"Electrical" pain when I put my hands near keyboard/mouse. Any thoughts?

[Lee James]

I wonder if anyone has any idea what's going on here or has ever heard of this before...?

Since moving into this house, I get a sharp pain whenever I put my hands on (or near) the keyboard/mouse. This means I can't use the computer as much as I used to because of the pain. If I take my computer to another place, I don't get the problem, only here in this house. Also, I've tried replacing the keyboard and mouse and that has no effect.

I think it's something to do with the wiring here. I have an EMF meter which shows unusually high EMFs around the mouse and keyboard (4 milliGauss / 0.4 microTesla). I don't get that when I plug my computer in at other houses. For the record, I think I am more sensitive to EMFs than most people - ever since I was little I always got a headache when I put a phone to my ear, or gone near certain devices. But keyboards and mice have never bothered me until I moved in here.

Any thoughts?

 

[Lee James]

Thanks for the replies!

RSI?

Definitely not this. I know what RSI feels like and I'm careful about posture and comfort. This is a sharp pain that I can feel in any finger when I move the finger close to the mouse. Contact isn't needed.

If your motherboard has the feature then you could try switching between USB and PS/2.

I've tried this and it makes no difference, thanks.

Do you have the I/O shield installed at the back of the case?

Are you running the PC from an extension cable that might not be grounded properly?

It's not the case or extension cable, the problem goes away when I use the exact same hardware/computer in a different location.

The fact you have an "EMF meter" tells me thay you know what the "problem" is already. Are you seeking confirmation? Sorry for being skeptical, but that one fact raises alarm bells

I have absolutely no idea what the problem is I know very little about electronics and if I knew what the problem was, why would I be asking for help? I think the unusually high EMFs are connected to the problem, perhaps a symptom of something wrong with the wiring, but I have no idea what the cause is or how to fix it. The home has a smart meter, which I'm not used to, so I'd wondered if that could have something to do with it? Another detail is that lately my Corsair PSU has started popping when I switch on power (like in this thread). No idea if that's connected.

that one fact raises alarm bells

Can you explain what you mean about "alarm bells"? Should I be alarmed about anything?

Is it the whole house? Could there be an Earth problem? If it's an old house you could get an electrician to check the wiring... it's expensive though - ours was £500, but we needed it for building regs after our original builders buggered off without finishing the job. I've no idea how this would effect your keyboard however...

Good points! I think the wiring here is old and if I can't solve this I might have to get someone to check it. I don't know much about earthing or electricity in general. I haven't hooked the PC up to any other sockets as there's only 1 socket in this room and not much space to hook up in the rest of the apartment, but I'll see if I can try that sometime.

Just remembered that a few months ago there was some kind of surge in the kitchen which blew the fuse on our kettle. Had an electrician take a quick look at that socket and he said it seemed OK. Around the same time, the electric element on our oven broke. All seems like some kind of "overload" but I don't understand the electrics.

 

[Lee James]

what does your EMF reader say about your keyboard and mouse?

40 milliGauss/ 0.4 microTesla

I think he means alam bells about being seensitive to EMF, there is not much evidence to support people being sensitive to EMF when double blind studies have been done, so it might all be in your head, hence the alarm bells

Well firstly, thanks for your excellent suggestions, Threepwood. (I LOVE Monkey Island!) I'll keep your ideas in mind, about carpets, etc. Very interesting and something I'd never thought of!

As for double-blind studies, actually there are many such studies suggesting sensitivity to EMFs is real. Wikipedia confirms this, telling us that approximately two thirds of studies failed to prove the phenomenon, while around a third did confirm it.

There are countless explanations for the failed studies, the biggest and most obvious one being that there are many huge, powerful industries with vested interests in discrediting any industry-detrimental science (or individuals). That's is why, when I hear someone use the phrase "alarm bells" in relation to me sharing my experience of pain, I get my own "alarm bells" - the alarm bells of industry shills, or those who have been indoctrinated by those industries to demonize their opponents.

Growing up in the 1980s I had HORRIBLE PAIN whenever I put a phone to my ear. I didn't want the pain, nor expect it, nor understand why it happened. I HATED that pain when I wanted to call my friends but I got it every time without fail. I had no reason to "imagine feeling the pain". I never met anyone else like me and had no idea what may have caused it. It was only decades later, when I got online, I heard about EMFs and hypothesised that they might have some involvement in the pain. It's still only a hypothesis, but I struggle to find any other explanation.

It would still be decades before I heard of anyone else with my condition. I eventually found out that my father (who I didn't grow up with) had the exact same thing as me. I had no idea what caused this in either of us. It seems highly unlikely that BOTH of us independently invented the exact same phenomenon in our minds when we had never heard of anyone else having it.