Is a vertical mouse actually worth it, or do you just relearn the ache somewhere else? Mouse & Keyboard

Counterpoint to the top answer: before you buy anything, move the mouse. Most outer-forearm ache I've seen in people at desks comes from reaching forward and out, not from pronation. I pulled my mouse to within about 5 cm of my keyboard by dropping the numpad, and the ache went in nine days with no new hardware. A vertical mouse changes the axis you rotate on. It does nothing about reach.

I own three vertical mice and use one. The other two are in a drawer with the box, which should tell you something about how personal the shape is. The measured part is real: vertical designs sit the forearm somewhere around 25-30 degrees off full pronation instead of nearly flat, and wrist extensor muscle activity drops with it. What the research does not show is a drop in carpal tunnel pressure — that claim is oversold in the marketing. My outer-forearm ache went away. My thumb got angry for about a month instead.

Budget two weeks of worse pointing accuracy as the entry fee. In the controlled comparisons I've read, user satisfaction with vertical mice is good but time-to-target is measurably longer, and it doesn't fully close. If you do anything precision-heavy — CAD, masking in photo work, competitive shooters — plan around that. For spreadsheets and email you stop noticing by the second week.

Helps pronation, can worsen wrist extension, because a lot of people end up cocking the hand back over the top of the shell. If your ache is on the top of the forearm rather than the outside, that trade can be a wash. Buy one you can return.

Three weeks in on my first vertical. Days one to four I hated it and clicked the wrong thing constantly. By day ten it was just a mouse. The unexpected win was that I stopped lifting the whole arm to move the cursor — you end up pivoting from the elbow more. Ask me again in six months whether the ache is gone; right now it's less, and that's all I can honestly claim.

Free test before you spend anything: roll a hand towel and put it under the heel of your mousing hand for a week so the palm tilts maybe 20 degrees. It looks ridiculous and it tells you within days whether tilt is your actual problem.