Woke up with some pain in the wrist of my mouse-using hand, and soreness in the middle of my hand if I try to touch my thumb and pinky together. I bought a Belkin mousepad that I hadn't used before, only I can't figure out the best way to use it. I'm not sure if you're supposed to rest the heel of your hand on the gel part, or your wrist where they check your pulse, or your forearm a few inches from your wrist.

I'm guessing this is the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome, the downside is that I see completely different opinions online of how to prevent it from getting worse. Some educational sites say that an ergonomic mousepad will make the problem worse, that you need to have a regular mouse pad but elevated somehow. I'm debating on also buying a wrist pad for typing as well. I may schedule an appointment with an orthopedist.

Anyone here use wrist rests for typing or mouse use? Have they helped you with discomfort? Best way to use them?

I've never used em. At one point when I would have knocked up a girl and sold the baby on the black market just to feed my WoW subscription I rolled up a dish cloth and rested my wrist on that but it didn't seem to help. The only thing that helped was to stop playing....I'm being fitted for my prosthetic next week!

Something you may want to try as well is getting a Wacom tablet and using that instead of a mouse. Takes a bit of getting used to, but if you can get used to it, using a pen is better for your wrist than a mouse by far.

I have had problems with my wrist and hand for about 6-7 months, I tried a mouse pad with the gel lump in it but it didn’t do anything for me!

I bought a Kensington trackball mouse and it made a hell of a difference.

I bought a wow-pen which is a pen-shaped mouse and i couldn't be happier.

I use the gel pads now because my wrists and hands started to hurt.

I rest my wrist on them, where the take the pulse.

I hate those wrist gel pad things. I tried one once and it annoyed more than it helped.