Beading and carpal tunnel....

[Singing Otter]

Hey,

I have carpal tunnel and when making earrings with size 12 delicas I thought my hands were going to fall off. What do you guys do when your hands start to hurt real bad? One lady told me to use sulfur and honey... someone else told me to use clay.... any advice?

[Blackbear]

You know what? This is gonna sound crazy but my dad kinda cured himself of carpal tunnel syndrome. He was in the beginnings of it but what he did has helped me out a whole lot lately. When I can think of it, I simply put my hands together palms touching, fingers pointing up... hold it there for as long as possible, but bringing the heels of your palms down as far as you can without hyperextending your wrists backwards... then I shake them out (rofl..best way I can describe it). If they bother me while I am beading... I work till I can't stand it and then take a break.. heat pad works good or a hot rocks bag.
And if you don't know what a hot rocks bag is, you might know it better as a wheat bag. But you can make yourself one of those. just make a nice pillow form and fill it 3/4 of the way with buckwheat and or rice. You can make a nice mixture of buckwheat, dry corn, rice, flaxseed and lavender. You put the bag in the microwave for 2 minutes and then it will give off a nice steamy kinda heat for about 20 minutes... and a nice odor if you use herbs or lavender. You can also freeze this bag for a not as cold as an ice pack relief.

[dreamer]

I have some trouble with sore wrists / hands, partly because I work on a computer all day, but then in the evening I come home and do beadwork and crochetting. ;)

One thing that I find is that if I stretch my hands out and stretch my wrists, that helps. i try to take a small break every, say, 20 or 30 minutes, when I'm beading. I stretch my fingers out and move my wrists around, kind of rotating them. Part of the problem is caused by your fingers being in one position for long periods of time (either typing or beading), so just varying that can help. Also, sometimes massaging your wrist and applying heat can help too, at least for me.

[OLChemist]

Ouch! Been there, done that, and have the wrist braces to show for it.

When I was beading to help pay bills, I started having pain. One of my housemates was a signed language interpreter, and carpal tunnel is the big career ender in her field. She saw me dropping things when I moved my hand a certain way and laid down the law:)

Doing a variety of motions is a big preventative. Stop every twenty minutes or so and just rotate or stretch your wrists and arms. OSHA, I think, has some excerises on their website. If you don't have a wrist rest for your keyboard, get one. (They are a $10 investment that can save $$$ preventing surgery. Sorry company safety officcer speaking again:) ) Using the braces that take the pressure off the nerves can help a lot. It is nearly impossible to work in them, but sleeping in them cleared my problems right up.

If you are having tingling or numbness, don't mess around. This is an indication of pending premanent nerve damage. Please see your doctor.

[Smeshigaud]

Like OlChemist, I use braces too when I sleep and it has made a major difference! I used to get numb and tingly when I was typing or even writing on a desk. I would be up in the middle of the night crying cuz my hands and my forearm was so numb it hurt. The braces really helped. I sleep thru the night now and I can type and write with only having a numbing moment in a great while. Maybe you should look into braces and see how it works for you.

Stretches and moving your wrists around should help out enough. I haven't tried beading but I can imagine the type of problems I may have with my hands once I start.

Good Luck

[MissGolightly]

I used to play piano a lot (that's how I payed for most of my bills in college) and got carpal tunnel from that. I never did surgery or cortisteroid shots (didn't want to) so I worked on my hands and wrists with a therapist. I probably will have to have surgery in the future, but for now, I'm good. I just have some weird instances with it now, like my hand getting stuck in the claw formation after writing with a pen or pencil (no problems typing or beading though--I'm not going to complain about that). Anyway, the best things to do are hand and wrist exercises and rest if your hand is getting numb or if you have pain there. At night you can sleep with a wrist brace on. Of course you can have it on during the day too, but sometimes it limits your movement.

[Tibiki Kinew]

Re: Beading and carpal tunnel....

Originally posted by Singing Otter
Hey,

I have carpal tunnel and when making earrings with size 12 delicas I thought my hands were going to fall off. What do you guys do when your hands start to hurt real bad? One lady told me to use sulfur and honey... someone else told me to use clay.... any advice?

There are two products out there that can help you as well, Glucousamine and Alfalfa Leaf tablets. They also help to heal in the early stages of carpal tunnel and even ligament and joint problems. I use the keyboard all daylong and believe me without it I wouldn't be able to do diddly squat. While I do my carving or beading it has increased my spead with the needle and even with picking up tiny parts. Try it for a month and then see the difference.