People have changed their working habits and their work has become more and more static. If in the past they used to move a lot more, now almost all the jobs involve office work, that is sitting behind the desk and using the computer. This lead to many health problems caused especially by the prolonged use of the computer keyboard and mouse. Besides, the uncomfortable position and the repetitive gestures affected many computer users and thus a new category of occupational illnesses  appeared.

One of them is De Quervain's tenosynovitis disease or syndrome. Most people know this illness as "the washerwoman's sprain" as in the past it appeared mostly in the case of the women who washed clothes and dishes all day long and used the same and the same movements all the time involving the thumb. It is in fact an inflammation of the sheath that covers the tendons linking the thumb to the hand and control its movement. Apparently when you use the computer for a long time every day, especially the keyboard, you keep the thumb in an uncomfortable position when writing. After some time of doing this you may get injured and be affected by De Quervain's disease. The tendons affected are the ones that you can see clearly when you keep the thumb in a tense position away from the palm. There are several jobs that are predisposed to this disease for reasons of repeated gestures of the thumb like: people who use the hammer a lot, dishwashers and more recently - computer typists. This illness is not very serious and it shows as a swallowed bump at the base of the thumb that hurts when you make a movement that involves to move the thumb to the exterior or the interior of the palm. If treated accordingly this ailment can be cured in a matter of weeks, but if you do not notice it or ignore the first signs, there is the possibility to turn into something more serious, even needing surgery in the most severe cases. Of course doctors recommend some anti-inflammatory medicine and rest for the injured hand.

Generally the illness only lasts for a year or so and if you do not exaggerate and follow the doctor's prescription it will be healed even earlier. But there are some cases when the tendons are so inflamed that they make a noise when you use your thumb, like a squeak called crepitus. That happens because of the narrowing of the tunnel between the tendons and that can be extremely painful.

Some computer producer companies claim that the use of specially designed ergonomic computer mouse and mouse pad can decrease the incidence of this disease and offer a plus of comfort for your hands. Even some doctors recommend the use of a split keyboard with a separate part for each hand, that allows your hands to rest and not be tense during work. So a special wrist rest addition to your computer keyboard and mouse is strongly recommended.


The latest innovation in the field of ergonomics for keyboard and mouse is the heated device for computer, that is the heated mouse and the heated keyboard. I do not know for sure if this innovation is based on some medical research, but they say that the heated computer mouse shows great results and eases the pain of the people suffering from some kind of computer use related injury. Besides, the infra red heat provided by this kind of computer mouse is not harmful and allows the blood to have a better access to the hands. It is a proven fact that blood circulates with difficulty in the hands of those who use computers too much, because of the tension in the wrists that comprises the blood vessels. This is the main cause for all the related illnesses and injuries.

There are a lot of specialized web sites already that offer warm /heated computer mouses and keyboards: www.warmmouse.com, www.igmproducts.com, www.ubergizmo.com and many more.



They are good not only for this particular disease, but also for all problems that can affect your fingers and wrists and palms due to prolonged use of computer mouse or keyboard or even PDA and mobile phone.

However, even if you purchase such a gadget and if the beneficial effects do show, it is strongly recommended that you take a break from time to time and do some special exercises for your wrists and fingers and thumbs. Take a break every two hours, even if for five minutes only and stretch your fingers, them make some rotating movements and flex all your fingers. You can even get up from the chair and breathe some fresh air, stretch your legs and bend a few times. All these movements are beneficial for the parts of the body affected by your stillness during the long hours of computer use.



It is a common sense knowledge that it is easier to prevent than to treat. That is why I will give you some recommendations that will help you avoid this particular illness described above and many others that are caused by the same activity. First of all you should try to keep your wrist in a neutral position when you work on the computer. The wrist must not be bent forward or back, nor tilted to one side or the other. Use ergonomically designed tools (in this case ergonomic computer mouse and keyboard that allow your wrist to sit in a natural way, without putting pressure on the tendons and blood vessels in the wrist, or even heated computer mouse and split keyboard). Then it is advisable to  avoid repetitive gestures. If this cannot be done, at least take often breaks and unwind and relax your fingers, thumbs and wrists. Stretch often during repetitive activities and try to slow down your activity if possible. Use the minimum amount of force to perform any activity involving the parts of your hand that I mentioned above. Make good use of all the necessary tools in order not to force your hands. Alternate work activities in order to avoid repetition.

My strongest advice is not to exaggerate in anything, especially when you work in the field of computer work. We only have two hands and we cannot replace them like the broken parts of a machine.