yall sould switch to a rollerball

This is Monday, right!! This is very entertaining..learned a lot about callous LOL. Hugz

GigaRoc, I use a "trackball" (rollerball, whatever). ;) I use a Logitech with a "thumb" ball. Prefer the other way, but haven't found one that I like - mostly Microsoft crap. No callous, but was having wrist pain from keyboard and trackball until I got the supports. Now, no pain. BYS

Nope, a mild mouse callus ... ... but I do have Hacker's Fingers. Calluses on the tips of every finger but thumbs and pinkys, and they're on the side of my thumbs instead.

I use a 15 year old Cirque GlidePoint Trackpad(touchtablet).No calluses,from the pad.

well folks, noone else has posted any pics of a larger mouse callous, and i think its unanimous that laurie's callous is the mightiest one of all, so i declare her the winner of the first annual redweb mouse callous awards! congratulations laurie! ill mail off your cd as soon as i can burn it and get to the post office. perhaps for next years awards well have a larger pic turnout and more 'sponsors'... rofl :) cheers, -gabriel

Hey I'd like to tell you about my calluses. You see they are on my knees, don't know how they got there! But on the other hand, xcuse the pun, remember the old sweat bands that they used to wear when playing tennis or squash? Get some of those and wear one when using your mouse. Try to get new ones not used because they tend to be a bit wiffy. You may also be bringing in a new fashion dress code, put on you snorkel jacket your sweat bands top it off with the sweat headband and you have the new geek look, if you do have a callous then give it a name, draw a face on it. Remember a calous is for life and not just for xmas.

No callous, but re sabretalon's sweat band idea, try Cosy Cuffs from Historic House Collection, +44 01 295 750100. They are modern versions of "gloves" originally used years ago by people who needed full finge/hand dexterity. Verco fastening sheepskin lined cuffs which keep the hands warm by preventing the heat loss from the blood vessels near the surface of the wrist. If they worked for poachers and the like over a century ago, they should work now. Ensuring a warm wrist seems like it should reduce incidence of future carpal damage, and it also keeps the wrist up off the desk. So light and comfortable you'll forget your wearing them. It'll raise the wrist just enough to unload the callous. Come in pairs so your set for life, unless you mouse with 2 hands ;-) Also I second (or third) the Logitech Trackman with thumbball. I never could use a trackball comfortably, but trackman seemed intuitve from day one, accurate and fast. And my hand never moves. Use the softest mouse pad you can find just as a comfortable soft rest and you're set. A startup was supposed to be launching a vertical mouse by now, although I've not seen it yet. Whole mouse is turned 90 deg, so your palm stays vertical. Imagine the optical sensor of your mouse being moved to be on the vertical right side of a normal mouse, and then the mouse turned on it's side to get the optical part pointing down again. Initial reviews were very positive. Whole new surface of skin & bone to wear away at :-O

hmm... mouse callus showdown... sorry i don't have one to show... I do however have what one might think is one big callus, which some might call my hand... rough factory work for long hours and brief brakes, tends to do that.. plus i've got carpultunnel (can't spell by the way) syndrome in my right hand (which is my mouse hand)

Ouch, that's bad. Carpal tunnel syndrome is where the "tunnel" (a ligament) at the wrist that sheathes the tendons and nerves going to the fingers gets crushed or squeezed and causes pinching and inflammation of the nerve. The resulting symptoms are tingling, numbness, or pain in the hand. This is a difficult problem to overcome and have known people to have taken several years to heal and sort of return to normal. This can also result in tendonitis (inflammation of the tendon). One of my close friends ended up with it from improper lessons on guitar speed techniques and couldn't play for over a year. Me, I felt it coming in my right hand from excessive typing and trackballing without support. The support has really helped and I remain conscientious about how my wrists feel while working on the computer. If you play an instrument, be very aware of the possible damage that one can incur by improper and excessive repetitive tasks involving your hands. Use support, take frequent breaks, and be aware of awkward positions, feelings, numbness, and stresses on the hands and wrists (as well as your back!). BYS P.S. I'm not a doctor and nobody would allow me to play one on TV! :)

A former coworker of mine had carpal tunnel in both wrists that she had to have operated on. It took her a year to recover from each one (they did them individually). It can be pretty devastating, especially if you work with your hands. My problem (being a graphic artist) isn't carpal tunnel - yet. I used to get screaming pains in my right elbow (I'm right-handed). I couldn't for the life of me figure out why until one day it dawned on me that I would press down so hard when doing pasteup - cutting out the elements actually - that I was screwing up my elbow. It used to hurt so bad that sometimes it made me cry at night because I couldn't sleep. Thank the Lord we switched over to computer layout! LOL. You'd think that something as low impact as computer work wouldn't cause anyone any harm, but there is plenty that can harm you, all the way from carpal tunnel, to problems with shoulder and elbow joints, back problems and even some cases of brain cancer from constant exposure to the radiation from computer monitors (I don't think that's the problem it once was). Even your eyes suffer. So much for a "safe" job...lol. Laurie