Re: wrist pains

["Daniel L. De Hainaut" Young_DeHainaut@xxxxxxxx]

Judith,

There's not much to add to this list's recent "tendonitis" thread, besides
the observation, which may be largely unhelpful to your son, that we
XyWriters have an advantage in that our usual resting posture--fingers of
both hands on the home keys--is more balanced and relaxed than the
extended-arm-and-index-finger stance of the mousebound.

More useful to the CAD user is the simple principle that you can prevent
Repetitive Strain Injury by limiting strain and limiting repetition.

Place input devices in positions that, as the Road and Track crowd used to
write, "fall readily to hand."

Vary your motions and positions. I've read that a trackball may be less
stressful than a mouse because there are more different ways to use
it--helpful, as long as you actually do vary your use. A touchpad is
probably somewhere in between, in part depending on whether or not your use
a stylus. And as someone on this list wrote quite recently, it's wise to
replace mouse twiddling with keyboard shortcuts whenever possible.

Take frequent breaks. (This improves vision as well as hand and arm
comfort.)

The February 1999 issue of Mix magazine (aimed at sound and recording
engineers, whose work conditions are converging with those of CAD
designers) mentioned a web site on RSI hosted by University of Nebraska at
Lincoln:

engr-www.unl.edu/ee/eeshop/rsi.html

and the FAQ section of RIS/Online Information:

www.tifaq.com./information.html

I pass these along to you unvisited by me. You and your son might also be
interested in the article, "Engineering without Pain," in February 1999
Mix:

www.mixonline.com

Good luck,

Dan De Hainaut