Hey everyone, we've been hearing concern that there might be risk of injury through too much use of Skritter. So I was wondering what are you guys experiencing. Has using Skritter a little or a lot had any correlation with pains in the hand, wrist or arm? And what input method are you using: mouse, tablet or trackpad? Us three are typing all day long so it's hard to say how much Skritter usage might be contributing to what we have to manage.

Nothing from my end. I am, admittedly, not doing that much at the moment (if I can roughly 30 minutes a day). I just use the mouse and space...any sort of pain would be a bit worrying as I do regularly use the computer....I'd guess that it only happens to people not using the computer that often and/or people who practice one or two hours more at a time than me?

Speaking of using the mouse, somewhere someone had mentioned that the mouse was a bit slow...I have one of those "gamer" mice (not the insane ones for several 100$ but one for maybe 30$ or so). With those you can easily set the speed of the mouse up and down and sensitivity is not a problem.

No pain, no gain.

I'm in front of a pc most of the day too. I don't notice any particular pain with Skritter. I've mostly been using my laptop touchpad. I can feel it a bit if I do a lot, but even with 8 hours a day at the weekend on Skritter it's ok.

No pain for me either, mouse or tablet.

ximeng, did i read that right? You practice Skritter for 8 hours on the weekends?

I too am in front of a PC all day, so Skritter time isn't causing me any additional difficulties. Using a mouse, which works well for me, and occasionally a touchpad, which I find to be just awful. Coveting one of those Wacoms from that other thread...

I have pain where the corner of my wrist rests and pivots on the table while holding the mouse. I should just get some kind of wrist rest, I guess.

murrayjames, sometimes 8 hours on sat, 8 on sun. We had a holiday monday a week or so ago, so I got almost as much in on the monday. Big review queues really bug me and I find it hard to do anything other than trying to get them to zero.

Scott, I think it's probably a good sign if you're asking about the risks of people liking your product too much :)

I have had pain in my forearm which I think was due to using the mouse (for skrittering) for too long.
This was several days of mousing for maybe an hour at a time. (In addition to "normal" non-Skritter computer use, ie mainly keyboard, of maybe 10 hours/day). I think I was not using the mouse correctly, as I was resting my wrist on the edge of the desk. (Also, my desk is slightly too high for me compared with the ergonomic recommendations). I cut down the amount of use slightly, and also changed to resting my whole forearm on the desk (when I remember) and I think I'm just about recovered.
Rachael.

I use skritter half hour per day - no problems

I'm using skritter for about 30/40 minutes a day since one month. I'm using a mouse and I have a little pain on the wrist after using skritter for half an hour.
Maybe, like rgwatwormhill, my desk is too high or my use of the mouse doesn't respect the ergonomic recommendations.
By the way, I'm planning to buy a Wacom tablet. I think this is the correct tool for this kind of activity.

It's a question worth asking, as once RSI kicks in, it tends to recur. No problems so far, however. But regular breaks are helpful. Some people swear by workrave (http://www.workrave.org/welcome/).

Planning on getting a Wacom tablet myself some time, as I think that this would make life easier.

Wacom is sooo good. Trackpad is le suck...not so much physically painful but just a hassle. Mouse isn't too bad though, but sometimes I find myself gripping it too hard trying to write precisely. I use the Wacom most of the time and practice for < 1 hour every review session.

Thanks for all your input! Good stuff to know.

And I'm going to agree with those some people, thinkbuddha. I tried workrave for the day and it works pretty well! Thanks for the link.

yeah about the same... when i use it for 30 minutes or so a day, no problems....

when I was studying for the HSK, I was up towards an hour+ average, and also my desk/mouse situation is definitely not optimal, but my elbow and wrist both started hurting pretty badly, haha....

must... find... cheap wacom tablet!

tablet, no pain.

I try to practice with skritter for about an hour a day. When I still used the mouse, fatigue was noticable after maybe half an hour or so. I've since switched to a trackball and I really love it. Trackballs are often recommended to people who suffer wrist pain. Since you don't have to push something around your desk but only move your thumb (or index & middle fingers on other models), stress on the wrist is reduced to a minimum. It took me a few days to get used to it, but it was totally worth it. I'm gonna have to buy a second one for office soon.
I figure a Wacom would be even more cool, though.

Whether one practices writing out every character or skipping most of them can make a big difference.

Agree I'm writing characters out in full now I've got a Wacom rather than skipping, and feeling a bit of wrist strain at the end of an hour.

I've never had any pain since going to the tablet, except for when I was Skrittering standing up at the conference and the tablet was much too high. Ergonomics are important, but can sometimes be as simple as changing the angle of your arm.

It's also going to be slightly more effective to review for two half-hour chunks than one full hour, and if you're adding new words it should be much more effective. In fact, the more smaller sets you do, the more efficient it'll be. Breaks are not always convenient, but are something to aspire toward.