Strain on wrists and hands

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Hi there,

I am a reflexologist and my hands and arms get very tired achy and stiff if I've had a lot of clients. I suppose not to the extent of your brother's, but a useful exercise is to spread all your fingers out as far as they can go on your lap and then quickly clench your fist. Do about 20 of these regulary throughout the day. Another one is place your hands together in front of your face (like you are about to pray!), arms up and elbows at 90 degrees, and press your hands together. You should feel the pressure on your arms and hands.

Hope this helps.

Sara x

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Hello Tobia

Like Sarah, I am a reflexologist. I have occasionally suffered tension and pain in my hands and wrists after a busy day. If they are particularly uncomfortable, I massage my hands, wrists and arms with Basil oil. I have also recommended this to a client that suffers with RSI (Repetative Strain Injury) in her wrists and she found it very useful. She also benefited from a couple of sessions of deep tissue massage on her arms and suggested the therapist used the basil essential oil.

The only other suggestions might be total rest for the hands/wrists for a couple of days...not very practical, I know, but worth trying for a weekend.

I hope your brother finds relief soon.

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Hi Jan and Sara

Many many thanks for your suggestions. I mentioned them to him last night and his wife is looking for some basil oil today to try out on him 🙂

Sx

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

When I get strain on my wrists, it is normally the because my tendons are overly stretched. I find my extensors, mainly the brachioradialis are really strained, so I use very warming massage. It helps instantly and painful areas to touch on the wrist are gone.

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Hi Angel, thats really helpful, thank you.

Could I ask how you carry out the warming massage? Is it using some kind of device or oil or simply with warm hands? Forgive my ignorance!

S

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Dear T S

I was really worried a while ago as I have carpal Tunnel syndrome developing, with fingers going numb and pain in the wrists and hands. A real nightmare for reflexologists and other therapists.

I found an accupressure book and the recommended points to massage are 3 finger widths up from the wrist join, right in the centre between the bones. The same as for sea sickness. I worked these a couple of times and felt an immediate improvement, now I can keep the pain at bay, although not cured I can use my hands with no problems, thank goodness.

Hope others may find this useful.

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Hi there,

When studying massage I developed pains in my thumb joints and wrists. I saw a specialist who informed me that I had some arthritis. I didn't want to jeopardise my gripping future[sm=nono.gif], so I made a choice to change and trained in coaching and stress management instead. That way I'll only wear my jaw out. We only have one pair of hands and once damage is done there's no going back. Perhaps an examination would throw some more light on the problem, just a suggestion. Since stopping massage the pain has practically gone for now. Cod liver oil is supposed to be good for joints. I'll certainly be trying some these suggestions.

Good luck for your brother, S[sm=wave.gif]

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Hi there,
I am a reflexologist and also an aromatherapist, and I have had to virtually give up all massage as myhands hurt so much afterwards. Yes, it is Carpel Tunnel and par for the course when you use your hands like this.

I have been told an op is needed to release the trapped nerve,d but that would mean 6 months off work, 3 months each hand, and I would loose all my clients, so I struggle on. I just hope they last out for another 2 years as I am trying to get some writing off the ground.

Thanks everyone for the tips I shall try to use them.

love

Gillyxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Hi, I am an aromatherapist and reflexologist and I do get problems, especially from the reflex, but I only started that recently and you need to build up. The massage doesn't affect me so much now, except if I do a lot of deep work. I get my business partner who is an osteopath to sort me out with deep work on my arms, acpuncture and osteopathy and am not sure how I would manage without this as I know it would build up. It spreads right up to my shoulder when it gets bad and I have to try to relax my arm as I work so as not to get too bad.

As for osteopaths, Andrew himself doesn't complain about it, maybe you could ask him yourself as he is on here a lot under the name of 'Anahata', sure he would be glad to help you if you email him.:D

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Hi Gilly and all,

Acupuncture or Bowen Technique can be amazingly helpful for RSI, carpal tunnel and the like.
I practice Shiatsu, which luckilly does not involve constant flexing of wrists. However I have to be careful with wrist/thumb alignment since we use thumbs a lot in Shiatsu.

Artemis

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Any sort of manual practitioner or therapist can be prone to 'burn out' for a few years out in the wilderness.

If you care for others - it's very improtant to get care/treatment yourself.

Other things to consider include:

Adapting techinques to best suit self & changing this regularly if need be.

Utilising other bits of body - ie knuckles, elbows, knees - if applying acupressure/inhibition type approaches. 😉

The wrist, RSI, carpal tunnel, elbow thing I've posted on HP elsewhere, so won't repeat here. 😉

Also, on being prone to inflammation. [:@]

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Many thanks all for taking the time to help. I'll get him to have a look at the site and have a think about all your kind suggestions - I think he'd find it a useful resource in his work anyway.

Have a good weekeend all!

Snowflake x

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

🙂 Hi Tobia sorry to hear about your brother He should know how to deal with this problem but if not a visit or phone call to Westminster Uni Euston campus contact Mark Grey should help him out.
Gentle stretching and soft tissue techs are the anwser here you have some very good advice rthere not a lot I can add if he still has dificukty phone me LOL Lionheart

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Just wanted to throw a different view point in here -

firstly has he thought about how much tension he himself is carrying in his body ? And wether he could use less pressure in some way to be kinder to his hands ?
I am a therapist and use my hands all day - I use very soft pressures, partly for the comfort of my clients, but also to protect my hands as well. Massage is obviously different, and no doubt his work means more force is necessary too, but I am very aware that over the years as I have paid attention to and reduced my own tensions, my hands have improved a lot.

The other thing is that I been looking at the role of acidity in the body and how it increases pain levels. Muscle pain is caused by lactic acid build up for example. Has he thought about changing his diet to ensure that his body is not overly acidic ? This could help enormously.
So often the answers are within ourselves, rather than outside.
Love Ru x

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Don't forget that using a computer mouse/keyboard can aggravate Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Gilly! Hope you aren't planning on writing long books and typing them up yourself! 😉

Petal x

Carpal tunnel syndrome is common among computer keyboard users. It can strike anyone, and its consequences are serious. Awareness of the problem and its causes is crucial to preventing CTS. With proper ergonomics and attention to the work routine you can prevent CTS; with early detection and treatment it need never become debilitating. The employer's attention to stress levels, proper ergonomics, and the early warning signs of CTS are important in keeping the ailment at bay in the workplace. More at.....

Many thanks

A million thanks to you all!

I have sent him the link for this site and he has been reading with interest and will be incorporating many of your tips and thoughts into his working methods.

Thank you so much for your help and support

snowflake xx

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

My concerns are a little different. I use my hands alot in my day job (stocking shelves) and then at night when I pursue my passion of playing and performing on the saxophone. My problems are achy thumbs and occationally fingers from opening and closing my hands and picking up items all day. Also, the action of pushiing the octave key down using my left thumb is especially troublesome. I have done a year of Alexander tech. Thanks for whatever help you might have.Keith

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Oddly enough - I'm treating two saxophonists at the moment, both with problems related to & aggravated by playing, but different in nature to yours.

Assuming that it's a quality, well maintained instrument & the springs aren't too stiff.

This sounds like inflammation of joints/tendons, which may be caused by a simple mechanical problem - causing overuse of wrists. i.e. stiffness in elbows, in which case a few osteopathic treatments (I am biased) would most likley sort you out. So would say - the first place to start.
If it's gone on to develop into carpal tunnel syndrome, then that would take longer & may even need surgery.

And/or

You may be prone to inflammation & arthritis (joint inflammation) in which case I would look into food senitivities & intolerance. Suggest you check on the Arthritis & Allergies forums.

Other treatment options for either or both of the above would include TCM or 5 Element acupuncture

Good luck - Andrew.

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Thanks Anahata for your insight. Elbows aren't a problem , just my left and to a smaller degree right thumb. Currently, I drink lots of water, use alexander inhibitions to relax shoulders, arms , fingers while playing and take Cox2 Tame and Mens Super Nutrition pills on a daily basis. I found basil pills and have started to take them. I cut out most caffene from my diet (have to have that morning cup of coffee). Last night I went to dinner before a gig and hands felt good until dinner. Ate a salad with nuts and a vinegerette dressing and some bread with butter. Don't know if anything in all that was a trigger for inflamation. My horn is is gig condition and I lightened the action with a crochet hook so the spring tension is as light as possible. I ordered a Bowen video so mayby my wife can do some of that on me and I had a great shiatsu massage last week where the massuse recommended pilates as an ongoing exercise diciplin/ (sp). So, thats where I'm at. If I didn't like playing so much I wouldn't be so stubborn but I've been in music on various intstruments for 35 years and have a mus ed degree. Thanks for listening. K

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

When I say that there is usually a problem with the elbow - I refer to the function of the elbow. It's a complex joint & not the simple hinge that many think of it as. Also, you probably won't be aware of this, as we only tend to feel pain/discomfort when they become inflamed & then brain prioritises on the more sensitive areas - i.e. hands. [:@]

The supplements & especially the COX2 inhibitors you are taking - at the end of day are only treating the symptoms. Whilst COX2 anti-inflammatories less frequently cause the stomach & gut problems that the common NSAID's (non-steroidal ant-inflammatories) cause, they do still block the inflammatory process. This is all well & good, if it's just to get you thru, while you are address the underlying problems. 😉

Inflammation is an essential part of the healing process - block it, then how can we expect the tissues to heal? [sm=scratchchin.gif]

In short long term use (I'm not suggesting that this is the case) of NSAID's including COX2 inhib's increases the degeneration of the joints. A brave study last year demonstrated this, which was common sense all along. [:o]

With regard to your suscepatbility to inflammation I think you may have answered your own question, when you said:

I went to dinner before a gig and hands felt good until dinner. Ate a salad with nuts and a vinegerette dressing and some bread with butter. Don't know if anything in all that was a trigger for inflamation.

So perhaps you won't think me so mad, when I suggested:

You may be prone to inflammation & arthritis (joint inflammation) in which case I would look into food senitivities & intolerance. Suggest you check on the Arthritis & Allergies forums.

Also, there's more info on NAET link below. You may need to take some time out, but you shouldn't have to give up the thing you love. 😉

Good luck - Andrew.

RE: Strain on wrists and hands

Thanks Andrew, I'll look into it. I didn't realise that the Cox2 and Super Nutrition were cover ups but you may be right. Without them I'm in alot more pain/discomfort from my activities. I thought I was speeding up the healing process but if I'm just covering up the effects of my misuse without doing anything to cure the problem I need to change what I'm doing. I'll look for a local person who can help pursue this allergy aspect further. I have no ego when it comes to doing what it takes to get better. Thanks K