I have a buddy who swears by his Evoluent Vertical Mouse. It's basically a regular mouse flipped on its side so that instead of having your hand parallel to the floor when you mouse, you've got it in a handshake position. It comes in models for both right and left handers.
Is a vertical mouse more ergonomic than a regular one? According to the Evoluent manufacturer, their mouse eliminates one of the culprits leading to RSI: forearms twisted into an unnatural position. Having never tried a vertical mouse, I can't share my personal experience, but here are a few reviews from around the web incase you're thinking of buying one:
Evoluent VerticalMouse 2 Review
Evoluent VertialMouse Review
Evoluent VerticalMouse 2 promotes ergonomic “handshake” positioning
The Evoluent 2 is available from Amazon for just under $60: Evoluent Vertical Mouse 2
The Monster Gecko Pistol Mouse - http://www.monstergecko.com/ - is an improvement over the Evoluent design, which tends to move to the left every time you click, and that's during normal use, it's horrible for games. I do love my Vertical Mouse, but it would be so much better if the buttons were on the FRONT instead of the side. I tend to accidentally hit the extra buttons on it too, from random finger twitches. I haven't tried the pistol mouse yet, but if they come out with an "ergo"-looking model (instead of the "gamer"-looking model) I'll buy one. It's trigger clicker will be much more comfortable for my extensor tendonitis since you can let your fingers naturally curl around the mouse instead of having to forcefully extend your fingers constantly. I find that the Evoluent drifts left not only when I click, but also when my fingers naturally relax to a curled position after a while.
Posted by: Tyler Zesiger | August 29, 2005 at 08:39 PM
The Airo2bic Mouse by TRBY(Designer Appliances) is an improvement over the Evoluent Mouse because it also has a cradle for the hand which totally removes the need to grab and hold the mouse tightly while being in the vertical position and is the only mouse to meet the 508 standards listed by the gov't for future electronic sales to gov't agencies. You can order at CompUSA or Tech Deot sites and some models at Walmart Sites. They just completed a study listed at their website which shows clinical proof their mouse prevents and reverses damages from CTS and RSI. Everyone I know loves one and the slightly higher cost is an investment that will pay off with pain free hands,wrist etc.
www.aerobicmouse.com
Posted by: AJ | October 27, 2005 at 05:17 AM
My AeroO2bic mouse is great for hand pain but keeps going dead either with the light still on or goes completely dead. I wrote the manufacturer and he said time for a new one----don't want to throw away at $100. Any suggestions?
Posted by: Jim Gummelt | May 17, 2009 at 07:57 AM