergonomic mouse. It’s all in the design. Give it a try and you will see how comfortable the change from your old mouse can feel.

7. Programmable Ergonomic Mouse Buttons

Some ergonomic mouse features include the ability to program buttons. If you perform the same set of actions throughout the day, you can program your mouse to do them in a click. If you use an ergonomic mouse for gaming, this reduces the load from your keyboard and saves the thumb and index finger from the heavy pounding they normally experience.

An ergonomic mouse for programmers can speed work when you assign a button for repeated tasks like copy, delete and paste, undo, or simulate a combination of keystrokes. No matter what you do, do it more efficiently with ergonomic mouse advantages.

8. Options For Every User

If you’re left-handed, you already struggle with a world designed around everyone else. If your hands are larger or smaller than average or you switch hands when you work, you need a mouse designed to fit you. One of the biggest ergonomic mouse benefits is there’s one for every user.

9. Great way to treat yourself

You sacrifice your time and energy to grow your company. You pour so much focus into your work, you might not even have realized the damage and discomfort your mouse was causing. You deserve an upgrade, and an ergonomic mouse is a great way to treat yourself.

What are the Types of Ergonomic Mice?

Ergonomic mice are being preferred by many computer users today. People are inclined towards going for devices that give them better comfort even though it comes with a price tag to it. Below are the different types of ergonomic mice you can consider.

1. Vertical Mouse

Horizontal mice, the kind we normally see, but a lot of pressure on the wrist muscles and bones. The vertical mouse comes to the rescue. Looking at a vertical mouse for the first time might make you wonder how anyone can use this odd-looking design. However, it works just fine with some practice.

Pros

• It encourages the engagement of stronger muscles in the arm.
• It reduces the use of the weaker muscles to avoid stress to them.
• The mouse involves the use of the thumb and makes the extra buttons on the mouse easily accessible.
• The arm is in a more natural and relaxed position.
• It looks cool, quirky, and different!

Cons

• It takes time and practice to get used to this device.
• Limited options are available in the market.
• Might not be suitable for high-performance gaming.

2. Horizontal Ergonomic Mouse

This type takes the humble horizontal mouse and adds features to it to make it more user-friendly. It is also known as the Contour Mouse. It can have a bit of a tilt to its design to make for more natural angles. The shape is only slightly different than the regular mouse. Hence, getting used to the new design should not be a problem.

Pros

• Look and feel is similar to the regular mouse.
• Very easy to use.
• More natural angles reduce stress to the muscles.
• There are plenty of options to choose from.

Cons

• The ergonomics are not as good as the vertical mouse.
• Most models that provide good comfort are expensive.

3. Trackball Mouse

The trackball mouse has a ball on top of the mouse. For moving the pointer, the mouse need not be moved. Just moving the ball on the top with your finger can move the pointer. Different options are available for using either the thumb or a finger for operating the trackball. Clickable buttons are present on the mouse. It is very different from the traditional mouse that we use generally.

Pros

• More range of pointer movement without wrist movement due to the presence of the tracking ball.
• The mouse can be easily used on any surface.
• The hand and wrist are in a comfortable position while using the mouse.

Cons

• Since it does not involve mouse movement, it could take some time to get used to it.
• It is difficult to use the mouse for gaming.
• People with smaller hands might find it a little hard to use the mouse.
• Limited options are available in the market to choose from.

4. Roll Bar Mouse

A roll bar mouse is very convenient if you reach out for your mouse now and then while using the keyboard. It sits right below the keyboard. It is almost like an extension to the keyboard. Hence, the arm movement to use the mouse is reduced.

Pros

• It is very convenient to use.
• Many variants include shortcut buttons such as copy and paste, making them easy to use.
• The wrist rest that comes with it is helpful even when using the keyboard.
• Both hands can be used to use the mouse.

Cons

• Accuracy can be lower. However, it can be improved with practice.
• The distance to reach the keyboard increases.
• The roll bar mouse is slower than the other mice.

CONCLUSION

Now that you have enough knowledge about the ergonomic computer mouse; why don’t you put your health first and purchase an ergonomic mouse? All the pains and discomforts on your hands will be a thing of the past.