Susan T. Liao on sun 9 nov 97
Hello to all,
I'm taking my first ceramics course and I've been throwing on the wheel
2-3 times a week for the past month.
Around that same time I began experiencing some mild discomfort in my
wrists. I also spend a great deal of time working at the computer (3-5
hours/day for the past 3 years) which only aggravates the pain.
Since I've never experienced this kind of discomfort before I started
throwing, my theory is that a combination of wedging and centering a few
times a week has pushed my wrists to the limit.
There has been a lot of attention on using ergonomically correct computer
products and improving typing posture to prevent problems such as
repetitive strain injury (RSI) and carpel tunnel syndrome.
My question is this: Wedging and centering take certain skill and
technique, does poor technique == wrist pain? I would welcome any
suggestions on ways to reduce the strain that I put on my wrists.
Thanks,
Susan
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401 Edwards Hall | Princeton, NJ 08544 | 609.258.7890
sueliao@princeton.edu
taube wilson on sat 5 dec 98
Cynthia,
There have been threads on this topic from time to time.
Check out:
http://www.potters.org/categories.htm
Look under:
Safety -> Health -> Tendonitis
Safety -> Health -> Carpal Tunnel
In particular, there was a suggestion that someone
learned at a Val Cushing seminar to center by pulling
the clay toward you rather than pushing it away. Sometime
after reading that I had the privelege to attend a
Val Cushing seminar myself and got to watch him do this.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to make it work for me,
although I'm still trying. Bracing my elbows against my
legs/body seems to help. For the record, Val Cushing was
a football player in his youth and has a very powerful
upper body.
A few years ago I went through a 6-month period of recurring
tendonitis which I eventually recovered from through wrist exercise
(see "tendonitis" section of archive). Now I always start out
centering by leaning into the clay with my left hand, left
elbow jammed into my side (almost into my stomach) and the
side of my right hand pressing down on the top of the clay.
My right hand leans towards and touches my left hand.
I'm usually leaning a bit to the left when I do this. This
calms the clay down just enough that I can cone up with ease.
Also, when throwing large amounts of clay, just cone the very
top, then as that part is centered gradually work your way
down, coning more and more clay until the whole piece is centered.
(This can take a while).
Also, I never throw very hard clay.
When you do the exercises, be sure not to hyperextend - just move
your wrist about halfway (you'll see what I mean when you read
the archive.
Good luck, and I hope this helps.
Taube Wilson in Annandale, Va.
tpottery@hotmail.com
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Brenda Woods on sun 6 dec 98
Dear Cynthia,
It sounds like you have tendonitis or bursitis or both.
Use the RICE method. Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Rest your
wrists and use those velcro splinting devices you probably have seen people
wearing around town for support and compression. I sometimes have wrist and
elbow pain so I wrap mine with ace bandages for short periods i.e. 30
minutes to and hour or longer. I put ice on them to force the swelling out
of the area and elevate them to help with this process.
Sometimes I alternate heat and ice (20 min. of heat and 20 minutes with
neither and twenty minutes of ice) and this will make my wrists and elbow
feel so much better.
I have also read in certain publications that Vitamin B6 is often prescribed
by doctors for the problem along with anti-inflamatory type medications like
asprin or anaprox although I am not sure about the doseages you could ask
your personal M.D.
I hope that you feel better.
Brenda Woods : )
Carolyn Cooper on mon 7 dec 98
At 11:05 AM 12/5/98 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Cynthia,
> There have been threads on this topic from time to time.
>Check out:
> http://www.potters.org/categories.htm
>
>Look under:
> Safety -> Health -> Tendonitis
> Safety -> Health -> Carpal Tunnel
>
>In particular, there was a suggestion that someone
>learned at a Val Cushing seminar to center by pulling
>the clay toward you rather than pushing it away.
I was also having some problems with sore wrists, particularly since I
work with computers all day and have reptitive motion activities all day
and now all night. This semester I took a great class at UCSD Craft Center
with Ed Thompson who taught us a method of centering. Not only do you brace
your elbow into your thigh/inner hip or side, but he pointed out that by
using the force of the spinning wheel instead of your upper body strength,
you reduce the stress on your wrist. Simply brace your left arm against
your hip or side (which ever is most comfortable). Now use your right hand
to press the clay against the palm of your left hand which is at around 7-9
o'clock position (this assumes your wheel is spinning in the Western
counter-clockwise rotation). 99% of the pressure should come form the right
hand pressing against the left hand, *however, 99% of the force is coming
from the wheel's rotation pushing the clay against your left palm. The same
thing when you bring the cone down again. The right hand pushes against the
left pam which will cause the clay to spread at the base but don't panic --
you push this back in at the end. I hoep to tape this process in the winter
quarter and try to get it posted in a web site. I'll let you know if I
succeed. It's really helped me both reduce the stress on my wrists and
throw larger amounts of clay.
Good luck!
Donn Buchfinck on mon 7 dec 98
I wanted to comment on this subject because I have some of the same problems.
first let me say that other countries like Australia look at repetitive motion
injuries different than we do in the states.
I have wrist pain at times, and the worst was when I was a cashier at a health
food store. bagging groceries and throwing pots made for a hard time.
LOOK AT THE WAY YOU ARE THROWING
are you hyperextending your wrists
when centering keep your wrists straight, not bent, one of the worst things I
did was to use my left hand to push on my right hand to center, thus bending
the wrist and putting great pressure on it.
sit as close to the wheel as you can get and lean over the wheel so your
forehead is beyond the center of the wheelhead. this changes the center of
gravity and uses your back instead of your mucles to center
CENTERING IS A STATE OF MIND NOT GREAT FORCE
the force you put on the clay can come back at you, the clay is not doing
anything you are not doing, the clay is a mirror, throwing your force back at
you, if you are doing it with bad form then you will hurt yourself.
BAGGED INDUSTRIAL CLAY IS DANGEROUS
commercaily pugged clay is under great pressure and it would help both you and
the pots to spiral wedge the clay a little before throwing
both so it relaxes the thrower and relaxes and loosens up the clay for
throwing
IF YOU ARE NOT VERY ACTIVE WITH YOR HANDS ALL THE TIME ATTACKING THE CLAY CAN
STRESS YOUR WRISTS
exercise is important, remember how we feel when we start to exercise, in the
beggining we are sore, but with time our body gets used to it. do push ups,
it's the best exercise for the wrists.
DIET IS IMPORTANT
red meat, salt, caffiene, dairy products, high frutose corn surup
products/sodas, candy and such can cause problems, a B complex vitamin is
recomended to help with carpel tunnell syndrom
IF IT HURTS STOP
we are not high school football players where there is no gain without pain.
If your body hurts , stop and look at why, are you pushing yourself too much,
are you too aggressive, does your approach need to change, you can be anyway
you want to be, but if it injures you, and in the end you can't do it at all,
then maybe it is time to rethink your approach.
BUILD BREAKS INTO THE WORK CYCLE
tea breaks, snacks, juggling is great, and wedge only a few balls at a time so
you have to get up and wedge more. Breaks are a great way for a potter to get
up from the wheel and stretch the body.
Relax pottery is supposed to be fun and relaxing.
I hope this helps, here in the USA I feel we have what I call an injury
mentality, we push ourselves too hard too soon too fast, and we do not head
the warning signs when our bodies start to send us messages. Then we goto a
doctor to fix the problem and they tell us that it is time for the knife.
Where'as in the beggining if we focus on good form and technique, good
posture, and we learn to pace ourselves, we can have a long and healthy life
potting at the wheel.
Leaving for Spain on the 7th and returning on the 30th
have a happy Christams everyone
Donn Buchfinck
San Francisco, CA.
Kristin Doner on wed 9 dec 98
I have lived with the dreaded Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (bi-lateral)
for the last 20 years, eight of which have been working with clay...
I would like to add to the good advice that has been mentioned
already.
The most pro-active measures that made the biggest difference
for me are these:
- always be conscious of when some activity is bothering
your hands
- when something bothers them, immediately stop and
assess as many of the aspects of that activity as you can
- take measures to change at least some of the aspects
focusing on what has worked in the past... i.e., changing
an angle, tool, or part of the hand/arm used
- every time you notice the disturbance, take time to
"shake" it out, by relaxing your arms at your sides and
just gently shaking
that's my 2 cents worth.
k
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Kristin Doner
mudwoman@lmi.net
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