Neurological Disorders - Seeking advice on foot mice.

Author

Seeking advice on foot mice.

Garry Freemyer

2005-08-18, 5:56 pm

I have a few friends who suffer from severe tremors.

While observing two of these folks, I noticed that their severe tremors got
worse when they were trying to do something with both hands that was
related, but when they did something unrelated, such as reaching for a
drink, one or both hands would stop shaking, so I pointed it out to them and
one found that by moving his left hand in a certain way, he could eat his
sandwich one handed without tremors. I am surprised I noticed because I am
told I have the worst case of ADHD, supposedly, the doctor has seen.

Well, I went to see another friend, an elderly man who has "Essential
Tremors" and it was very severe, and this did not work for him. First thing
he said was that every part of his body shook, so I just started observing
him and I'm no doctor, just a run of the mill average Joe, and I started
noticing about a dozen things that he did that always caused his tremors to
stop for a period of time.

I pointed out a number of these, such as when he got distracted from
himself, when he was telling me something that he felt strongly about, and
when he was accessing recent memories of friends who helped him.

He noticed that when he would notice himself not trembling, it would start
the tremors so I said, there seems to be a part of your brain that can move
your hands without trembling and if you can learn to use that part, it could
help him. It was decided that he would just practice observing himself not
trembling and if they start, just go on to some other activity. I wanted to
relate this, because I think this might be some significant discovery I just
stumbled blindly over.

Well, I remember, there is such a thing as a foot mouse, and I asked him if
his feet shake and he looked at me kind of funny and said "I don't know."
So, we gave it a test. He stuck out his foot. No tremors, rock steady. I
asked him to move his toes up and down and again, no tremors at all, we were
both satisfied that his feet never tremble.

Then I told him about mice you can operate with your feet, and went home to
Google for "Foot Mouse".

There is a vast and bewildering array of feet mice to be bought over the
internet with dozens of brands and designs. I did not see any brands I
recognized, and having only minor tremors myself I just use a regular mouse,
with mild difficulty.

I have no idea, what brand would be good to get, I have no clue what kind of
design would be good. I need advice, and what better place to go for advice
but to a forum where there might be folks who have used these.

I am loathe to buy an extremely expensive brand because I am not 100% sure,
he can make one work for him because though his feet don't shake, I am not
sure how much coordination he has in his feet, I don't even know if I can
use a foot mouse, but he would need one where he can push it around under
his foot on a mat on the floor, and click with his toes.

All suggestions about what brands and style of foot mouse I should get,
would be most appreciated.

Thanks kindly.
--
To reply to this message take off the .NoJunkSpam off of the end of
garryfre@pacbell.net.NoJunkSpam

Amy Sargent

2005-10-10, 9:39 am

Foot mice: I do not require a foot mouse. I don't know much about them
except what I can visualize just by guessing.

Essential tremor: There is a newsgroup called alt.support.dystonia, run
more or less by the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation. (There is a more
"official" board at http://www.dystonia-support.org .) This board has
discussed essential tremor; it also has discussed something called "geste
antagonistes," which is pretty much what you describe here (i.e., reducing
one's foot tremor by touching one's nose or doing something else seemingly
unrelated to the area experiencing the dysfunction). If you start posting
regularly on the board, you may be asked to join the group (i.e., pay dues).

"Garry Freemyer"

> I have a few friends who suffer from severe tremors.
>
> While observing two of these folks, I noticed that their severe tremors
got
> worse when they were trying to do something with both hands that was
> related, but when they did something unrelated, such as reaching for a
> drink, one or both hands would stop shaking, so I pointed it out to them
and
> one found that by moving his left hand in a certain way, he could eat his
> sandwich one handed without tremors. I am surprised I noticed because I am
> told I have the worst case of ADHD, supposedly, the doctor has seen.
>
> Well, I went to see another friend, an elderly man who has "Essential
> Tremors" and it was very severe, and this did not work for him. First
thing
> he said was that every part of his body shook, so I just started observing
> him and I'm no doctor, just a run of the mill average Joe, and I started
> noticing about a dozen things that he did that always caused his tremors
to
> stop for a period of time.
>
> I pointed out a number of these, such as when he got distracted from
> himself, when he was telling me something that he felt strongly about, and
> when he was accessing recent memories of friends who helped him.
>
> He noticed that when he would notice himself not trembling, it would start
> the tremors so I said, there seems to be a part of your brain that can
move
> your hands without trembling and if you can learn to use that part, it
could
> help him. It was decided that he would just practice observing himself not
> trembling and if they start, just go on to some other activity. I wanted
to
> relate this, because I think this might be some significant discovery I
just
> stumbled blindly over.
>
> Well, I remember, there is such a thing as a foot mouse, and I asked him
if
> his feet shake and he looked at me kind of funny and said "I don't know."
> So, we gave it a test. He stuck out his foot. No tremors, rock steady. I
> asked him to move his toes up and down and again, no tremors at all, we
were
> both satisfied that his feet never tremble.
>
> Then I told him about mice you can operate with your feet, and went home
to
> Google for "Foot Mouse".
>
> There is a vast and bewildering array of feet mice to be bought over the
> internet with dozens of brands and designs. I did not see any brands I
> recognized, and having only minor tremors myself I just use a regular
mouse,
> with mild difficulty.
>
> I have no idea, what brand would be good to get, I have no clue what kind
of
> design would be good. I need advice, and what better place to go for
advice
> but to a forum where there might be folks who have used these.
>
> I am loathe to buy an extremely expensive brand because I am not 100%
sure,
> he can make one work for him because though his feet don't shake, I am not
> sure how much coordination he has in his feet, I don't even know if I can
> use a foot mouse, but he would need one where he can push it around under
> his foot on a mat on the floor, and click with his toes.
>
> All suggestions about what brands and style of foot mouse I should get,
> would be most appreciated.
>
> Thanks kindly.
> --
> To reply to this message take off the .NoJunkSpam off of the end of
> garryfre@pacbell.net.NoJunkSpam
>
>