Aieee - My Wrist, Hand, Arm...

[Annywyn Picnicmaker]

My cheap staples for pain free (well irl anyway) combines :

1. Roll of clear scotch tape - for taping down the Ctrl key once i have my bags all set and ready to go. (its inexpensive, disposable, and easy to remove to chat or type)

2. Nice long padded tube sock - with the toe area cut out. (Rolled up makes a very inexpensive and comfortable wristband)

3. Emu oil products! This isnt the brand i have but is same effect : ((WindSoft™ Pain Relief is an all-natural pain reliever unlike any other. Most topical pain relievers contain only a small percent of pain reliever in a largely inactive chemical cream base. WindSoft™ Pain Relief is pure 100% essential oils and plant extracts, each one with recognized benefits, in a base of penetrating, anti-inflammatory 100% pure emu oil.))
Boyfriend sent that to me and stuff works!

[Arakni Spellweaver]

pain - how to avoid it

Well....

On my way to 250 JC this week my hands and wrists really started to hurt, and since I'm a computer support person IRL I couldn't have that happening. So, I did 3 things:

1. Found something heavy to hold down the CTL key (thanks for the idea to the spoon person above). In my case it's a can of vanilla frosting (I don't like vanilla frosting, so both it and I are safe with it on my desk. The clear tape idea is nifty too, might have to check that out).

2. Got my old ergonomic keyboard out and attached it to my new computer. Has anyone noticed how keyboards are getting smaller and smaller? Man, were my hands getting cramped together on the keyboard that came with my computer from Dell.

3. Redid my new workstation at work to make it more comfortable.

[HoshiAdam]

I don't usually have problems with my wrists while doing combines (I think mostly due to my optical mouse and nice mousepad - there is almost no resistance). However, I have problems sometimes while hunting swirling shadows in Shadeweavers. I kill them usually in one round of combat, so I am switching my hands around a lot. After about an hour and a half of this, I have to take a break for a few minutes to let my wrists rest.

[Linea]

for holding down the ctrl button i use either my swiss army knife, which angles across just shy of the shift and windows keys, or the tv remote, which is also convenient for changing the channel

[Quesci]

I use the cap of a cheap plastic Bic ball point pen. The shirt clip part that hangs down below the lip of the cap fits nicely between the CTRL key and the shell of the keyboard.

[Hibashira]

I had a wrist brace on when I was doing my 1,200 combines (around 12,000 clicks) of casserole. The brace has a hard piece of plastic to keep my wrist straight and at the correct angle.

[NightGod]

I use a Ratpad (www.ratpadz.com) which has a handy little cut-out section at the bottom and a gel wrist pad-its a little oval piece of rubber-bottomed, neoprene-coated gel about 6 inches by 4 inches that my wrist rests on when I use my mouse---that, combined with changing the angle of my wrists every so often and stretching my hands and arms every couple of hours, has made a HUGE difference-I went from needing to soak my wrists in steaming hot water in the morning just to be able to drive to the rare stiffness that a few seconds of stretching easily takes care of.

[Galathnor]

I use the cap of a cheap plastic Bic ball point pen. The shirt clip part that hangs down below the lip of the cap fits nicely between the CTRL key and the shell of the keyboard.

Hehe )) Aye Quesci )) I do exactly the same thing. Works GREAT and leaves no messy residue on the keyboard.

[Morani]

I still like my spoon. And it comes in handy when I want ice cream.

[Jianna]

I forget to get up and stretch. I'm like a dog with a bone when I start something in EQ. The other day, my mom stopped over and "made" me log off. I realized that I hadn't gotten up, hadn't eaten, gotten a drink, etc. in over 13 hours. (Gotta love the weekends.)

When I get up after an EQ bender like that, which usually involves some farming and major tradeskilling, I can barely walk and every part of my body is screaming. Mom suggested setting an alarm. When I tried that, I kept telling myself, "I just have to combine one more stack of xxxx and then I'll get up". Then one more stack. Then one more. You get the picture.

[Kelanthor]

Special hardware

Greetings,

Well, it's a bit of a help for tradeskills, but I've found it even more help while playing the game - the Microsoft Strategic Commander.

http://www.gamersdepot.com/accessories/microsoft/strategic_commander/001.htm

It's basically a programmable pad/joystick for your left hand. Up to 72 commands can be held within 3 x 24 command profiles.

I've got one main game profile, allowing me access to hotkeys, spells, and main game commands. A second profile for when I'm grouping, and the third is pretty empty, except for one button assigned to CTRL - guess what that' for!

As I say, the spoon/coin/other hardware tricks for holding the CTRL key down work as well as this item for tradeskills, but I love having my whole arsenal of spells and hotkeys at hand. it's programmable through either the supplied software, or in-game. Very handy!

If anyone's after one, there's one on ebay.co.uk for £6.50, and 2 on ebay.com ($23 and $9.99).

[Cendorly]

I have a logitech trackball that I have been using for as long as I can remember. However, the problem I was having was that I was putting too much pressure on the palm of my hand while resting it on the desk or end of the trackball thingy, thereby not only causing hyperflexing of my wrist (and pain) but pressure pain on my palm.

Needless to say, this was escalated to a major problem when I started baking and doing MTP's (long before I did smithing and tailoring).

Anyway, the way I solved the problem was at the suggestion of a guildmate at the time who told me to get a wrist wrest, or try rearranging my desk. The next day, I went to Office Depot, looked at their mouse wrist rests, found a nice gelled purple one and VIOLA!! Now my wrist is in a straight line with my hand, no pressure on any one point, and the wrist rest is actually quite comfortable. I call it a pillow for my wrist

I can do tradeskills for hours on ends with endless combines/clicks, etc., with absolutely no pain at all. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't find the wrist rest. It definitely added to the comfort when I use my computer (not only play EQ, but also general computer use).

Cend

[wrin]

My boyfriend forced me to get a wrist pad for my mouse hand and that helped my right hand/wrist/arm quite a bit.

Just an FYI from some one that already does have repetitive stress because of my job. Wrist rests, regardless of the type are the fastest way to get Carpal Tunnel. basically because you are then putting pressure right on that area of the wrist that the nerve runs through. Was the first thing that the ergonomist got rid of when she re-did my work area.

For me, when I do a long run at TS, I add pillows to the arm rest under my forearm (no extra pressure on the already sensitive wrist area. Penny on the keyboard (as others have said make sure all your bags are open.
I also switch to my non-dominate hand (it really isn't that hard to click with as it may seem) then ice the arms after i'm done to keep the tendons from swelling.

[Aandaie]

What I found works well is to do things which pose stress in an equal and opposite action (ahah i typed "faction" first)

Such as doing tradeskill stuff then later working at a job or riding a bike or something where your hands strongly grip, or perhaps squeezing a ball.

For the most part, though, I found that through originally tradeskilling in UO then some in EQ that my wrists are kind of shot for it now and if I was to continue much I'd end up with carpal tunnel. For me, it is not worth it.

If it is really bothering you, the best thing to do is stop. Don't fiddle with wrist things while doing it or junk, its time to stop. Its just not worth it in retrospect. "Hey, it bothers me to type much now because I had to click on some tailoring slider in Ultima Online, a little game that was a piece of crap 5 years ago!" You just feel like an idiot now when you think that, for EQ it will eventually be the same way.

Save up the tradeskill enthusiasm for games that do it easier instead, all games starting with Anarchy Online, World of Warcraft and probably SWG are not doing it the EQ way. In AO you add points to a tradeskill as you level, then you use the skill and you automatically always succeed if you had enough skill for said item, if you don't have the skill you can't even attempt to make the item instead it will say "you need X amount of skill in mechanical engineering to do this". You ten go out and get some more XP, knowing what your goal is. So there is no making junk to get the skill up, there is no making junk and failing to make better junk, etc.

Once again, it is not worth it.

Valid suggestions, though, might entail not only getting in a good postiion in an ergonomic chair, but often changing it so your arm is not always in the same position. Don't have the arm resting on a wrist rest or anything (as the above poster said not to) As one poster who has a trackball shows, it may be best to have TWO devices and use the trackball sometimes then switch to a mouse. Keep your wrist guessing and it won't be as apt to get the repetitive stress because it will be constantly working in different ways. So these are all ways to prevent it BEFORE the damage is done, if the damage is done, as with me, its time to stop.

[Silound]

For those whohave lots of money, I reccommend a touchpad mouse and a lazyman chair. Chair is a huge padded rolling thig that even reclines. has basically a small table in front of it off armrets. Very comfortable, I have on I use. The touchpad mouse is hard to get, but its the same idea as a laptop. so you get that and a wireless keyboard and kick back to enjoy

Silound
Minstrel of Prexus