[TheForge] Rodent Wrist

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> My rodent wrist has gotten worse, I spent the afternoon at the ER, I was
> doing some hammering and lost my grip on the hammer. My wrist swollen up
> and then I went to the ER. They gave me some anti-inflamitories and told
me
> to keep my appointment with my hand doctor.
> Plus they told me to stop hammer, telling an artist of fire and iron to do
> that, you might as well pee on my anvil.
>
> Jerry, better known as lefty

Jerry, I don't know if this will help, but it may be worth a try. At least,
it's not very expensive ;-) Yesterday, I was helping cook for a big SCA
event, and, since I'm pretty good at carving, I was put to carving up the 21
beef roasts for the second course. I was supplied with an electric knife,
which, bar none, was the most ergonimicly incorrect tool I have every tried
to use. In addition to its handle, which was WAY too large (and yes, I have
fairly large hands), it had a safety switch on it that required you to hold
it strangely, in addition to pulling the trigger, and to top things off, the
blade was angled oddly, so in addition to my wrist being in a bind, my whole
arm was configured oddly, so everything else was tiring rapidly as well.

The first roast was doable, but uncomfortable. By the third roast the pain
started. By the 6th roast, I had to check with the Head Cook on the intended
timimg, and take a break- I was in so much pain that I couldn't continue-
and I don't have anything in partiular wrong with my wrist- and I have a
fairly high pain tolerance.

At the suggestion of one of the other cooks, I borrowed a wrist brace from
Jaji, the head cook. All it was, was a black and elasticized band that
velcroed closed, and supported my wrist.

It was wonderful. Not only was I able to pick up the damned electric knife
and continue, but I was able to finish the other 15 roasts conveniently, and
use my wrist fror the other things that needed doing (when you're cooking
for 200 people, you don't use 1 qt saucepans - a lot of the equipment is
pretty bloody huge- 20 gallon stockpots and the like ;-)

At the end of the event, I asked Jaji about the bands, and they're for sale
at Walmart for about $12, in the section dealing with things like ergonomic
shoe inserts, near the pharmacy.

My suggestion, then, is two-fold:

Have someone watch you when you're hammering next time, to make sure you're
using your biceps to do the work, instead of your wrists- many people hammer
wrong- males are particularly susceptible to doing that sort of thing,
because you tend to be able to compensate for inefficient movements with
your larger muscle mass- was very obvious in horseshoeing school.

And second, try one of those wrist braces. At the price, it's worth finding
out if they'll either help, or maybe even cause your wrist problems to
disappear. A little support can be a wonderful thing ;-)

Saint Phlip,
CoD

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....



-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.6.9 - Release Date: 1/6/05