My Newest Toy...

[EDanaII]

At the risk of sounding like spam, I'm gonna promote my newest toy.

Well, OK, maybe not a toy, exactly, but I thought others might like to know about it.

Over the years, I've been fighting with carpol tunnel. By the time I was thirty, it was pretty clearly a problem. I've managed by slowly changing my habits and by purchasing the appropriate keyboards, but as I've gotten older, even they have become less effective.

Now, I've found this: The AlphaGrip. Over the years, I've even thought about designing something like this. Shaped like a game controller, but with a regular keyboard embedded into it.

To be clear, I won't clame (yet) that it's going to get rid of my carpol tunnel, but I think it has potential. My biggest concern is the use of my thumbs might become a bit of a strain, but I'm still not convinced (one way or the other).

Anyway, I'm just posting this in case there are others out there looking for a potential solution to their carpol tunnel syndrome. :-)

Ed.

[EDanaII]

Like I mentioned before, Odin, my biggest concern is the stress it places on my thumbs. Not sure, however, if that will lead to some kind of RSI in them.

Yes, it's a little small for my hands. Some users have managed by taping foam on the sides to make the device a little larger. I may try that eventually.

They say it takes up to 40-50 hours to master. I've only had it for a week, and I've been able to get comforable with it. Although I doubt I can type with it faster than 10 words per minute. Hopefully, with more practice I can reach rates of 30 to 40 wpm. Then I'll be better able to make a judgement on how it's going to affect my carpol tunnel.

Ed.

[EDanaII]

Nope, sorry Cyberus, but I suspect she costs a little extra. Call it a hunch. ;-)

[EDanaII]

You guys are making some pretty big assumptions there. :-)

My carpal tunnel is not so bad that I need a surgeon to fix it. It's not so bad because, as I mentioned already, I've proactively done things to keep it under control, such as buying keyboards and changing habits. This newest "toy" is another attempt at being proactive.


@ X-Ray:

Looking at how it is held, I doubt it will be an improvement over a keyboard and mouse with a wrist rest.

That's why, for someone with hands my size, a slightly larger unit would work better. However, it still does not place the same stress on my left pinky that even my "super duper carpal tunnel" keyboard does. So, it is definitely helping there.


@ Cymric

But that still uses the same tendons and muscles, so common sense would say that if you are already not able to type properly anymore, this device won't be of much help either.

Yes, but the "travel distance" for the keys on this device is considerable less than the keystroke distance on conventional, or even, carpal tunnel keyboards, so this is not an issue either.

Ed.

[EDanaII]

Surgeons can make mistakes, X-Ray, and sometimes do. They've been known to leave things inside their patients, sometimes do more damage than good, sometimes even kill them. Surgery is safe _most of the time,_ but there's always the chance that a surgeon could leave you worse than when you started.

As a general rule, I will not let a doctor operate on me unless my condition is life-threatening or threatens my quality of life.

Ed.