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#1
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The mouse that killed my doublepole - a warning
My problem is slightly off-topic, but it's going to have a major effect
on my ability to use a ski pole, so I'm sounding the warning: I've been having problems with my shoulder - it's mildly painful to raise my right arm above the horizontal. It hurts to put weight on it, such as sleeping on that side. It's made upperbody workouts out of the question. I went to see my doctor two months ago. He prescribed a physical therapy exercise for me to do twice a day. He says that if these don't help I should get a cortizone shot. There was no attempt to find the cause, really. He did ask if there had been some event that caused it, and I'd been unable at that time to think of one. Then it started hurting at work too - when I'm using the computer mouse. I'm a software engineer, and have done that since before the mouse became popular. I'm a heavy user of the mouse - I probably use it as much or more than the keyboard. I'd treated myself to an ergometric keyboard years ago, and one way it was 'better' was that it spread out the keys farther - moving the mouse further than normal to the right. My company has about 40 software engineers, and when I asked around, I learned I wasn't the only one feeling shoulder problems. One co-worker traded her keyboard for a really small one - like a laptop KB, but in a separate unit with no numberpad, so her mouse is much closer to the centerline. She did that a few months back says she's feeling better. Our office admin is keenly interested in ergonomics, and she showed my several options. I'm trying out a pointing device that sits in front of the KB and can be used with either hand - I figure my problem is severe enough that I'm trying to use my left hand mostly. This thing will take some time to retrain myself, but I gotta try! If you're a heavy mouse user, think about your setup. Erik Brooks, Seattle |
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#2
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see a good physical therapist. There is a good chance you may have some
scapular muscle balance problems that are easily remedied. Seeing a good physical therapist is not the same as doing physical therapy exercises prescribed by a doctor, chiropractor, etc. A good guess for someone who keyboards and uses a mouse a lot would be that you have anterior shoulder girdle tightness, particularly involving the pecs (pec minor most specifically). This leads to a poor shoulder blade position. Your rotator cuff muscles originate on your shoulder blade and if the shoulder blade isn't positioned properly because of tight pecs, the rotator cuff won't do a good job of keeping the humeral head (ball of the shoulder joint) in the glenoid fossa (socket of the shoulder joint), and impingement of the shoulder results. In addition to stretching the pecs, you might need to stretch the shoulder capsule, and strengthen the scapular retractors and rotator cuff. All of this is just a guess. A good PT can evaluate you and determine what you need to do. Hope this helps. "erik brooks" wrote in message oups.com... My problem is slightly off-topic, but it's going to have a major effect on my ability to use a ski pole, so I'm sounding the warning: I've been having problems with my shoulder - it's mildly painful to raise my right arm above the horizontal. It hurts to put weight on it, such as sleeping on that side. It's made upperbody workouts out of the question. I went to see my doctor two months ago. He prescribed a physical therapy exercise for me to do twice a day. He says that if these don't help I should get a cortizone shot. There was no attempt to find the cause, really. He did ask if there had been some event that caused it, and I'd been unable at that time to think of one. Then it started hurting at work too - when I'm using the computer mouse. I'm a software engineer, and have done that since before the mouse became popular. I'm a heavy user of the mouse - I probably use it as much or more than the keyboard. I'd treated myself to an ergometric keyboard years ago, and one way it was 'better' was that it spread out the keys farther - moving the mouse further than normal to the right. My company has about 40 software engineers, and when I asked around, I learned I wasn't the only one feeling shoulder problems. One co-worker traded her keyboard for a really small one - like a laptop KB, but in a separate unit with no numberpad, so her mouse is much closer to the centerline. She did that a few months back says she's feeling better. Our office admin is keenly interested in ergonomics, and she showed my several options. I'm trying out a pointing device that sits in front of the KB and can be used with either hand - I figure my problem is severe enough that I'm trying to use my left hand mostly. This thing will take some time to retrain myself, but I gotta try! If you're a heavy mouse user, think about your setup. Erik Brooks, Seattle |
#3
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I got a bunch of elbow pain a few years ago when I started doing two
things -- using poles on pavement and doing more graphic/web design work with a mouse. Among the steps I took to fight the pain were learning to use the mouse with my other hand. It wasn't easy but was worth it -- now at work I use a mouse on one side and at home (on a computer I share with my wife) the other. That splits the load and is a big help. JT **************************** Remove "remove" to reply Visit http://www.jt10000.com **************************** |
#4
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Eric, the symptoms you describe sound a lot like what I've had on both
sides for several years, impingement syndrome. It's a form of rotator cuff dysfunction and for me started with skate rollerskiing and eventually was felt at the keyboard. The winter I spent working at x-c ski resorts there were days that using my car's gear shift to get to work was screamingly painful. I did get two cortisone shots to get by that winter. A shot can be helpful to jump start the process, but w/o PT it doesn't mean much. Whatever it is, a good sports orthopod would diagnose this, maybe even seeing it in x-rays and a scan, and then send you to a PT. Sometime later I asked for a good shoulder one and it worked out well. I could suggest some specific stretches and strengthening exercises (very light weight, like 1 lb), but I hesitate w/o a good diagnosis. Gene erik brooks wrote: My problem is slightly off-topic, but it's going to have a major effect on my ability to use a ski pole, so I'm sounding the warning: I've been having problems with my shoulder - it's mildly painful to raise my right arm above the horizontal. It hurts to put weight on it, such as sleeping on that side. It's made upperbody workouts out of the question. I went to see my doctor two months ago. He prescribed a physical therapy exercise for me to do twice a day. He says that if these don't help I should get a cortizone shot. There was no attempt to find the cause, really. He did ask if there had been some event that caused it, and I'd been unable at that time to think of one. Then it started hurting at work too - when I'm using the computer mouse. I'm a software engineer, and have done that since before the mouse became popular. I'm a heavy user of the mouse - I probably use it as much or more than the keyboard. I'd treated myself to an ergometric keyboard years ago, and one way it was 'better' was that it spread out the keys farther - moving the mouse further than normal to the right. My company has about 40 software engineers, and when I asked around, I learned I wasn't the only one feeling shoulder problems. One co-worker traded her keyboard for a really small one - like a laptop KB, but in a separate unit with no numberpad, so her mouse is much closer to the centerline. She did that a few months back says she's feeling better. Our office admin is keenly interested in ergonomics, and she showed my several options. I'm trying out a pointing device that sits in front of the KB and can be used with either hand - I figure my problem is severe enough that I'm trying to use my left hand mostly. This thing will take some time to retrain myself, but I gotta try! If you're a heavy mouse user, think about your setup. Erik Brooks, Seattle |
#5
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John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
I got a bunch of elbow pain a few years ago when I started doing two things -- using poles on pavement and doing more graphic/web design work with a mouse. Among the steps I took to fight the pain were learning to use the mouse with my other hand. It wasn't easy but was worth it -- now at work I use a mouse on one side and at home (on a computer I share with my wife) the other. That splits the load and is a big help. JT **************************** Remove "remove" to reply Visit http://www.jt10000.com **************************** I've been doing this for some time as well. It really makes a big difference. The other 'work related' issue I had was carrying a pager or cell phone on my belt. I brushed my arm against it enough that it aggravated the facia around a couple of muscles on the inside of my arm. Marsh |
#6
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In the days before mouses I once had a 'frozen' shoulder.
We had a rollski race round Aviemore Centre in Scotland in the hot August sun and in the lunch break I fell asleep under a tree. When I woke there was a physio lady sitting nearby quietly reading. She asked if I had a bad shoulder as every time I'd turned over I winced as if in pain. I did her test, left arm went up the back between the shoulder blades but the right arm only went just above the waistband. I didnt realise it was that bad. Of course I was then conscious of it when double poling!! She showed me a range of stretches and exercises and gave a reassurance that even if I didnt do her routine it would be gone in about two years and it did. That advice cost me a pint of Guinness at the prize giving later that day. |
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