Wrist/arm pain

[Eratosthenes]

logitech trackman wheel

[pokerdirty]

i can't believe i'm the first to say it.

quit jerking off so much!

[Sniper]

Smart Glove ...

[Piers]

Clickless mouse software plus upright mouse and don't forget the glove.

[jaxUp]

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I play for hours on end while sitting on my couch, with my mouse on the couch next to me. The problem is that it is too low, and my wrist is bent in an awkward position the whole time I play.

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I stack up a couple of pillows and use that to make it a bit higher. Also, try using your left hand for the mouse. You can reverse the button functions if you need to.

The trackman marble or trackball will help, but eventually, it can cause repetitive stress problems, too. For a while, I was using a mouse, Wacom tablet, and Trackman Marble, rotating to a new device each day. That helped a lot.

It's key to get your wrist into a netural posture. Put you hand in mouse position, and without bending the wrist, lift it up. Is the hand in line with the forearm? Ideally, it should be. If your hand is bent back much, you are likely to have problems, especially when lifting the mouse-click finger. If your wrist or arm are so supported that the hand is actually bent down below the forearam, it's not as bad, but the closer to neutral (straight), the better, in general.

Lastly, and this is key, if you're not playing more than 6 tables at once, you probably have a lot of "down time." Take your hand off the mouse! Don't idly move the mouse around to the tables as you glance at them. Instead, pick up your hand off the mouse and do something else. Cross your arms. Flex your fingers. Whatever; just off the friggin' mouse. If fresh cards come up on one table, and it's not your turn to act, don't rush to click the "Fold" button -- wait until it's your turn or your have another table to act on. Basically, minimize your time on the mouse, and make sure to do something else with your hand when you don't have to be on the mouse.

You'll find it helps a lot over time. Most of things things, by themselves, will not cure a carpal problem, although they can keep one from starting, and keep it from getting worse. You'll probably have to do a couple at once, and back off on the time spent, to really recover. And when the pain starts coming on, knock off for a bit. For repetitive stress problems, working through the pain ALWAYS makes it worse.

Good luck!

[Recliner]

I have a SmartGlove and when my wrist starts to bother me I'll put it on for a while. I don't really like using my mouse with it on but it is better than the alternative.

<< I had this problem after my first 3-4 months of fulltime poker. I researched all kinds of gloves, braces, etc, but while I deciding what to buy, I took someone's advice of placing my whole arm from the elbow on the desk so that my wrist was straight, and it took away 98% of my pain. Only occassionally do I feel any soreness in my wrist anymore. >>

I do the same thing. I rarely experience any types of pain or soreness.

[LoaferGee12]

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Smart Glove ...



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Works for me.

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]Lastly, and this is key, if you're not playing more than 6 tables at once, you probably have a lot of "down time." Take your hand off the mouse! Don't idly move the mouse around to the tables as you glance at them. Instead, pick up your hand off the mouse and do something else. Cross your arms. Flex your fingers. Whatever; just off the friggin' mouse. If fresh cards come up on one table, and it's not your turn to act, don't rush to click the "Fold" button -- wait until it's your turn or your have another table to act on. Basically, minimize your time on the mouse, and make sure to do something else with your hand when you don't have to be on the mouse.

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Although seemingly obvious, this is probably the best way to avoid problems and one of the biggest contributing factors to why many of us are having problems as it is. You are supposed to "take a break" regularly from whatever activity is giving you problems. Personally, even though I am aware of this, I know that I leave my hand on the mouse most of the time. I only 2-table, so this is unnecessary. I am going to try to avoid touching the mouse until I have to and see if it helps. There could also be a hidden benefit of paying better attention to the game by not being able to click around while in between hands.