Hand injuries/Wrist support?

ExcessiveZero

after being roped into helping out some family and having to mix concrete in a bucket with a broken shovel which was rather tough on my wrist and hand i've been left with some hand pain which feels like its originating from the metacarpal bones, its on the level of bruising I would say so im still doing CG and such but in a few spurts atm.

I have had several hand injuries before but have never found a very good wrist support, I never really have suffered with carpal tunnel but stuff that prevents that is a plus, was just wondering if anyone had any recommendations (other than the obvious avoid mixing concrete by hand :P) for a good support to get or managing minor hand injuries as i'm worried my boredom leading me to do more things may be exacerbating injury.

pior

Hi there - hope you will get better soon.

We discussed the topic a bit recently here :
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2056145

I have to admit that I don't quite understand the idea of a special wrist support to begin with ... I have seen people at various jobs wearing braces/wrist wraps but it always seemed to me like this solution was addressing the symptoms rather than the cause .

I remember suffering from very strong daily wrist pain back when using a regular tablet because of the rock steady hand required to make precise marks, to a point where I needed an hour break before going back to it. Investing in a 21UX Cintiq was well worth it as it took all the pain away, so that would be the one thing I would recommend from personal experience.

imyj

I've worn a wrist strap before when I sprained my wrist one time after heavy lifting, bought myself a wrist support from the local pharmacy and it helped a lot. Healed after a couple of weeks and was able to continue as normal. I tried two, I'd recommend a full-wrist strap with the support plate, the other one I tried looked more like a sweatband.

For those who have experienced wrist pain through work, as pior says, it's vital to identify the root of the problem and address that instead.

iconoplast

As a budget-friendly short term solution, you can buy a pool noodle. Slit it lengthwise and cut it to the length of your desk (or however much of it you want to cover).

ExcessiveZero

iconoplast wrote: »

As a budget-friendly short term solution, you can buy a pool noodle. Slit it lengthwise and cut it to the length of your desk (or however much of it you want to cover).

thats a fantastic idea for wrist support.

jeremiah_bigley

pior wrote: »

I have to admit that I don't quite understand the idea of a special wrist support to begin with ... I have seen people at various jobs wearing braces/wrist wraps but it always seemed to me like this solution was addressing the symptoms rather than the cause .

This.

Even with a wrist brace you are just delaying the day that you will have to face the real problem. I moved from a mouse to a mouse with a brace, to a tablet and have just recently started with a mounted cintiq. Even with all of these adjustments you still deal with pain every so often. They really help but the cause is a lack of flexibility and usage. Muscles and tendons are weak from a life that humans weren't meant to live.

Calisthenics, bar work, and stretches have helped strengthen all of my hand muscles immensely and I can actually work longer periods of time without as much pain.

Kel-Shaded

I weight train often, have a couple of martial art black belts, rock climb for grip strength and I've been at this for years, all of which help but don't relieve.
I've rotated through a ton of supports, tablets, braces and ergonomic mice also

I've been using a trackball for the past month or so, it takes some getting used to, gradually increasing the sensitivity as you get accustomed to it, but its the only 'solution' to the wrist pain problems i've found.

Baj Singh

Pretty much replaced the mouse with the Wacom, I've found this has helped a ton. Using a mouse feels really strange now though....

cptSwing

Has anyone here ever used a Evoluent VerticalMouse maybe? I'd love to hear some feedback from fellow 3d'ers.

http://www.evoluent.com/

ExcessiveZero

must not of been too clear >.< im fine now btw dug through my stuff and found a boxing wrap wore that yesterday and slept with it on and have been good this morning.

I use a wacom and am generally fine, no carpal tunnel and such i've used a computer for more years of my life now then I have not, lift weights too, was just looking for a sort of strap to hold onto incase I injure it again away from CG, as I hate being gimped.

that vertical mouse strikes me as bizarre yet intriguing lol

iconoplast

My husband uses the aforementioned pool noodles and a vertical mouse. He swears by both. (He had been using a trackball but it started to bother him.) I've used the vertical mouse on his system a few times, though not for 3d. It's really strange to hold on to at first, but I could see using it regularly and there's nothing about it that I think would cause problems.

foreverendering

I've been using the Evoluent Vertical Mouse for almost 4 years now and it made a drastic difference for me in terms of wrist pain. Once I started using it I felt instant relief. It's gotten to the point where my wrist feels completely fine now.

The only time it starts to get sore is if I try going back to a regular mouse for extended periods of time. I tried using a regular mouse for a couple months recently to see how it felt, and the same issues started to return so I've switched back again to the Evo.

The vertical mouse took a week or two to get used to when I first bought it. The accuracy with it isn't quite as good as with a regular mouse. Sometimes I will slightly overshoot when try to click something. It's probably around 95% accuracy.

Overall a great mouse, I highly recommend it if you have any wrist pain.