CB
posted this
16 January 2008
George and Jerry
I also have carpal tunnel from many years of mechanic work. I decieded to switch professions and went into electonics which involved many hours of soldering circuit boards and computer work using something similar to a cad/cam program.
I would loose the feeling in the middle, ring and little finger in both hands. Wake up in the middle of the night with your hands and arms burning and lots of pain.
Went to the doc and they did this wonderful EMG test and told me that until I stopped doing the things that were irritating the condition, surgery was only a temporary fix. They sent me to PT and the gal there showed me some simple exersizes to stretch out the tendons and that helped.
Using the computer is as bad as any other task that can irritate the condition.
Get one of the mouse pads that have the gel pad and also the keyboard gel pad. Having your hands and wrists at the proper angle will help. Also get a pair of the splint braces and wear them at night. We tend or flex open and closing our hands and bending our wrists, sort of curling them up, as we sleep. This causes additional repetitive motion furthering the condition. The splints stop that to an extent.
It is called repetitive motion injury or RMI for short. The only real cure even after surgery is to stop doing the motion that caused it.
I will see if I can find the instructions with diagrams they gave me in PT and post it for everyone. The exersizes are very simple. Place your hand flat on a table with your fingers spread out and gently press down, you will feel it in your wrists and palm as the tendons stretch out.
Another is to allow your arms and hands to hang loosely at your sides and rigorously shake them for a few seconds. This will help get the blood flow back into your hands and arms.
Finally, take your arms and rotate them in large circles in one direction and then in the other direction.
Doing this helps, but there is much more you can do to minimize the stress the repetitive motion causes.
There is something to this ergonomic stuff. I told the therapist what I was doing and she make some recommendations how I could improve my work area to be more ergonomical correct. She also told me about the mouse and keyboard supports.
I rebuilt my casting bench lower so that when I used it my arms where in a natural position when pouring, instead of holding them up under strain all of the time. You want to have your elbows as close to straight up and down bending at the elbow. Also if you were to have a way to rest your forearms while pouring. I will get a picture of my bench so you can see the basic idea. I have a non-heat conductive area at the front edge of my bench to rest my forearms on.
Another thing I do is take a motrin when it flares up. Ibuprophen is an anti inflamatory OTC drug that will help with the swelling of the tendons that cause the pain. It won't take away the pain, but it will help with the inflamation. Just be careful how much and how often you take it.
LBT Moulds are certainly better than say a H&G when it come to holding it up for extended periods of time. I rest mine on the edge of the pot when I pour the big boys. The reduced weight of the LBT certainly makes casting a pleasure, but the production of those H&G's cant be beat and the bullets are of very good quality.
For jobs that cause vibration to the hnads a wrists I found this cool little thing you strap on your wrists that reduce the felt vibration by 50%. Also works when shooting handguns. I was so impressed with them I bought a bunch of them so the fellows I shoot with could have access to them. I still have 10 or so pairs, if you are interested I would be willing to sell you a couple.
