[Artemisia] Preserving My Hands

[Dawn Tavares]

Wow. I had no idea repetitive-motion manual injury was so widespread in this 
kingdom. I’m glad I asked.

Thank you for all the responses. My apologies for not returning to this 
thread sooner; I’ve been limiting my keyboard time until the pain became 
more manageable. The hands are still twingeing, but not as often and not as 
‘deep’–and, oddly enough, not in the same places.


>>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? <<

THL Constance de la Rose answered first:
>I bought two pair of those gloves ... Still don't know how something so 
>lightweight can work but they do. <

Baroness Antoinette added:
>I asked and was told the idea behind them was that the material trapped 
>heat around your wrists and kept the blood vessels open.... Apparently 
>keeping your hands and wrists in the same basic position ...constricts 
>blood flow and that is what leads to carpul tunnel and other problems.
>
>I actually use the hand-eze gloves at work. ...I spend most of the day 
>typing and get sore wrists if I do not use them. The only drawback I have 
>found is after several hours your hands can get a bit sweaty. But I 
>consider that a very small price to pay to alleviate pain. <

Elsbet in Sleggja recommended:
>That little bit of extra support seems to go a long way. Be sure to get one 
>in a size that is snug on you! I started with a Medium size and ended up 
>going back for the Small size for extra support.  <

I did manage to locate a single Hand-eze glove over the weekend. (Apparently 
Joanne’s is clearing them out because they just don’t sell.) It’s a size 3 
small, in beige tones that could be mistaken for flesh tones at ten feet... 
so it won’t look too glaringly out of place at events. I’ve been wearing it 
to work and whenever I stitch. It doesn’t interfere with my range of motion, 
and in this weather it doesn’t trap enough heat to make me uncomfortable. 
The benefit is gradual: I still have to take more frequent breaks than I 
like, but the pain has faded and the muscles relaxed over the course of a 
week. Today is the first day I’ve come to work without the glove–and I wish 
I’d worn it.

A couple of minor drawbacks: The beige fabric shows every speck of dirt, so 
it needs to be handwashed (NPI) every evening. It dries by morning if I lay 
it on a towel. Also, the seam between the thumb and forefinger began to 
irritate the webbing against my thumb, so I turned the glove inside-out and 
wore it with the seams showing. No big deal, but I am a bit concerned that 
some loose threads are working out of the seams already.

I plan to snap up another glove as soon as I find one. The left hand is 
twingeing now that I’ve moved my mouse pad from the right side of the screen 
to the left. I’ll be taking ibuprofen before bedtime as insurance against 
tomorrow’s needlework classes at Collegium.


Bronwen from the North suggested:
>not only do they work, but the Historical Museum has a pair from the 1940s 
>knit out of an Army green  fine wool in the kind of stitch you make for 
>wrist cuffs.... The 'glove' is tube-shaped with an opening on the one side 
>(where you stitch it closed) for the thumb. Should come just over your 
>knuckles (at the palm) and about 3" above your wrist. I tried them out and 
>found that the warmth helps as well.<

Oh, cool. I’ll have to experiment with making a pair for cold-weather 
events. I suspect they look like the forerunner of nordic mittens.


Marco dei Caprioli said:
>here's another take on it from somebody who handstitches way more than a 
>man was meant to:

And just how much *is* a man meant to handstitch? >:)

>analyze your movements carefully. ...you may be making counter-productive 
>movements in the process of stitching and gripping things too hard. 
>maintain your wrist stance and grip the needle with your middle finger and 
>thumb. also, try not to involve any unnecessary wrist articulation in your 
>stitch technique and purge your hands of unnecessary tension. <

I think it’s more likely my posture is out of whack than my hand motions. I 
do most of my stitching curled up in one corner of my couch, resting the 
work on the arm of the couch that’s directly beneath the lamp, with various 
cats settling into my lap and draping themselves over my shoulders. (Yes, 
it’s a wonder I’ve survived this long.) What kind of chair and table do you 
use?


Mistress Thea offered:
>I use healing balms containing Arnica and (I think) calendula. 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.<

Funny you should mention that. I’ve read about arnica cremes being used to 
speed the healing of bruises, but not for overused muscles. If arnica works 
by improving blood flow to the injury, that would make sense. I found some 
eucalyptus-based arthritis relief creme under my sink; it seemed to warm 
without burning, and the scent dissipated by next morning.


Lady Bethoc gets to have the last word:
>... if you are suffering from carpal or cubital tunnel... one of the first 
>things a doctor will do is put you into some sort of a 'support' 
>mechanism... and will have you use your hands as little as possible for 10 
>- 15 days... the purpose of this is to 'rest' the overstrained muscles and 
>relieve the pressure on the nerves. Carpal and cubital tunnel come from the 
>same source...chronic repetitive motion... the only thing you can do to 
>relieve this is what you are already doing... taking breaks doing exercises 
>that force your hands, arms, shoulder... to move in an entirely different 
>direction. Most importantly... rest the muscles.... this not only affects 
>the hands, but can also cause problems with the entire arm, shoulder, etc. 
><
>
>http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/brochure/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=5&topcategory=Hand


Aha. So the stitch (NPI) I was feeling in my left lower back last week was 
actually the first warning sign. I thought it was just my body’s reaction to 
the cold. Or middle age.

Time to force myself back to yoga class. Maybe I ought to take up Reiki?


Aurora de Portugal
Loch Salann

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