Trackpoint finger begins to have pain [admin. edit]

[sco1984]

Hello,
I am member of this forum since i bought my first personal PC and
thankfuly it's IBM Thinkpad laptop. Wooooooooooo ! The model is
R50e-1834-EQ1 .
The model dont have touch pad. Recently problem occured with
last small finger of my right hand . Not thumb. I use Trackpoint® obviously. The finger started giving pain when i rest my fingers on keyboard and when start typing and mean while romaing the Trackpoint
by 2nd finger . The finger after the Thumb. When i bought Thinkpad,
for first1-2 months i never felt this, but now a days the finger gives me
pain. I use both hand fingers while typing. The finger which gives me pain
rests at ::: & """" at this button usually when i am typing.. Not rest i mean
.....Anybody had the same problem ? Or its an issue may be ebcause the
table on which i use laptop is little taller than the recomanded height ?
I use to exercise daily how ever, i m not weak from the body structure
or no problem with fingers. I dont no why that problem facing now ......
I used the same way of typing before , Now i switched normal clicking
buttons for comfortability too. And i set single click n open type in Windows
. I tried all possible comfortability , I sue pillow ( Ha no option at hostel )
on chair to become tall when typing on laptop, the height of table isnt
too tall but little but . ANy general suggesion ?


Regards,
Amey Abhyankar.
[ I am from India , age : 21 , Boy . I m not a old man who usually gets
that problem Haha ..Just specifying my age and country for preferance
]

[GomJabbar]

While I certainly am no medical expert, what your describing sounds a little like Carpal Tunnel syndrome to me. Do a search on Carpal Tunnel syndrome to get more info. You certainly want to do all that you can to prevent it from developing because it can lead to constant pain and become crippling.

[BruisedQuasar]

Some people just cannot tolerate stick mice. I hated them and could not use them until I got a Thinkpad. For some reason, I can use the IBM stick mouse. I could not tolerate the Toshiba version. In a short time my finger felt numb and it affected other fingers. I had a similar intolerance for the early touch pads but fell in love with Fujitsu notebooks because of their excellent touch pads. Touch pad ergonomics has vastly improved over the years. You may want to try an external, USB run touch pad and see if your problem disappears. What seems to happen with some people is an index finger nerve or two is impacted negatively from placeing repeated pressure on it. Larger nerves when impacted often spread, since many nerves do not service just one specific spot of the skin (which is an organ, our largest organ).

In other words, negatively impacting a main nerve in the index finger tip can impact in other locations such as the small finger. You could also try training your left index finger to manipulate the stick mouse and alternate back and forth. I trained my left hand to manipulate a desktop mouse. Anyone can do this. I am not naturally ambidexerous.

I got the idea from the fact that people who lose use of a limb or suffer brain loss, are regularly taught to become other handed or to use a different area of the brain. Homo Sapien is the weakest mammal on earth but we are the most adaptable or flexible of creatures.

[Nebrie]

I blame Toshiba as the reason almost no one uses a stick mouse. I'm surprised my finger didn't fall off after using a toshiba for a year.

[wantathinkpad]

Because of Toshiba I am a fan of the stick mouse. But they were really tough. love Thinkpads red button nice grip and smooth.

[Kyocera]

I have almost the same problem, but mine started with years of hard guitar playing in clubs as a second income.

I suggest (if you have not already done this) making the mouse settings very fast and light touch the cap. Mine is set to the fastest speed, wide open, and it takes a while to get used to but when you get it under control
you don't have to use the same amount of pressure and time to move the pointer around. Good luck

[BillMorrow]

try using your middle finger..
(here in the USA the finger is sometimes called the "freeway salute" finger)

rest your middle finger on the trackpoint cap and don't force it..
if the settings are not good, you can change them to make the trackpoint more sensitive.. or less sensitive if you wish..

see if that helps..

[sco1984]

Thanx to all for reply. I was using wrong method while
using Trackpoint® . Now i put palms of both hands on rest
pad and put thumbs of both hands on right and left click button's. And
when typing i use both hand fingers. Now no pain. Thanx again for
suggesions to all.

Regards,
Amey.

[Navck]

Set the sensivity higher, and try using the soft rim (It helps)

[christopher_wolf]

Those are some good tips; also, you should play around with various combinations of how fast the curosor moves for a given sensitivity.

[BruisedQuasar]

Set the sensivity higher, and try using the soft rim (It helps)

I agree. Also, the brown rubber semi-suction cup covers are easier on the finger nerves than the sand paper-like red cover that IBM shipped on many Thinkpads. It reminds me of nubby indoor sandals that someone out there supposedly finds enjoyable on the bare foot.

By the way, does anyone know if it is possible to change the color or to ghost the T23 series mouse pointer on Win 2000? I frequently lose my pointer on my Win 2000 T23. I thought this notebook PC problem ended several years ago. My old Compaq Presario 1200 series did not present this problem, nor did the Fujitsu Notebook I had before that.
--Bruised

[BillMorrow]

find the cursor "icons" and change them or, even, edit them and add some color..