I am sure a lot of you are familiar with this topic, for one or another reason. How many of you have aches in either one of your hands when working on the computer for long amounts of hours, or even just a few minutes? It really is annoying and interrupts work when having to stop every 15-20 minutes to try and stretch your hand to get rid of the ache. What do some of you long time computer users do about it? What could you recomend for people to do so that they don’t have this problem in the first place?
i have never gotten that once in my whole life. try dunking your hands in cold water. i dunno.
I never used to have the same problem either, until I started to do some real heavy 3D stuff and I was spending some 6 hours on a computer with my hand on the desk, then a few month later I am having this problems.
stop using the computer for a while. or instead stretch out your hands befor you start work and take 10 minute breaks every 30 minutes.
I use a 9x13 graphics tablet set on a big desk. The pen is easier on my hands and wrists than a mouse and I set the tablet way back on the desk so I have plenty of room to rest my arm along the desk. Arm and wrist get to stay in a neutral position without strain or excessive motion while I work.
1/2 hour with a mouse gets uncomfortable for me, but 12+ hours day in and day out with the graphics tablet doesn’t hurt a bit. I use the graphics tablet for everything - 3D, photo retouching, work in Painter, surfing the web…whatever.
Blender’s interface works really well with a large graphics tablet. I have the tablet in the center of my desk pushed back along the back edge. Keyboard is way off to the left. Mouse sits idle way off to the right.
This is about as much typing as I ever do, so having it way off on the left is no big deal.
Pen and tablet is a whole lot gentler than mouse.
Lynda
having broken both of my wrists at the same time while riding a motorcycle years ago I find that remaining in one position for any length of time can be painful. For me, it helps if I “shake it off” literally. Take a break and shake the heck out of your wrists. Walking around while doing this helps but may cause some folks to wonder about your sanity. 
Keep your wrists straight as much as possible . Move your hands from the elbow - not your wrist . Get yourself some ergonomic aids (ergonomic keyboard, mouse pad with wrist rest) . And take a break every couple of hours … its not like your work will run away while you take a break 
I personally haven’t had long periods when I had this problem . Only time was when I first got into computing/typing … but then again I didn’t know how to type back then … I just adjusted the way I typed (learned it) and followed the above … I’ve worked with my hands for over 20 yrs and I have never had any problems because I always followed the above advice which I got from art school … so apparently it works … you really don’t want to get something serious like carpal tunnel or have your synovial tendons damaged from working …
I used to work at a desk that was terribly unergonomic and probably did some damage to my wrists. Since then I’ve made sure that my keyboard tray is low enough to keep my wrists and elbows at the correct angle. I recently got a Microsoft Ergonomics keyboard and while I really couldn’t notice the difference and in some cases prefer my old keyboard, some people swear by them.
Probably the best “upgrade” I made was switching from a regular mouse to a trackball. I had the pad with the gel rest and it still would give me problems. Mainly because I’d hold the mouse wrong and move my wrist more than I should. I noticed after playing some games for awhile that I would barely be holding on to the mouse so I was putting incredible strain on my wrists. Since I got a trackball, Logitech Trackman I believe, I don’t have the same problem as I used to. Granted it still hurts if I sit there too long but it is still a lot better than before.
It’ll take a little while to get used to the trackball and you will be frustrated like I was I’m sure. However, once I did get used to it I prefer it over a mouse any day. I find it easier and faster to use blender and even play games. The only thing that suffers from what I see is trying to use an image manipulation program. With a trackball it’s tedious at best. I have a graphics tablet so it’s no big deal.
Lastly, one thing that’ll help is if your computer chair has proper arm rests. If it supports your arm properly then you’ll be trying less to hold your arm up.
Be careful, and don’t work through it. You don’t want to permanently damage your hands. RSI is not nice, I know several people who have had to go through it all.
If you hurt, stop. Leave it for the day. That’s what I do, and let yourself recuperate before pushing it again.
Try some exercises to build the muscles in your hand, as well.
I remember the days when I was using 3dsmax I had that tingling feeling in my shoulder almost everyday, due to a lot of mouse moving and clicking all across the screen. Blender is much better in this respect because you don’t have to move the mouse as much.
As far as the wrists go, no I haven’t had any problems so far.
Btw, how to you hold and move your mouse? Do you rest your hand on it, so the majority of movement happens in your wrist? Based on my last 5 minutes of observation I realised I actually use my thumb and pinky finger to hold and move the mouse, with the middle three fingers gently resting on the middle part of the mouse. Of course the wrist moves a bit, but it certainly isn’t the main pivot.
yeah, i know what you mean with it and my wacom at least helps a little, next i should get myself one of those space navigators! 
i have this darn extra thumb growing from my wrist when i do much computer stuff, well not quite that bad but bad anyways. I usually but some cloth under my wrist and perhaps those help a bit. great great, no its
yeah, do that! don’t hesitate, it’s soo awesome. did you know, you can use it in photoshop (cs2 / cs3) too! very good when painting or masking. but in blender… simply awesome! for me it made workflow 100% easier.:yes:
thanks, thats some good input! I think from reading this the best options, are to hold the mouse right, in a comfortable position and not to move the wrist too much, and take a few minute brakes, or even longer.
Also, it looks like a sketch pad or a space navigator might not be such a bad idea.
Generally I am having problems in different ways, one way is if I am working at my desk and my hand rests with my arm’s weight on my wrist, after awhile that spot starts to hurt. But if I am using my notebook and I am sitting on my bad, then there is a softer surface, but a mush sharper angle from my wrist to my arm, and I have to use my wrist more, and thats when my wrist starts to hurt. I think lifting weights helps me to get rid of some of the pain too, because it stretches and builds up muscles in the hand.
But think about it, what about hose old karate guys who banged there hands against bricks and stone and broke all kinds of objects for decades, they don’t even have any problems with there hands. Isn’t that weird?
The trick with those karate guys is that they trained their bones to be very hard. A bone is actually a mesh and what these karate people do is hit stuff to damage the mesh on a microscopic level. The bone regenerates and it makes the whole mesh denser and thus harder.
The thing is however, if you brake your bone, or crack it, then after it heals it will be weaker . So, I am guessing the key is to not crack the bone, but to just damage it so that it has some micro cracks. Same thing as when building muscles.
yesterday, in the morning, i took a bus to a meeting.
it was pretty full.
and i had to stand the whole trip.
when i got there, i bought a cup of coffee.
i had 10 minutes before meeting started.
.b
this happened to me last night.
ironically while i was modeling a hand
Basse, i really dont get your sense of humour, i’m guessing your quite old.
I have quite bad pain in my right wrist, and i clicks now pretty regularly. Falling off my motorbike probably didn’t help but years of using a computer started this condition. Its also pretty stiff in the cold. And im only 19.
I actually use my thumb and pinky finger to hold and move the mouse, with the middle three fingers gently resting on the middle part of the mouse.
That is how I hold the mouse too, except my three middle fingers don’t rest on the mouse at all, they hover above it, just waiting to strike any of the three buttons.
And the only time my right wrist ever hurts me is when I arm wrestle. And I think the only reason it hurts is because I broke it twice when I was younger.
But then again, I’m only 17 and have only really been interested in computers for the past year or so.