Strain Injury and sore top of finger from using mouse all day, at work and at home. ET is the main culprit, and I am in consultation with Legal Aid at the minute looking to see if I can file some kind of millionaire-making claim against Splash Damage / Id / Activision (sorry guys) for my (intense) suffering :moo:
Seriously, it really hurts 
Can anyone help??
Sorry to hear it, Sir.
I hate to say it butā¦uhā¦stop playing for a bit? Weāll still be here for yez, I swear.
RSI is no fun at all. Take care of your hands and theyāll take care of you. Or something.
Maybe thatās what Iāll have to do
But yous have to promise not to go away, not like the others always do!! :moo:
i had some pain in my arm too, just stop playing for like a week. As soon as my arm starts to hurts i quit playing and just use it a lot. Then go back to game when u feel it again a little, stop playing.
Top bloke Maximus wrote a great post on this a while ago on these very forumsā¦ i managed to track it down. Have a readā¦
http://www.splashdamage.com/index.php?name=pnPHPbb2&file=viewtopic&t=8431&highlight=gamers+disease
at work: left hand = mouse hand
at home: right hand = mouse hand
or <->
it helps a lot 
Thanks for the link Darkangel, I remember that thread but I didnāt know it was on the SD forum. I was hoping to find it, so thanks
@ fretn My left hand is too nooby!
Reading the article of Maximus is a bit funny for meā¦ cuz what he gives as tipps for not getting any of the diseases he writes about is what are the rules/guidelines here in Germany for workers that do office jobs with pcās. The 10 minutes off the comp per hour are even (theoretically) obligatory. We also have very clear rules on how a pc-workplace has to be built so a worker will NOT get posture problems from sitting in front of the comp a lot.
Alright fellow gamers, do take RSI SERIOUSLY, if you start to feel a real pain in your arm/hand/vingers, let it rest for atleast 2weeks.
and start doing your daily PC usage, using your other hand. i bought a powerball after maximums thread and i can say it does help
but again: important is, really listen to your body, if you start feeling a certain pain ( youāll know what i mean) stop using it and switch to your other hand for normal pc usage.
Maybe a better mousepad helps? This one is from bustymousepads.com:
PS: I had some RSI symptoms in my ākeyboardā hand (the left one) as I played GTA:SA. You know, always pushing the forward-key w/o releasing it (who brakes, loses). But after I finished GTA:SA it vanished.
Iād like to warn about switching hands. Iām studying Psychology, some time ago I wrote an essay about the impact that switching to your non-dominant hand can have. This may sound strange at first, but thereās some evidence that supports it. Itās a bit hard to explain shortly, unfortunately the essay I wrote is written in german so it wonāt help you that much I guess.
Your brain is lateralized, which means that one hemisphere is specialized, for example the left hemisphere usually is the ālanguage expertā (In almost all right-handed people). Damage to the left hemisphere has a high probability to impact your ability to speak. The left hemisphere usually also controls the dominant hand (nerves cross on the way down to your body).
The basic message is that if you use your non-dominant hand, you act against the anatomy of your brain, which runs your brain into trouble. To give you an idea what Iām talking about, have a look at this paper. Itās a PET-study, so the nice and easy to understand part are the brain scans. Have a look at Figure 2 to on page 2819. The participating subjects grew up in the GDR, where it was common to learn left-handed children to use their right hand for writing. You can see that ānormalā right-handed people are left-lateralized, left-handed people are right-lateralized, but converted left-handers arenāt that strongly lateralized. Some of those āconvertedā children are said to have problems with attention, memory, motor functions, and maybe this one of the reasons for dyslexia.
This still is a big maybe, and thereās a big difference to you: While you use your left hand for the mouse as adults, those children had to write with their left hand. Writing is more complicated than holding a mouse, and it hit them when they were still growing up (so in a time critical for development).
Still, take care. If you get problems with attention, memory, motor functions or something like that you maybe shouldnāt switch hands.
About RSI: I bought a dumbbell and actually used it. Some more muscles do help. Of course, also use the mouse less. Some people say that a trackball helps, but that isnāt an option for ET I think.
Siebner HR, Limmer C, Peinemann A, Drzezga A, Bloem BR, Schwaiger M, Conrad B (2002): Long-term consequences of switching handedness: a positron emission tomography study on handwriting in āconvertedā left-handers. J Neurosci 2002 Apr 1;22(7):2816-2825
Dear God, a claim made in a forum post with a reference to back it up!
Thatās very interesting, petameta. Is there any data for subjects switching hands in adulthood, after childhood development using their natural dominant hand? Would you expect the same physiological issues?
How about the ambidextrous group? I am naturally right-handed, but an accident in the first grade I believe forced me to use my left hand to learn how to write, and Iāve never looked back. Nearly everything else I do right-handed, but I cannot write very well right-handed (a bit a practice Iām sure will improve it). Maybe Iām lucky, but I have not had any problems with thought process, motor or memory functions at all. I am definitely not a slow individual because of it, and I think my scholastic progress is a good indication of it.
Thoughts?
Some people say that a trackball helps, but that isnāt an option for ET I think.
Oh yeah, I use a trackball, and Iāll never look back ;]
u say u work with a mouse at work aswell, then u must nĆĀ³t use a mouse at home for at least a enxt month. what i suggest u do is that u go to the gym every evening. This works both ways cause on the one hand u workout wich will losen ur wrist up, and on the other hand u wont beholding a mouse. So try to work out more and stay away from the computer. I know its hard to stay away therefor do stuff were u will not think about the computer like going to the gym. If u stay in at nights u will eventually go gaming or someting.
Hi !
No, as far as I know thereās no such data about switching hands in adulthood. I guess thatās because most people were forced to switch hand when they are/were in school. Thereās just one book that from Sattler (2003). Itās german, sorry. As far as explaining the subject, itās the best book. But itās not a scientific book, so she doesnāt backup her claims very well. She says that age doesnāt matter, the effect of switching hands is always devastating. This claim is exaggerated I think: Iāve talked to people who switched hands (in school), they are studying with me and didnāt and donāt have big problems. Some do however.
I think itās better to look at it as a risk factor. If itās a factor for developing such problems, it doesnāt necessarily happen. You are just at a higher risk to get these problems.
Switching handedness in childhood seems to interfere with developing laterality. So the question is, would switching handedness as an adult damage the already developed laterality ?
You can find more literature here and here. Itās a link list on a german site, so naturally a big part of the literature is german, but thereās also a lot of english stuff. Many of the papers are linked for download !
Sattler, J.B.S. (2003). Der umgeschulte LinkshĆĀ¤nder oder der Knoten im Gehirn (7. Auflage). DonauwĆĀ¶rth: Auer
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