The ErgoMouse Pro by Animax International

If you suffer from Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), you might want to give this unusual mouse from Norway a try. Though it looks more like a joystick, it is just a radically shaped mouse. Instead of laying your hand horizontally over a traditional mouse, you lightly clasp this "stick" vertically. In this way, the ErgoMouse allows you to adopt a more natural and relaxed posture for your arm, wrist & hand.

Holding a traditional mouse forces you to twist your forearm into a slightly unnatural position, and tempts you to rest your wrist flat on the table. This puts pressure on the median nerve, running through the carpal tunnel, and is believed to contribute to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). The same pressure reduces blood supply to the tendons in your hand which can lead to tendonitis. This is why it is so important to take frequent breaks while working with a mouse or keyboard.

With the ErgoMouse, you rest the side of your hand on the sculpted base and so relieve pressure on the underside of your wrist. Animax also recommend wresting your entire forearm and elbow on your desk. This is an unusual posture, but relieves the muscles in your upper arm and shoulder from the burden of supporting the weight of your outstretched arm. It is this muscle load that leads to pain in your neck and shoulders after hours of using a mouse or keyboard.

You make gross movements of the mouse by moving your arm and fine movements by bending your wrist. This is a new skill and takes two or three days to acquire. Instead of clicking two buttons with your fingers, you rest your thumb on a rocker switch on the top of the mouse.

The "Pro" version of the mouse adds a long thin button at the side of the stick which you can squeeze with your fingers. This can be programmed to mimic a third mouse button, to help scroll through documents or to double click with a single click.

The ErgoMouse is certainly no beauty. It is built for comfort, not for looks. Indeed, it must be the only mouse in the world to come in two sizes. Animax don't believe that one size fits all. There is a choice of combo, serial or PS/2 connectors, but unfortunately no USB version yet.

It is only available in a right handed version and is useless for left handed folk. The other major dissappointment is that it is a mechanical mouse relying on the traditional rubber ball. It therefore requires regular cleaning. We would like to see a version based on optical technology.

Personally I liked this mouse very much. It took a couple of days to get used to it, but then it began to feel very comfortable indeed. After two weeks the tendonitis that had been troubling me for over a year quietly disappeared. I am a ErgoMouse convert.

Provided you are right handed, we recommend giving this funny Norwegian mouse a try.