[TheForge] Rodent Wrist

[Steve Smith]

Phlip brings up an excellent point on wrist braces or wrist-wraps. There 
is another place that can be extrememly helpful for "blacksmith's elbow".

Put a wrap around your forearm, just below the elbow. The tendon that 
does all the work picking up the hammer goes across the top of this 
muscle and attaches to the outside of your elbow. The pain is usually 
swelling at the attach point. With no wrap, the attach point takes all 
the stress. If you wrap over the tendon, it has something to push 
against, which relieves the attach point stress. It works about the same 
as the coil wound cables used for gas pedal linkages. You'll have to 
play with it to know how tight--you don't want it so tight it cuts off 
circulation.

Steve

Phlip wrote:

> 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....
> 
> 
>