I blame my right hand’s cyst on my intense Animal Crossing addiction from spring 2020. Too many days were spent lying around with my Nintendo Switch Lite without considering the unfortunate wrist angle I favored at the time, much like my disregard for how loud my headphones were in my teens. I’ll pay for both of these decisions for years to come. My left hand’s cyst, quite literally on the other hand, isn’t my fault: It’s a De Quervain’s tenosynovitis cyst—nicknamed “mommy’s wrist”—commonly caused while caring for children. I can thank my child for that one (he was worth it).
Still, having a cyst in each wrist has become increasingly irritating. The best thing to do is to rest the area, but nearly everything I do–working at a computer, using a phone, lifting a book–tends to put my wrist to work. The safest thing to do is watch TV, but I usually like to knit or build Legos while I watch. Even my lightweight Amazon Kindle Paperwhite still gives me a twinge of pain in my wrists as I sit and read, though it’s more comfortable than holding a massive book, as much as I love the classic book smell.
But I’ve finally found the gadget for pain-free reading: Lamicall’s Gooseneck Tablet Holder ($28).
Pain Is Reading
Photograph: Nena Farrell
Reading has become my favorite hobby since becoming a parent. I’ve always liked reading, but I became a bookworm all over again in the early months of parenthood. It was easy to jump back into a book while nap-trapped for the third time in a day, and mystery thrillers were the only thing besides dramatic, long-winded Best of Redditor Updates that kept me awake for 2 am and 4 am breastfeeding sessions. As my son grew up enough to start sitting up and playing with his toys, I could pick up a book while sitting with him, both individually entertaining ourselves together.
Originally I read library books on my phone before signing up for a free trial of Kindle Unlimited, which inspired my husband to gift me a Kindle to store both my Kindle reads and my library books in one place. Just a few weeks after getting the Kindle, I went to an orthopedic doctor about the weird bump on my left wrist and was diagnosed with cysts in both wrists. One was treated with steroids, though it didn’t completely disappear. For the other, I was told I just had to wait for it to heal on its own one day.
The diagnosis didn’t slow me down from reading, but it made me aware that every wrist twinge meant I was only exacerbating the problem. So when another WIRED writer shared a TikTok of someone using their Kindle with an arm holder next to their bed, I had to try it out for myself.
Floating Words
Photograph: Nena Farrell
There are plenty of tablet and Kindle arm options out there, but I went with the Lamicall since it came recommended from both Kindle readers online and our own iPad accessories guide. I also liked the price point and that it has both a clamp and floor stand ($70) style, though the clamp is a much cheaper choice.
I went with the clamp since I knew it would be easy to hook onto my thin wooden side table or metal bed frame, and neither had a paint or finish that would be damaged by the clamp. Some folks also attach it to a headboard.
It was perfect for reading in bed or on the side of my couch. The Lamicall isn’t so long that I needed to add a loop to make it sit far enough away from my eye for comfortable reading, and usually I felt like I had just enough slack to perfectly place it within my preferred reading range. I could keep my Kindle’s text size tiny and put it right next to my face, or push it back farther if I wanted. It floated nicely above or near my head, whether I was lying in bed or sitting up on the couch while my son played nearby.
The base clamp is made of light plastic you secure with a screw top sitting on top of the clamp, which I liked instead of one that pinches on its own–especially since there are tiny grabby hands in my home. The clasp for the Kindle itself is also made of a light plastic, but was still stable and secure. Plus, you can rotate that upper clamp to get the perfect angle.
The neck of the arm is the most resistant part of it: It does take a little effort to move and angle the arm, but that strength and resistance are what keeps it from falling forward or out of place while you read. Even with the resistance, this Kindle holder is still plenty adjustable and goes in any direction you like.
To store it, I usually just push it out of the way toward the wall from wherever it’s clamped. It isn’t foldable, nor does it break down, so if you want it out of sight when you aren’t using it you’ll need a closet or long enough space to store its 3-foot form. It was a little weird to see it floating alone in the living room, but I didn’t find it obtrusive when I used it as a bed stand and simply pushed it against the wall when I was done using it.
It’s designed to be a universal tablet holder, so it’s big enough to hold tablets up to the 11-inch iPad Pro. It can hold a Nintendo Switch, too, along with other popular e-readers. (If only I had this in 2020!) It’s not the right dimensions to hold a bulky Steam Deck by itself, but I still used it to help me prop up a Steam Deck and take weight off my hands and wrists, though it’s not stable enough to float like a Kindle or iPad. It’s able to hold up smartphones, too, and it was similarly comfortable to read with either a Kindle or my iPhone on the Lamicall stand.
Not Quite Hands-Free
Photograph: Nena Farrell
While it won’t fall out of place, the stand is easy to jostle, and I wouldn’t call it hands-free reading—at least not on its own.
My cat likes to headbutt my reading of choice, and he makes the arm shake and quiver every time he bumps it. So does my hand when I tap and turn the page. Page turners are a popular Kindle accessory to pair with a tablet mount like the Lamicall, so that you can turn the page without lifting your arms, but since my cat was always underfoot (or more accurately, under book), a page turner wouldn’t eliminate the issue I had. Instead, I usually still had a single hand on the Kindle to turn the page without giving it the shakes.
But wasn’t the point that I didn’t have to use my hands? Why not get a page turner? With one of my cysts connected to a thumb, I didn’t feel that the page-turning rings were the right addition for me. Instead, my hand sits flat on the Kindle, bearing no weight thanks to the Lamicall, and I gently tap my index finger to turn the page. It’s a position that doesn’t flare up either of my cyst locations since the Lamicall is doing the real work. Even if I didn’t have cysts, my cat would still headbutt the Kindle like his life depends on it.
It’s been a huge improvement for my pain to switch to the Lamicall for my reading. It felt a little like a borderline Wall-E moment to set up an external arm to hold up my Kindle instead of just doing it myself. But when it comes to chronic pain, every little bit of pain reduction helps. A small investment that helps take care of your body isn’t silly at all.
