The Ergonomic Mouse That Made Me a Vertical Mouse Evangelist

I used a flat mouse for 15 years. My wrist hurt. I assumed this was just what happened when you used a computer all day — an occupational hazard, like coal miners getting black lung but for Salesforce developers. Wrist pain was just the cost of writing Apex triggers.

Then a friend showed me his vertical mouse. It looked absurd. It looked like a computer mouse had been designed by a marine biologist. Like a dolphin fin. Like something from a sci-fi movie about ergonomics. I laughed.

He said 'my wrist stopped hurting.' I stopped laughing.

The Logitech MX Vertical holds your hand at 57 degrees — basically a handshake position. This is how your forearm naturally rests. A flat mouse forces your forearm to rotate, which compresses the nerves and tendons in your wrist. I've been voluntarily compressing my wrist nerves for 15 years because flat mice are cheaper.

The first two days with the MX Vertical are awkward. Your hand doesn't know what to do. Clicking feels wrong. Scrolling is weird. By day three, it's natural. By day seven, your wrist stops hurting. By day fourteen, you're telling everyone about vertical mice and they're avoiding you at parties.

I now own two MX Verticals — one for my desk and one for travel. I am a vertical mouse evangelist. I am the person at the co-working space who says 'have you tried a vertical mouse?' to strangers. The $15 Logitech created a wrist problem. The $90 Logitech solved it. Same company. 6x the price. Zero wrist pain.