Malone & Dean McRaine on tue 23 sep 97
Aloha;
Centa mentioned 'Repetitive Motion Syndrome' in a recent post and I think
I've got it... Now, if I do, how do I get rid of it? I've got deep soreness
in my elbow joints, esp. the right one, and pain in the muscles in my
forearms that weakens my grip. Is this related to throwing (tell me it
isn't so) or pounding nails (I just built a new shop). Any help or
information would be greatly appreciated.
Dean
Jim Sheetz on wed 24 sep 97
Repetitive Stress Injuries are caused by constantly repeating the same
motions without variation. Working a pottery wheel could easily cause this
painful condition. The good news is that it is treatable. Never work at the
wheel for more than about half an hour at a time, then get up, stretch your
body like you do when you yawn. Really reach for the cieling! Do this a
couple of times, then go do something else in the shop for at least 5
minutes before returning to the wheel. If you don't see relief from the pain
in a week or two, go see a physical therapist. They can help you with a
series of exercises to help with this condition.
Jim in WA. ( HeyJim@LescoIG.com )
Potter and Schoolteacher, Oregon Trail Travelers.
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Aloha;
>Centa mentioned 'Repetitive Motion Syndrome' in a recent post and I think
>I've got it... Now, if I do, how do I get rid of it? I've got deep
soreness
>in my elbow joints, esp. the right one, and pain in the muscles in my
>forearms that weakens my grip. Is this related to throwing (tell me it
>isn't so) or pounding nails (I just built a new shop). Any help or
>information would be greatly appreciated.
>Dean
>
Cheryl L Litman on wed 24 sep 97
I've had several private requests for more info so here it is...
To advise y'all on the advice I was given for wrist problems:
Background:
The problem developed quite suddenly. I dabbled in pottery at the local
community college. Then I got seriously hooked and came home from work
and spent 6+ hours at the wheel. I went from using 1-2 pounds of clay to
6-8 overnight. My wrists started to ache but I was having too much fun
to stop or even slow down. By the end of the semester I could barely
brush my teeth. I tried several doctors, was sent to a rheumatologist, a
"sports medicine specialist" and a few physical therapists. Was
prescribed some drugs and some exercises, all to no avail. By the way
think twice about cortisone injections, in my case they made my wrists
very much worse. I was considering surgery as my only option.
After this lecture by the occupational therapist (Rochester NCECA), I
finally stopped potting and keyboarding until my wrists healed. This was
the hardest choice. I used ice several times daily (frozen peas) and
kept both wrists immobilized in a splint. I used a topical
anti-inflammatory (a proprietary formula created by my doctor and a NJ
pharmacist. If anyone's interested in that I can get the name of the
pharmacy. I don't know if the mixture is prescription or not. I think it
made a big difference and unlike swallowing a pill, it was absorbed only
where needed). After about 3 months of total rest my wrists were finally
ok.
Now for the ADVICE (which is really just common sense!!!):
1. Treat working in clay like exercise- warm up the muscles first, then
stretch, then start working with the clay.
2. Take frequent breaks to stretch. Do stretching exercises which use
the complimentary muscles to release the tension in those being
(over)used. Any book on stretching should do it. For strengthening
hands, squeeze a ball (without moving the wrists). For wrists, the
exercise mentioned in another post is fine, using a light weight and
holding your wrist over the edge of a table lift the weight up and down -
just don't do more than 45 degrees to limit the range of motion. For
chest, I lean into a doorway and hold a stretch to release tension in the
pectorals (too much hunching forward over the wheel). I'm sure there are
many other good exercises as well. Just watch the body alignment while
doing them. Don't do them if you are actively hurting. Heal first, then
get into stretching routinely.
3. Don't try to mass produce ie wedge all your clay, then start
throwing. I wedge about 4 balls of clay, then throw, then stretch (go
look at that forest someone mentioned), then wedge...
4. Someone mentioned Val Cushing's method of centering - to reach around
and pull the clay toward you, rather than brace your arm and push it into
position with a bent wrist.
5. Basically you want to always try to use larger stronger muscles over
weaker ones. I lowered my wedging table so I could use my shoulder and
arm muscles to wedge rather than my wrists and hands. It took some doing
to figure out how to wedge without overextending my wrists. Using the
shoulder muscles helps, but I also pull on a pair or wrist braces to
remind me to keep my wrists relatively straight. I also type two
fingered now (I haven't invested in an ergonomic keyboard yet) so I can
keep my wrists aligned.
6. Watch the alignment of your joints, alter any motion which holds them
in an unnatural alignment. If a motion hurts, figure out specifically
what motions you are doing which make it hurt and find another way of
doing it. When something hurts, stop immediately - no pain, no gain is
not the way to go. If I overdo something and start to feel an ache, I
stop doing it, use ice for several days, the topical anti-inflammatory
and rethink my body alignment. This carries over to other things to,
like not pushing open a door with my wrist bent. Any repetitive motion I
do now, I watch for signs of overuse and pay more attention to signals my
body gives me. I don't let potential problems become chronic ones.
7. The hand and wrist exercises are fine, but watching the wrist
alignment while doing them is important.
As I said, the ideas are all common sense. Better awareness of body
posture and alignment is the key. The biggest difference between the
physical therapists and the occupational therapist is that the former
focused on rehab only, the latter on finding out which motions bother you
and changing them to maintain better alignment, altering activities to
prevent overuse, stopping all activity until the pain goes away rather
than "working through the pain" (ie nip it in the bud before it becomes
chronic inflammation or damage), exercising the complimentary muscles...
There's nothing revolutionary, just better awareness of how we move -
prevention not treatment.
Hope this helps,
Cheryl Litman
cobbeldi on wed 24 sep 97
Dean, I had the same problem with my elbows and forearms about two years
ago. The chiropractor said it came from throwing and I am inclined to
agree with him. I had to change my centering techniques to take the stress
off of my elbows. Also he gave me some bands to wear two fingerwidths
below my elbows when throwing. I also received a prescription from the
M.D. for Lodine. With all of that, it took 6 months or so for the pain to
subside. Now it is completely gone. I still continued to throw during all
that time which was probably a mistake for me. Hope this helps.
Debra in Alabama
----------
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Aloha;
> Centa mentioned 'Repetitive Motion Syndrome' in a recent post and I think
> I've got it... Now, if I do, how do I get rid of it? I've got deep
soreness
> in my elbow joints, esp. the right one, and pain in the muscles in my
> forearms that weakens my grip. Is this related to throwing (tell me it
> isn't so) or pounding nails (I just built a new shop). Any help or
> information would be greatly appreciated.
> Dean
>
Robert Speirs, M.D. 12 4450 on wed 24 sep 97
Sorry to hear you're suffering. I have to manage wrist and forearm
tendinitis all the time and my elbow occas. is sometimes involved. I
know you'll hear from a lot of people with ideas, but this is what I do:
Don't stop throwing completely, but TAKE IT VERY EASY. Ice bags on the
sore areas often. Ibuprophen 400-600 mg. every 4 hours. Rest when
possible. Try to avoid repetitive motion like typing, hammering (!),
writing by hand, chopping veggies - anything that makes you do the same
motion over and over. And don't try to wedge and/or center large
amounts of clay right now.
It may take a long time for this to calm down and it may not. I got
mine in l990 and still have to be very careful. Don't panic. Since
this is your first bout, I am optimistic that you'll recover.
Good luck. I'll send a good thought because I can REALLY relate!
Laura in Oregon
Robert S. Bruch on fri 26 sep 97
If you have reptitive motion syndrome, you could
try stretching before and after you "workout"
with clay.
Distance runners and cyclists have this problem
and they stretch and use massage therapists.
Smart ones who want to continue for a number of
years back off before getting hurt, ie take days
off and vary their routine.
Massage therapy is expensive. the athletes make more
money on average than potters, so they go very often.
I only use deep tissue massage when something REALLY
hurts.
Awhile ago, my knee started hurting from cycling. My
massotherapist is quite talented and when working on
the injury, he told me to raise my seat post 1/4".
It worked. Maybe someone could advise you on your
pottery "stance" or position while working. Maybe
you could make alterations yourself.
Also, try varying your work routine and stopping
those activities which are causing problems for periods
of time.
--
Bob Bruch rsb8@po.cwru.edu
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