Screw you arthritis! Hands hurting? Try a Foot Pedal Mouse

Ouchie! My thumbs are killing me! All the things you can't do easily when your thumbs hurt provide a constant reminder of how important those little guys are to us mammals.

Using a mouse - something I often do for 14 hours a day - is particularly nasty. It's arthritis, says the hand surgeon, and not a helluva lot can be done about it. It's not a computer injury, he says, just normal wear and tear, and very common. Oh yeah! Well I don't do "common." Screw you arthritis!

Arthritis? I'd never allow it!
I once asked my mother if she has arthritis, and she said "I would never allow it!" Well, I'm my mother's daughter, and I never believe "nothing can be done" so I started researching.

The foot mouse - Savant Elite Dual Action Foot Switch - from Kinesis Corporation is what I found. So I ordered it, at $129. It's plug and play, so here we go.

Kinesis has a phenomenal selection of ergonomic work solutions, and their customer service and tech support are unparalleled. They also sold me my sexy Advantage Keyboard a few years ago, and my Easy Cat Trackpad.

Takes a little getting used to
Like anything new, that requires one to change long-established behavior, using the foot mouse takes some getting used to. You use it to right and left click, and you can hold down the left pedal and use your regular mouse to scroll.

You just plug it into your Mac or PC's USB port, and start pedalling. All Savant Elite foot switches come pre-programmed to activate right and left mouse clicks. You can add a third pedal too, but that seemed too complicated to me.

But you need the right shoes
As the website notes "For many users the pain associated with mousing is from the action of clicking, not from moving the mouse. The Savant Elite resolves this problem by relocating the clicking action to the user's feet."

I haven't figured out the best shoes to wear, and I'm not getting it right the first time on every single click. But in just a day, I've already cut clicking to a bare minimum. We'll see if this makes my thumbs feel better. At least it won't make them feel worse. And hey, anything that promotes shoe shopping has to be good.

I use the foot mouse in tandem with the Easy Cat Trackpad, which I use for scrolling. It's a but like learning to use a computer again. But it'll be second nature soon.

Supplements to help reduce inflammation - including Omega 3 Fish Oil, Vitamin B100, and Bromelain are other things I'm trying, based on The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan.

Here are previous posts about my ergonomic work station. I hope they'll help you if you're having any problems with your hands. Take that arthritis!

Related:
- Doctors Say Laptops Causing Crippling Back, Muscle and Nerve Problems for Millions

- Here's My Therapod: And Boy Do I Feel Better Today

- My Sexy Keyboard

Posted by B.L. Ochman

Hi BL,
Wow a foot pedal mouse seems very musical. It would be interesting to "test drive" one so to speak.

Now, if we could surf the internet while driving our cars -- combining the pedal mouse and gas pedal --- that would be amazing!