Taube Wilson on sat 20 sep 97
Centa,
As a potter who used to have trouble with tendonitis I thought I would
share a remedy with you:
A physical therapist told me that tendonitis of the wrist and tennis
elbow are amongst the easiest conditions to cure. She showed me a few
exercises which really helped.
NOTE: NEVER DO ANYTHING THAT CAUSES PAIN!
1)Sit next to a table, with the back of the chair perpendicular to the
table (not facing into the table, but alongside it). Place your forearm
along the table, palm up, with the hand hanging over the edge. Fingers
should be gently (comfortably) curled.
______________
/ ~~ /
/ @@ /
hand-> O=====\ | | / tabletop
&forearm /_____\|_|____/
| |
====o |
| |---|
| | |
2) Raise the hand up and down 10-15 times
3) Repeat with palm facing down.
4) Rotate wrist palm up/palm down 10-15 times.
Repeat several times a day.
After a week without weights, use a 1-lb weight, or a can of soda.
*Never* use more than 2 lbs. (I never use more than a soda can)
and never use weights if you have any pain!
Stretches:
1) Press palms together, prayer-style
2) Press back of hands together, fingers facing down(kind of
reverse-prayer position)
3) Clasp hands with fingers intertwining. Straighten arms in out
in front, turning palms outward while keeping fingers entwined.
If you are not in pain anymore, you might want to try some
arm-strengthening exercises. I like the arm work in Jane Fonda's Total
Body Sculpting tape, but I keep the weights light (you can do them
without weights, too). The arm part of the tape should only take about
15 minutes a day, about 4 days a week. Be sure to do the warm/up and
stretches, too!
Finally, watch your technique. I think one of the reasons I no longer
have trouble is that I am careful to keep my arms anchored to my sides
or pressed into my thighs, and to throw with my whole body, not with my
arms/wrists(especially for centering). Lean forward
from your hips with a straight back, don't hunch over the wheel. And
make sure you're throwing at 4- or 5 o'clock. (I used to have a tendency
to wander up to 2:00, then my back would start to hurt).
Hope this helps. And, as I said, don't do anything that causes pain!
-Taube ("Toby") Wilson
______________________________________________________
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Cheryl L Litman on sun 21 sep 97
The "trick" to this exercise is to limit the range of motion to not more
than 45 degrees. You're not looking to do a full range of motion,
particularly not with weights.
I had been given this exercise, along with several others, for chronic
tendonitis by a physical therapist and was told if I felt pain, stop. My
wrists ALWAYS felt worse the day after doing the exercises so I stopped.
Then at NCECA in Minneapolis I went to a lecture given by an Occupational
Therapist which addressed wrist problems (repetitive motion injuries)
which affect potters. That lecture more than paid for NCECA - previously
I had to stop potting for well over a year because of my wrists. Since
that lecture I've not had any problems with my wrists. She showed us
specifically which motions we were doing to aggravate the problem and
how to change motions to keep the body in better alignment. She
demonstrated how to do wrist exercises properly ie don't do full range,
something the physical therapist never mentioned to me. In my case, the
wrist problem started with pottery but was made severely worse by
keyboarding most of the day.
I like the fact that the NCECA conferences sometimes address health
issues. I'm disappointed that schools don't stress ergonomics an health
issues starting in Ceramics 1.
Cheryl Litman
On Sat, 20 Sep 1997 09:48:05 EDT Taube Wilson
writes:
>----------------------------Original
>message----------------------------
>Centa,
> As a potter who used to have trouble with tendonitis I thought I
>would
>share a remedy with you:
>
> A physical therapist told me that tendonitis of the wrist and tennis
>elbow are amongst the easiest conditions to cure. She showed me a few
>exercises which really helped.
>
> NOTE: NEVER DO ANYTHING THAT CAUSES PAIN!
>
> 1)Sit next to a table, with the back of the chair perpendicular to
>the
>table (not facing into the table, but alongside it). Place your
>forearm
>along the table, palm up, with the hand hanging over the edge. Fingers
>should be gently (comfortably) curled.
>
> ______________
> / ~~ /
> / @@ /
> hand-> O=====\ | | / tabletop
> &forearm /_____\|_|____/
> | |
> ====o |
> | |---|
> | | |
>
>
> 2) Raise the hand up and down 10-15 times
>
> 3) Repeat with palm facing down.
>
> 4) Rotate wrist palm up/palm down 10-15 times.
>
> Repeat several times a day.
> After a week without weights, use a 1-lb weight, or a can of soda.
> *Never* use more than 2 lbs. (I never use more than a soda can)
> and never use weights if you have any pain!
>
> Stretches:
> 1) Press palms together, prayer-style
> 2) Press back of hands together, fingers facing down(kind of
> reverse-prayer position)
> 3) Clasp hands with fingers intertwining. Straighten arms in out
> in front, turning palms outward while keeping fingers entwined.
>
>
> If you are not in pain anymore, you might want to try some
>arm-strengthening exercises. I like the arm work in Jane Fonda's
>Total
>Body Sculpting tape, but I keep the weights light (you can do them
>without weights, too). The arm part of the tape should only take about
>15 minutes a day, about 4 days a week. Be sure to do the warm/up and
>stretches, too!
>
> Finally, watch your technique. I think one of the reasons I no
>longer
>have trouble is that I am careful to keep my arms anchored to my sides
>or pressed into my thighs, and to throw with my whole body, not with
>my
>arms/wrists(especially for centering). Lean forward
>from your hips with a straight back, don't hunch over the wheel. And
>make sure you're throwing at 4- or 5 o'clock. (I used to have a
>tendency
>to wander up to 2:00, then my back would start to hurt).
>
> Hope this helps. And, as I said, don't do anything that causes
>pain!
>
> -Taube ("Toby") Wilson
>
>______________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
Ardis Bourland on mon 22 sep 97
Val Cushing told us at a workshop in NYC last spring that he had had problems
with tendonitis from centering by pushing into the clay. He changed the
whole action to reaching around the clay and pulling it toward himself. It
works for him! I kinda like it, too.
Ardis
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