NoHands Mouse – Footmouse Prevents Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and RSI

Long before “Blackberry thumbs”, carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive strain injuries (RSI) were already well known. RSI is a typical problem of computer workers, characterized by a vicious pain in the hands and fingers. It’s caused by continuous work on a computer keyboard and computer mouse, among other things. A doctor might suggest taking a break from work for a while or doing other things, but not everyone has the luxury to be able to decide what to do and when to do it. The NoHands Mouse from Hunter Digital might be your ergonomic savior.

Why It’s Clever and Easy

In fact, the idea behind this ergonomic “footmouse” solution is quite simple: Use your feet instead of your hand to operate your mouse. Foot pedals for PCs have been around for quite some time, often used by people who need to transcribe dictations – not in relation to carpal tunnel syndrome or RSI, but rather to be able to keep their hands on the keyboard while using the foot pedals to start, stop, and rewind the dictation. In this case, the pedals are used rather like the control keys on an audio or video player instead of a pointing device.

The NoHands Mouse really replaces the functions that you would expect from an ordinary mouse. With one foot, you control the pedal that moves the arrow on your screen. With the other pedal, you control the mouse buttons – toe click for the left mouse button, heel click for the right button.

Just like the old transcriber foot pedals, this solution also allows you to keep your hands on your keyboard. This way you not only avoid repetitive strain injury and carpal tunnel syndrome but also increase your productivity. Well, that’s the marketers’ account, of course, because if you use the gain from not using the mouse to type more, your RSI probably isn’t going to improve a lot. And if you use it as intensively as your old mouse, won’t you develop RSI in your ankles then? You’ll still have to take regular breaks and maybe switch between both mouse types once a day.

Some more info can be found in this video:

Summary

NoHands Mouse is a full, ergonomic mouse replacement (no wheel!), operated with your feet
Avoids carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive strain injuries (RSI)
Also useful for people who suffer from disabilities
Has a standard mouse interface, making it cross-platform (Windows, Mac, Linux, …)
Increases productivity.

Tips

When the price is too high for you, we've found this do-it-yourself approach on Instructables.

Another alternative mouse design is the Orbita Mouse, but I’m not sure if this helps against carpal tunnel syndrome and repetitive strain injury (RSI).

When you use a footmouse all day long, don’t get confused when driving home in your car. I’d like to see someone explaining to the police that they tried to “right-click” the brake.

Where to buy

You can order it from the Footmouse website or other online sources.

Approx. price: $350 (June 2009) – your medical insurance might provide some coverage.