The best solution for me was to type with the left hand and switch from a mouse to a Logitech MX Ergo thumb-trackball — the key advantage is it can sit inside the sling and instantly give me full functionality.
My use case was shoulder surgery that kept my dominant right hand in a sling for two+ months, but I could use my fingers after a week or so, and much of my work is CAD.
It took only a few hours to completely get used to it, and I never went back to a mouse. While left-hand-only typing speed obviously went down, this was significantly mitigated by having a full function point-&-click device.
It turns out this setup is also really helpful when working in tight spaces where a mouse is near-impossible, such as airplanes or tight luncheon booths.
Even typing emails and multi-page documents left-handed was tolerable for 10 weeks, but if it had been longer, I probably would have looked into a chorded one-handed keyboard solution, as the learning cost would have been worth it.
I hope this helps, and good on you for helping your friend, and I hope they get well fast!
My use case was shoulder surgery that kept my dominant right hand in a sling for two+ months, but I could use my fingers after a week or so, and much of my work is CAD.
It took only a few hours to completely get used to it, and I never went back to a mouse. While left-hand-only typing speed obviously went down, this was significantly mitigated by having a full function point-&-click device.
It turns out this setup is also really helpful when working in tight spaces where a mouse is near-impossible, such as airplanes or tight luncheon booths.
Even typing emails and multi-page documents left-handed was tolerable for 10 weeks, but if it had been longer, I probably would have looked into a chorded one-handed keyboard solution, as the learning cost would have been worth it.
I hope this helps, and good on you for helping your friend, and I hope they get well fast!