[Artemisia] Preserving My Hands

[Theodora (AKA Rachael)]

Aurora (and everyone else who is following this thread) - 
I use healing balms containing Arnica and (I think) calendula.  The stuff I use I got from Montana, but you can get stuff similar to it from Wild Oats.  It is great for soothing the savage wrists and forearms.  I cannot use anything with menthol or eucalyptus (like Ben Gay or Absorbine) on my skin, so this works well, too. I usually loosely wrap my arms with an ace bandage or something after applying the salve to keep the warmth in.  It makes it work a little better in my opinon, but YMMV.

I do not use hand-eze gloves because they don't fit well, but I have heard that others have had really good luck with them.

There are also some stretches you can do that help relax the muscles after you have been working.  Remind me and I will show you the ones that work for me.

What Marco said about how you do things is really important.  Body mechanics has made a huge difference to me.  I looked at how i was holding calligraphy pens and sewing needles.  I also looked at how I was sitting, and didn't think about how much of a difference that would make in my hands.

Anyway, let me know if you want me to show you some stuff that has helped me.

~thea

"You are all learners, doers, teachers."  -Richard Bach

 --- On Fri 01/13, Dawn Tavares < dtavares1 at hotmail.com > wrote:


This question is aimed primarily at needleworkers, but I suspect it's applicable to anyone who does work that requires fine manual motor control. All opinions welcome.<br><br>Between arts & science projects, Xmas presents, and garb construction I've <br>been doing a lot of hand sewing lately. More and more I've been feeling soreness around the wristbone directly below my smallest finger as well as tightness in the muscles of my forearm. Taking more frequent breaks and doing upper body stretches does help, but not as much as I'd hoped. It also slows me down.

I'm thinking of wearing one of those Hand-Eze gloves recommended for quilters who suffer carpal tunnel or tendonitis. Has anybody used one of these? Is it worth the effort and money? Or do you get better results from some other method? Pain cremes, specific exercises, a certain frame....

I'm trying to teach my off-hand to stitch, but it's slow going.

Many thanks,
<twinge>
Aurora de Portugal
Loch Salann 

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