One of my most frequent referrals when completing Ergonomic Office Assessments comes from computer users with complaints of elbow pain.

Often the user has point tenderness at the bone on the outer aspect of the elbow (lateral epicondyle), generally worse with progressive standard mouse use. Among the items I suspect may be contributing to the elbow pain is the palm down position when using the mouse/pointing device.  This position promotes rotation of the bones and muscles of the forearm, putting  increased tension on the soft tissue attachments at the elbow.

While there are many types of mouses/pointing devices, I have had a large amount of success with use of the Evoluent forearm neutral mouse: www.evoluent.com.  While the mouse appears awkward at first, it has a great deal of adaptability, including regular or small sized right or left handed units, wired or Bluetooth capable, and  PC or Mac compatible.

Feel free to contact me or OSI PT with any questions or concerns regarding Ergonomic Assessments, equipment recommendations or optimal positioning/body mechanics when working in office settings.

– Lisa