After years of using computer equipment, I began to experience pain in the wrist area of my hands. That made it hard for me to do my office job and to enjoy my hobbies which include editing videos and photos, writing articles on my website and computer programming. The IMAK RSI Computer glove has eliminated the pain and allowed me to work on computers and laptops for long periods of time with no pain. I want to share my experience with this computer glove in the hopes that it can help others.

Do you spend a lot of time using a computer or a laptop? If you do, then you probably know that resting your hands on the hard surface of a desk or the laptop casing can become painful over time. And if you use a laptop in particular, you're probably wresting your hands on the surprisingly sharp edge of the laptop casing which can be even more uncomfortable.

If you've read other articles on my website then you probably know that I spend a lot of time creating videos and editing photos. I also spend a lot of time programming this website. I do all of these things on my laptop and on my computer. Plus, my full time job requires that I spend most of the day working on a laptop. So, I think it's safe to say that my hands are resting on a hard surface A LOT! And all of that typing and clicking makes my hands hurt.

You'd think that laptop manufacturers would round the edge of the laptop case to reduce this painful problem, but... no, they have not :( Even my beloved ASUS ProArt StudioBook, which is designed for endless hours of working on photos, videos and other visual media, has a sharp edge around the laptop casing.

My ASUS ProArt StudioBook laptop.

I've been doing these things for many years, so now I can't spend more than a few minutes working on a laptop or a computer without my hands hurting. The picture below shows where the pain is in my hands. Resting my wrists on a table or the hard flat surface of my laptop causes pain in my wrist. That's the lower part of the red area in the picture. Wresting my hands on the edge of my laptop while using the trackpad or touch pad causes pain in the palm of my hand under my little finger. That's the upper part of the red area in the picture.

The pain area in my wrist.

People who read my articles or watch my videos on YouTube sometimes ask me what gear I use. OK, they are mostly asking about my camera gear, but I think that one of the most critical things on my gear list is a pair of computer gloves. Why? Because if I didn't have the gloves to deal with the pain in my hands when I use computer equipment, then I wouldn't be able to write articles or create videos no matter what I was able to capture with my camera. And if I couldn't post anything online then everyone on the internet would have to come over to my house to see my pictures and videos :)

Wearing the IMAK RSI Computer Glove from Brownmed, eliminated the pain I was previously experienced when using a computer, laptop, mouse, keyboard, trackpad, touchpad or trackball. The gloves have a pouch near the wrist that contains beads which forms a cushion between my hand and the surface that my hands are resting on. The gloves provide a cushioning effect because the beads distribute pressure more evenly across the area around my wrist. For me, the bead pouch covers most of the "pain area" shown in red in the picture earlier in the article.

The gloves are designed to be a fairly tight fit, but I find them comfortable to wear for long periods of time. A long period of time for me can be well over ten hours a day. These gloves were a real game changer for me.

I should point out that these gloves only help me with the red pain area shown in the picture earlier in the article. As far as I can tell, these gloves will not help with other areas of the hand that can experience pain while working on a computer or laptop. I think there are other gloves on the market that can help with those other pain areas.

The ergoBead pouch of the IMAK glove.

Brownmed calls the beads in the pouch "ergoBeads". They say that the ergoBeads gently massage your wrist, but while they provide a great cushion for me, I've not noticed any massaging. Or maybe I just don't understand what massaging beads feel like. The beads might not be massaging my hands, but they do separate my hands from the heat of the laptop casing which can be quite warm.

Another nice thing about these gloves is that they are relatively small so they easily fit in my laptop bag when I travel. That means I can wear them in the office, at the airport or at a coffee shop. Interestingly, no one has ever looked at me funny while I was wearing the gloves in a public place or asked me why I'm wearing gloves indoors!

I was initially a little confused by the product listing which said that one glove can fit either the right or the left hand. Wait, what? I doble checked and confirmed that my thumbs are on different sides of my hands, so how can one glove fit both hands? The answer is that the glove is reversable. When you turn the glove inside out, the hole for the thumb moves to the other side.

I've been wearing the IMAK RSI computer gloves for about two years and they seem to be working just as well today as they did when I first bought them (see below about a small tear). The key to the cushioning longevity is the beads. Unlike the padding that you might find on other gloves, the beads don't flatten over time.

I have two pairs of gloves so that I can use one pair while washing and drying the other pair. The instructions say to hand wash them in cold water and air dry them. I have been tossing them in the washing machine (warm cycle) and they seem to be fine.

Very strong seams and stitching.

I think that I use my laptop and computer much more than the average person, so my two years of using two pairs of gloves could very well be equivalent to two years of regular usage of one pair of gloves. Over those two years, I've pulled these gloves on and off many, many times and they show no sign of wear from that. The seams of the gloves, which I use to pull the gloves on and off, are strong and have stood up to a lot of stress.

But eventually, everything wears out. As I mentioned earlier, I switch back and forth between two pairs of gloves. After two years of what I think is very heavy usage, I noticed a small tear in the fabric of one of the gloves. It's the fabric that covers the bead pouch where my hand makes the most contact with the sharp edge of my laptop, so I'm not surprised that's where the gloves showed the first sign of wear.

A small hole after two years of heavy use.

The small tear allowed me to see that there are two layers of fabric in that area of the glove, so there is no risk of any of the beads falling out. And because the IMAK computer gloves fit either the right or left hand, I just turned both of them inside out and switched hands! Now the tear is on the inside of the glove and the side that has not yet started to wear is on the outside. Brilliant! Based on my experience so far, I figure that I should get another two years of use from these gloves.

For my situation, the IMAK RSI Computer Gloves with ergoBeads have really helped with the pain I used to have when using my laptop or computer. They are well made and I expect to get four years of use from them (I alternate between two pairs of the gloves), so I think that they are a good investment in my long term health and productivity. The bottom line for me is that I had pain and numbness in my hands before I started to wear these gloves and now I have no pain or numbness.

That's not to say that they these gloves are cheap. As of the time that I'm writing this article, each IMAK RSI Computer Glove costs between $21 and $28 USD at some of the big online stores (Amazon, Walmart, Staples, etc.). Multiply that by two for a pair of gloves. Multiply that by two again if you want to optionally have a second pair to wear while the first pair is being washed and air dried. But, I'd pay more than that to eliminate the pain so I can keep my job and enjoy my favorite hobbies. Oh wait - don't tell Brownmed! :)

So those are my thoughts on the IMAK RSI Computer Glove by Brownmed. I hope this article can help others find relief from hand pain like these gloves did for me.