Soreness and numbness in fingertips from trackpad

RSIs can occur with any repetitive movement. And mine have never gone away; if I do too much text entry, I get soreness in my cubical tunnels. At one point it was bad enough that I also had numbness in my little finger and ring finger. It was hard to sleep because I had to keep my arms straight. Grip strengthening exercises helped some, but only a very sizable reduction in keyboard use, with frequent breaks when I did type, helped. I also had tennis elbow from the old late 80s one-button mouse, and the beginnings of carpal tunnel soreness. I had to alter my habits and invest in ergonomic mice (Contour Design makes the best ergonomic mice).

Those of you who have pain from trackpad use need to find ways to adjust your computer use. A good mouse is the easiest potential fix, even if it means you can't do as much work away from a desk.

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.

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For anyone following there is another thread here Re: How can I stop trackpad from hurting/burning my fingertips?

Pam

Try using a screen protector. Simplest solution would be to try using a clear packaging tape. Cut it to fit the touchpad and stick it just like you stick a protective cover on a smartphone, it helps.

Hello All!

This is far.out.at.sea, one of the first commenters on another post about this same problem. I lost my old info, so my new id is out.to.sea.

My allergy to trackpads has continued. I have a mac book air (11-inch, 12-inch). Using a mouse pretty much has solved my problems, except when I for some reason I can't use my mouse and I'm stuck using the track pad. I recently lost my mouse and wasn't in a situation to buy one (I currently live in Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia). I had a project due and just had to work through the pain and I would like to describe the effect.

I mostly use my middle finger, fourth finger and pinky when using the track pad. I have attached two photos of my fingers. These photos were taken two days after I stopped touching the track pad. Beyond the internal pain in my fingers, joints, and hands, my fingers get dry, rough, wrinkly, and the top layer of my skin comes off. Compare my first finger to my last two. Notice the difference in color and texture?

Good luck everyone with the pain! I know it is difficult!

Please message me if you have any questions.

Hannah

I am having a similar problem. May as you a couple questions about what you experienced? Thank you for reading.

I have this issue as well and is getting worse - any solutions working out there?

if I do too much text entry, I get soreness in my cubical tunnels.

Dang typo: I meant to say that I had pain in the cubital tunnels (elbow to hand). Cubicles cause other types of pain and numbness…