I’ve been doing long sessions of CAD lately, and I’m beginning to feel a pain in the right hand (not really in the wrist, more in the pinky finger tendon)
So, I’m looking for a new mouse, and wondered what you all use?
I’m currently using an MX master 3, which is pretty confortable already, but it seems it’s just not efficient enough
I was thinking about getting a vertical mouse, like an MX vertical or Lift but if you know of some modèles with CAD specific advantages that would be great too…
BT connectivity would be nice too but not required
One thing I did was I increased the mouse speed so small movements make more of a change. it takes a lot of getting used to it, but it makes for very little movement to do most of my work.
I had a trackball and loved it. Then logitech discontinued it. I can’t get used to the thumb ones, though. The one I used used your fingertips to control the ball.
My hand gets real bad when I do CAD for long periods. I have tried a lot of mice, That vertical one was so much worse for me but my coworker swore by it.
The only thing that works for me is taking breaks. That sucks but if I don’t it can get real bad.\
Do your best to learn keyboard shortcuts with the opposite hand, that helps, stretch a lot.
If there was a good trackball, not a thumb one, I think it would really help. Then you can support your arm and get your wrist set perfectly and go to town.
The thumb version might work I just think I would be better with my other fingers.
I’m just so used to the thumb one. We have a cheap o center one here at work for our chart computer and I hate it lol. All in what you are used to I guess. I did find this one on Amazon when I was looking for the link to the one I have…
One trick that has helped me is making sure I use significantly differently shaped mice for home and work. Same with office chairs, desk setups, etc. That way at least there’s some variation.
I will sometimes use the mouse left-handed if I’m having issues, but it helps that I grew up using my left-handed Dad’s PC.
Another thing to consider if where the pain is and what’s causing it. Often I see a lot of people not allocating enough space to their mouse when coupled with large, high resolution displays that require precise movements. As a result you’re constantly engaging a lot of muscles against one another to do precise motions, when a larger mousing surface means you use more arm/shoulder motion. This doesn’t sound exactly like your issue, but could still be similar in that you’re gripping the mouse tightly to provide those small motions or moving the mouse with your pinky rather than your wrist? It could also be more of a weight or shape issue. The MX Master 3 I have at work feels pretty heavy and the high palm position means I do seem to grip it more with the pinky rather than the palm. The Logitech G502 Lightspeed I use at home feels way lighter. Google shows it as being 141g vs 114g but it feels more like a factor of 2.
Edit: Also perhaps consider the surface you’re on? If it’s a laminate desk, perhaps try a low-friction mouse pad, even just a basic cloth one. Less resistance feels super weird and less precise at first but once you’re used to it going back feels horrible. So yeah, I would say try a huge mousepad, lower sensitivity and see how you go. Maybe then try a lighter mouse?
Huh, weird. I have personally found the exact opposite. Generalized pain the the hand and wrist that seemed to be due to using a 30" high resolution display on a tiny mouse pad. Small inefficient motions leading to RSI. Googling “Mouse RSI High or Low DPI” resulted in almost every result claiming higher DPI would lead to more RSI issues and lowering DPI would help. Obviously DPI here meaning total DPI, i.e. mouse DPI * mouse sensitivity scaling etc.
I just tried to launch F360 tonight with a much higher dpi and had the same pain in the pinkie finger right away (like 5min)
This is becoming quite a problem actually
It seems to be related to the position of the pinkie and ring fingers, lower than the other two, and down on the desk…
I’m printing this and see if it helps…
I just got the MX master 3 mouse recently. I really like it. Are you squeezing the mouse with your ring and pinky finger? For me, those fingers just rest on the side and apply no pressure. If I squeeze the mouse at all, it’s with my palm.
Although, at work, someone told me it’s weird that I use my middle finger for the scroll wheel instead of my pointer finger. So, now I’m questioning everything I thought I knew.
Perhaps try lowering the dpi and try focusing on moving the mouse with your arm, keeping your wrist and fingers out of the motion?
You may also find that now you have the injury, pretty much anything may make it worse. Maybe try to focus on forcing your pinky to stay off the mouse for a little bit to see if that helps?
Interesting, thumb and ring finger for me with my palm not even really touching the mouse.
I use the logitech “trackman marble mouse”. They were like $35 and they work great. I love track balls because I always know where the mouse is. I have some linux tweaks to hold the back button and the ball turns into a scroll wheel. And if I click left and right buttons together, it middle mouse clicks (which is paste last selection in Linux).
I liked it and I bought an extra in case it ever dies. I’m glad I did now.
I had a lot of pinky pain and I switched my keyboard shortcuts so I didn’t have to do as many pinky reaches for stuff like escape and control. It sounds like you know your issue is the mouse. But the pinky just isn’t as strong. So I try not to use it as much. I bet a trackball (any kind) would help you rest your arm and just use your strongest fingers to make movements and clicks.
My brother tells me trackball is the way to go if you’re on the computer a lot, but I find that getting the height correct with an adjustable keyboard tray helps quite a bit. I also have a stand up desk and change positions throughout the day. I mostly use a wired Steelseries Sensei or a magic mouse.
