Have you given much thought to the pens you use every day? While you are at work, do you just pickup what is on your desk, provided by your employer? When you are at home, are you writing with a pen that you got for free from a local business? I’m willing to bet that none of them provide you with any writing comfort. Without a comfort grip pen, you could be causing your hand undue stress and writing pain.

As a Doctor, I write a lot and out of necessity I needed my pen to be very comfortable. Without my physician designed UGLee Pen, I was getting hand cramps daily. I’m sure that if you think about it, comfort writing would be a huge benefit in your daily life: no more red marks on your middle finger; no more need to hold your pen with such a strong grip that causes tension in the hand. These issues can be eliminated by using my ergonomic pen.

Those who try the UGLee Pen love it. In fact, they did not consider themselves to be “writers” or someone with writing challenges, like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or Arthritis (which it is also GREAT for, by the way.) But, when they did try it, they found it very hard to switch back and use any other pen ever again.

Take a look at this video to understand all the thought that was put into designing this pen and you’ll see why it should be the only pen you ever use. My pen is an extension of your hand and because it grips you, you do not have to use your muscles to grip it and this, in combination with my smooth ink, makes it the most comfortable writing experience you will have. This is my personal guarantee. If you don’t love it, I want you to send it back for a full refund.

Creating an ergonomic workspace in your office and home is very important to pain free health. If you spend hours or most of your day at the computer, you’ve probably already realized that the effects that poor posture and a maladjusted workspace can cause such as: aching back, pain to the neck and sore wrists, not to mention bleary eyes.

Check out this ergonomic workspace planner tool and click on your height to determine the best way to set up your desk, chair and computer monitor to ensure your body stays in a neutral posture while you are working.

In addition to a properly designed ergonomic workspace, also remember to get up and take breaks throughout the day. The body was not designed to hold one position for hours at a time, so, keep the blow flowing and keep moving with a quick break every hour.

While on your break, you may want to engage in some ergonomic stretches. See my previous post on “Why Ergonomic Stretching is Important at Work”. And, when you are not typing away on the computer, be sure to alleviate any strain to the tendons and avoid any writing pain by using an ergonomic pen. All these tips will ensure that your ergonomic workspace is working optimally for you and can keep your neck, back and wrists pain free.

Ergonomics is the science of ensuring that the work space works optimally to the usage of the human body. This is important because it lessens the risk of injury and makes the work space as comfortable as possible. If you want to create a user friendly work space for writing, follow these tips.

• If you need to write a lot in one day, remember to take frequent breaks. Writing continuously can cause a lot of strain to the hands.
• Hold the pen lightly. The less weight you have to exert to write, the less discomfort you will experience.
• Choose a pen with a larger barrel. That will help distribute the weight across more of your hand, instead of on one spot that may cause pain.
• Find a pen with a barrel that has some texture and grip to it. Pens with a smooth and slippery barrel require more force to use.
• Use a pen that contains a smooth ink so it glides across the paper to reduce friction.
• Keep your wrist in as neutral position as you write. Your hand should glide across the writing surface with most of your movement coming from the shoulder.
• Change your seating posture to ensure you are not keeping your body static and staying in one position for any length of time.

The best tip as have is to use an ergonomic pen, like my physician designed UGLee Pen. It has a wider barrel, is lightweight, and uses the smoothest ink making it the most comfortable pen available on the market today. It’s perfectly engineered for ergonomic use for anyone who writes. And, it’s so comfortable, you will never want to use another pen again – guaranteed!

Valentine’s Day often brings to mind hearts, flowers and chocolate and is the biggest day of the year to make sure your loved ones know how much you care. So, instead of giving them a gift that only lasts a few days, give them the practical present they can use every day… the gift of an ergonomic pen.

Not only will an ergonomic pen be a gift they will enjoy writing with every day at home, work, or school, but it can improve their quality of life by ensuring and end to writing pain and discomfort. Plus, my physician created UGLee Pen puts less pressure on nerves and tendons which assists in blow flow and that can maintain and improve hand and finger health.

It’s especially ideal for young kids just learning to write or people with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Arthritis. They will be elated with the relief from pain and ease of writing they can experience. The UGLee Pen comes in a 3 pack with seven colors to choose from. Try the Red or Pink colored barrels to keep with a Valentines theme. Your “sweetie” will thank you for it, not just on February 14, but every day!

Valentines Day is coming and it’s time to think about what we love. As you can imagine, we really love our UGLee Pen and want to know how much you love it too. We thought the best way to inspire our fans is to hold a fun contest! To thank you for showing us your love, we will give one lucky winner, a complete set of all 7 colors of the UGLee pen, PLUS a 10 pack of ink refills. That’s enough to last more than a year!
Here’s some ideas to get your creative juices flowing and how to enter:

1. Take a photo featuring the Uglee Pen.
   You can be in it too! Or, show us a “Day in the Life” of an ergonomic pen. Or, document the adventures UGLee Pen has all its own! If you are handy with photo editing software you can really get creative.
2. Take a video of the pen.
   Who uses the pen in your family? Does everyone have their own color? Are you using it at work, at home, both? Does the pen have a life of its own when you are asleep?
3. Make a drawing of the pen.
   Show us your artistic skills by drawing the pen in any setting you like. Is it a “super pen” with a cape? Be creative! Your kids can help. Any artistic media is acceptable (sculpture, painting).
4. Write an essay about the comfort pen.
   Tell us what feature of the pen you like the best! The ultimate grip? The light weight? The ergonomic design? The smooth ink?
5. Get the pen in the News.
   Has your UGLee Pen achieved stardom? Show us how the world’s most comfortable ergonomic pen was featured on TV or in the newspaper.

Now, these are just a few ideas. You can use them or come up with one of your own! Just make sure the UGLee pen is featured and that you’ve include the words “ergonomic pen” into your entry. To enter you must post your item to our Facebook Wall. You can do this directly by uploading a photo or video right to our Facebook Fan page. Or, you can post your photo to Flickr (or any publicly accessible photo sharing site you use) and post the URL link to our Facebook page. Post the video to YouTube and then share the URL link with us. If you’ve decided to create a drawing or artwork just upload a photo or scan of your creation. If you’ve written an essay, simply post it in the Notes tab on your facebook profile and then provide us with the URL link to that page on our UGLee Pen Facebook wall.

The winning entry will be posted on our blog too and we will of course tweet about it in Twitter. Contest runs until February 14th and ends at 11:59 Pacific Time. The winner, who will be chosen at random, will be notified in Facebook, so, make sure you’ve clicked “Become a Fan” on the UGLee Pen Facebook Fan page before you post your entry.

This is part 2 on this topic about Children’s Activities that Develop Handwriting Skills. Before a child is ready to write, there are significant skills that must be accomplished from infancy through the preschool years. Part 1 discussed fine motor skills. This article will cover activities that support and promote visual motor development. Practice of these skills and even the use of a light, comfortable, ergonomic pen, can increase a child’s printing and handwriting success.

Ocular Motor Control
This is how the eyes work together to follow and keep an object within your line of vision.

• Flashlight fun: With your child on his/her back, shine the flashlight from left to right, top to bottom, and diagonally and have them follow the movement with their eyes.
• Mazes: Search online or buy a maze activity book for your child to follow and find the correct path visually and with a writing instrument.
• Seek and find books: Having your child search for images in hidden picture books. There are many books of this type available in bookstores.

Eye-hand Coordination
These activities involve accuracy in direction, placement and spatial awareness.

• Catch: Play catch with your child. Start with a larger size and as their skills improve, work toward a smaller ball. A rubber “bumpy ball” works well.
• Bean Bag Toss: Make a circle on the floor with a string, or use a hula hoop if it’s handy. Have your child stand up and toss bean bags into the circle. Gradually increase their distance.
• Balloons: While standing, have your child keep the balloon afloat in the air by hitting it up with their hand.
• Bowling: Practice hitting bowling pins with a ball using a plastic toy set. (Or, you can make your own with soda bottles and a small ball.)
• Bubbles: Bubbles are great for infants. Allow their eyes to follow them as the float around.

Before a child is ready to write, there are significant skills that must be accomplished from infancy through the preschool years. The following children’s activities support and promote the fine motor skills needed to ensure success when it comes to learning to write.

Joint Strength
Before the body is ready for fine motor activity, the joints of the body must be stable. When body stability has developed, the hands and fingers start working on movements that require dexterity and grasping. Try these hand exercises to strengthen the joints

• Wheelbarrow: Have your child walk on his hands. Have him kneel on the ground, place his hands on the ground in front, palms flat. You lift up his legs up and push along as he puts one hand in front of the other to walk.
• Crab Walk: Your child should sit down on the ground, hands behind him palms turned out. Then tell him to lift his bottom up while walking hands and feet backwards at the same time.
• Wall push-ups: Have your child stand up, arms shoulder width apart, hands at chest height. Place the palms flat against the wall and do 10 push ups per set.
• Monkey Bars: Supporting and pulling up his own weight on the playground monkey bars will also improve joint strength.

Fine Motor Exercises for Handwriting
Children will develop fine motor skills best if they work on a vertical surface, especially when the wrist is in extension (bent back in the direction of the hand). You can try these activities with paper on the wall, paint on an easel or a using a chalkboard.

• Trace: With a large marker you draw a stick figure on the paper, or simple line drawing of your choice. Have your child trace over your drawing up to 10 times trying left to right and top to bottom. Then have the child draw the figure next to your model several times. For more complex drawings, try tracing paper laid over the image and repeat exercise.
• Connect the dots: You can draw dots on the paper in a random pattern. Ask the child to connect the dots from left to right, and from top to bottom.
• Stencils: Have your child use their non-dominant hand to firmly hold the stencil on the paper. With their dominant hand they can draw around the edge of the stencil.

When your child is older and handwriting practice begins, start the lessons off right by using an ergonomic pen that is light and easy to grip with smooth ink, like the UGLee Pen. See Childrens Activites that Help Develop Handwriting Skills – Part 2 to learn about games that can help with visual motor development.

If you are looking to improve your hand muscle strength and joint range of motion due to arthritis or hand pain, try these simple hand exercises. Start slowly doing the exercises several times a week and work up to daily for best results. These hand exercises should not cause pain, but, if you are experiencing challenges, try doing them while soaking your hands in warm water. Always start by relaxing your hand.

• Finger Bends
  Start by holding your fingers upright, straight and close together. Bend the end and middle joints of your fingers down. Keep them curled for 5 seconds. Your wrist and knuckles should remain straight. Slowly return your fingers to the starting position. Repeat 3 times. Then do the other hand.
• Open Hand Stretch
  Hold your hand upright and spread your fingers as wide apart as you can. Hold that position for 5 seconds. Slowly relax your fingers and bring them back together. Repeat this 3 times before moving to the other hand. Try to gradually increase the number of repetitions over time.
• Make a Fist
  Gently start with your fingers straight and spread apart. Make a loose fist wrapping your thumb around the outside of your curled fingers. Do not squeeze tightly. Hold 5 seconds. Slowly return to the starting position. Repeat 3 times and then switch to the other hand.

You may also want to consider using an ergonomic pen to ease muscular tension and eliminate hand pain when writing for long periods of time.

Before a child is ready to write, they need to develop fine motor skills in the hands and fingers. Building manual dexterity and strength can help to eliminate the development of an inappropriate pencil grasp, which can lead to writing pain. Try some of the following activities to support your children’s fine motor development, and give them a head start towards build the strength and dexterity necessary to hold a writing implement correctly and without frustration.

Fine Motor Activities

• Rolling items into various sized balls, such as play dough or tissue paper. They can do this using the palms of the hands facing each other and with their fingertips only.
• Lacing games, such as those cardboard toys with holes and colored laces. Stringing beads is also good.
• Improve hand strength by crumpling a single sheet of newspaper in one hand.
• Using large toy tweezers to pick things up, like Cheerios, small toys, and place them into a jar.
• Build dexterity using toy screwdrivers.
• Using eye droppers, turkey basters or large medicine dispensers to “pick up” water and squirt it again. This can make for a fun time in the tub.
• Strengthen the hand by using a water bottle to spray the plants.
• Turning over cards or checkers without bringing them to the edge of the table.
• Peeling stickers from the backing sheet and pressing them down to make a picture.
• Tell stories with finger puppets (especially the thumb, index, and middle fingers).

Once your child is ready to grasp a pen, ensure his success by using an ergonomic pen that focuses on a comfortable grip. This can help eliminate frustration and possible writing pain for those who tend to grip too hard.

College Contest
Tuesday 12/15/09 is the last day to enter our College Contest. Each student can simply email their Name, Mailing Address, Email Address, and the Name of their College to ugleepen@gmail.com. That’s it! It’s easy to do and the college that submits the most entries wins! Each winner must have provided all the information mentioned above to receive their free UGLee Pen. So, tell all your classmates in Facebook and Twitter. If you want a free ergonomic pen, tomorrow is the last day to enter the contest. Professors, teachers assistants associated with the College are also eligible to enter.

FREE Pen with Each Order
Tuesday 12/15/09 is the last day to receive an extra pen for FREE with every 3-pack of the UGLee pen you order. Don’t miss out on this chance to get 4 pens for the price of 3! They make a great gift for anyone on your list. Happy Holidays from UGLee pen, the world’s most comfortable ergonomic pen.