Arm and Wrist Pain - how did you dealt with them?
polycounter lvl 6
Recently I decided to get back into 3D after abandoning it for as much as a decade, and today after only 6 hours of Blender, I was swiftly reminded why I had to drop it in the first place - arm pain, specifically in these two places here:
I already know how this is going to play out - my arm will feel weaker and the discomfort increase day after day, until just 1-2 hours will be enough to shut me down for the day, and I'll see no choice but to put 3D aside again.
I really don't want this to repeat, I'm kind of desperate to do more, and I know mentally I could do this 12 hours a day no problem, but my body just won't allow that, so I'm looking for solutions to this.
I already know how this is going to play out - my arm will feel weaker and the discomfort increase day after day, until just 1-2 hours will be enough to shut me down for the day, and I'll see no choice but to put 3D aside again.
I really don't want this to repeat, I'm kind of desperate to do more, and I know mentally I could do this 12 hours a day no problem, but my body just won't allow that, so I'm looking for solutions to this.
This is probably a common issue among artists, so I would like to hear from people that suffered from this and recovered, and to know what worked for you, before I try something stupid and risk to injury myself further.
Also, having asked something similar a decade ago, I know one of the reactions can be "why you're asking us instead of a specialist?" - and that's fair.
...this is a bit embarrassing to say, but being a hikikomori, that's essentially outside the things I can put up with.
So please, share with me what worked for you so that I can try something different this time.
Thank you in advance.
Also, having asked something similar a decade ago, I know one of the reactions can be "why you're asking us instead of a specialist?" - and that's fair.
...this is a bit embarrassing to say, but being a hikikomori, that's essentially outside the things I can put up with.
So please, share with me what worked for you so that I can try something different this time.
Thank you in advance.
Replies
Hi, I´ve also abandoned 3d for almost 10 years for very similar reasons (my problem was more palm oriented, "trigger finger"). There´s this thread that could have some answers/tips for you: https://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2731090#Comment_2731090
I also posted there, if I were to sum up my advice:
1 - Use vertical mouse - it helped me a lot and seeing which areas are your areas of concern - this might be the game-changer. If you haven´t tried it yet, you´ll notice the relief very quickly. Make sure you´re holding it correctly, I´ve seen people having a vertical mouse and they were holding it on the top as a regular mouse.
2 - Try to avoid mouse clicking (especially clicking and holding mouse wheel - you won´t even notice it, but you´ll need to use more force to press it/keep it pressed and it´s a huge finger/wrist killer. even switching the position of your finger from left button to wheel is hurting your hand) and use pedals instead (I use usb triple foot switch - you can have your left/right/middle buttons programmed to it and it´s a huge hands saver)
3 - exercise. I haven´t met a doctor who´d suggest any stretching exercises (and I asked...). So I went "F them all" and googled. I followed this video and it helped me a lot:
4 - sticky keys - I stopped using it completely, the first two points helped me to a point I completely stopped even doing the exercises, but using sticky keys is very helpful for repetitive actions. Mostly organization of your folders etc., but you could find other use for it too, like having your "shift" or "ctrl" button "pressed" for selecting multiple objects or vertices in a scene etc.
5 - if you´re using tablet, make sure you´re holding the pen right. I´ve been holding the wacom pen the wrong way and I´d love to travel back in time and kick my own a** for that.
I´d like to hear whether you´ve tried any of these already (especially the vertical mouse - as cruel as it sounds, but I really hope you haven´t tried it yet, because it is a game-changer when it comes to health of your hands/arms and if you haven´t tried it - there´s a huge hope, almost certainty that you´ll find a relief for your hands/arms). Good luck!
2. Compression gloves/braces and the equivalent for the elbow.
3. Vitamin supplements with ingredients specifically for joint and tendon health as well as exercises to strengthen the tendons.
4. This one's obvious but we all forget to do it - take breaks.
@Benjammin I'm thinking I'll be setting a timer, take a 15 minute break every hour, how does it sounds? Too much?
Previously I had Pan(Mouse side-button), RotateView(RMB), Zoom(Shift+RMB), so most of the strain was on the mouse hand - I've rebalanced those to be: Pan(Mouse side-button), RotateView(Space), Zoom(Q). And also will be consciously avoiding scroll wheel, I might just go and disable it actually.
Never used a vertical mouse, but having a 60gr mouse, I worry switching to an heavier one will cause a different type of strain (as I've seen some Vertical Mouse users complaining about).
With that in mind, I've tried to reach out to them.
But to be honest I'm very skeptical, like in one of the question when you try to book a consultation, they ask "How many USD $$$ have you spent in trying to solve the issue"?
And I'm like "...why are you trying to gauge the size of my wallet? Can we just focus on solving the issue?"
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