I have suffered from the symptoms of RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) in my right wrist for the few past months, probably due to spending too much time on solitary night-time activities. By which I mean, using a computer mouse for work.

After the mouse i’ve been using broke down yesterday, i’ve decided to give up my mousing ways once and for all in a bid to save my wrists (and my livelihood). 16 years of using a mouse, what could ever replace it?

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you - The Red-Eye Monster. There are many others like it, but this one is mine.

The Red-Eye Monster
The Red-Eye Monster

It is otherwise known as the Logitech Trackman Wheel. Its a trackball, and is available in both corded and cordless versions.

After 16 years of using a mouse, like anyone who’s ever used a mouse, i’ve had doubts about switching to a trackball. Will I even be able to get used to it? Will it even improve the situation with my wrist? There’s only one way to find out for sure, so I plunked down some dollars for a shiny new one.

The Red-Eyed One A.K.A. Logitech Trackman Wheel works out of the box with Mac OS X 10.4, no driver installation required, just plug and play. I expected to take at least a month before I got used to twiddling a ball under my thumb, but its been amazing how quickly the adaption to using a trackball has been.

Just after using it for two days, drag and drops, mutliple selections, even cropping pictures in Lightroom and Photoshop are all really easy now with no significant loss in pointing accuracy. I did notice a big loss in speed (even with the tracking speed turned on full) and a slight loss in precision though, and this is probably due to The Monster With The Red Eye tracking at a lower DPI compared to my Razer Viper. Logitech - please come up with a “high-DPI” trackball for us switching from high-end gaming mice.

But the most important question is: Did using a trackball instead of a mouse actually help with alleviating the symptoms of RSI?

Me - fondling the monster.
Me, fondling the monster.

Today, i’ve been using the trackball for 9 hours so far with a wrist support (to keep my wrists straight), and i’ve not had any pain at all. Previously, if I used my mouse for more than 4 hours, I am guaranteed some pain in the wrist to keep me awake. The rolling action was quite rough the first day I got it too, but it got alot smoother today - maybe due to lubrication from finger grease?

When I first made the switch yesterday, using the trackball for 7 hours *without* the wrist support, my wrist hurt just like before. So if you notice that your wrist is bent upwards when using a mouse or trackball, I highly recommend getting a wrist support. The one i’m using is made by a company called Fellowes, and it has a really nice squishy feel, so you can even squish it with your thumbs for stress relief. Good squishy fun.

It took me 15 years of using a computer mouse before I experienced any symptoms from RSI, but you don’t have to wait for that to happen. Or perhaps you want to be like me - enjoying the wonderful sensation of fondling a smooth red ball under your thumb? Act now and switch to a trackball today!