Hurts to use a mouse - Hand Deformity

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bellemiranda
bellemiranda Member Posts: 2
edited 1. Oct 2018, 16:00 in Living with Arthritis archive
Hi there!

I'm new on this forum. I don't know if I have arthritis, but I thought this would be the best place to look for help. I'll try my best to explain.

I was born with a deformity in my right hand. I have 4 fingers - my pinky is one bone that splits off into two at the top (So I have two fingernails). My ring finger is the one that is missing, however I have a knuckle at the base that is halfway wedged in-between my pinky knuckle and bone.

When I was a child, the doctors estimated that sometime around my 20s the wedged knuckle may start to develop some issues, or even detach from my pinky causing it to float in my hand. They chose not to remove the wedged knuckle in my hand because it is the only thing keeping my pinky stable.

About 2 years ago I started developing pain. I'm 20 right now. I am right-handed, an artist, and rely heavily on the computer for my artistic career. It is becoming very painful to use a mouse. The trackpad on a laptop hurts a bit less, but after a long session in the day (with breaks) it hurts through the night. I own a tablet with a display on it (Wacom Cintiq) which is helpful because I can use a pen to navigate the computer, however, it is a very large set-up and more tedious than using a mouse (Can't work with high performance).

My question is: Is there a mouse that I can use that will help reduce pain in my hand, but can still handle high performance? Something that does not rely on a pinky (or a ring finger) and is lightweight?

I am very disheartened because my pain is getting in the way of my passion and career, and I thought I'd have a little more time. Any tips on how you manage pain in the hand would be extremely helpful as well.

Thanks for reading. Have a lovely day t4591

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