Exercises to Keep Your Mouse From Biting You

If you use your computer a lot and you are of that certain age, you recognize when your mouse is beginning to bite you. It may be your mouse hand cramping, your lower or upper arm muscles, your shoulder, or perhaps the opposite shoulder knotting in sympathy. Don't wait until you are suffering, try these hints to avoid "mouse shoulder" and its cousins.

1. Take a break every hour, if only for a minute. Many short breaks are more effective than a single longer one.

2. Stretch your arm tendons. Extend your arms straight out to your sides, forming a cross with your body and arms. Start with your palms facing the floor. Pull your hands up and back, tightening your arm tendons. Repeat 10 times slowly. Now, pull your hands up and back, and twist your arms clockwise and counter clockwise - remain in the cross position while twisting your arms like wringing out a wet towel. Do NOT do anything that hurts - even a little.

3. Perform the same towel-wringing motion with your arms extended overhead, then in front, finally extended straight down.

4. Take a short walk. Exaggerate swinging your arms as you walk.

5. Get two light weights - perhaps five pounds each. Raise the weights with your arms extended to your sides, then with your arms extended to the front. Raise the weights over your head. Finally, lower the weights behind your shoulders and raise them back to overhead.

Even if you only take a minute's break, and even if you only do the arm stretching, do it every hour.