Cases and carpel tunnel

[qndrgnsdd]

Ron asked a while back about case makers. I met this maker at a gun show in Puyallup WA. I thought he did a passable job on the cases he had at the show. His name is Ron Heltsley his e-mail ramar01@comcast.net I leave it up to you if he is up to FEGA standards.
If I had known you were going to send me a book jam packed with such super information I would have ponied up the $50 years ago! There is one item that I need to weigh in on and that is the brief section on tendonitis and carpel tunnel syndrome. If you have had tendonitis/tennis elbow/etc. and have an elbow band continue to wear it It will help prevent a recurrence. If you are having numb hands, first be sure it is not you neck that is causing the problem. If you can make the numb go away by stretching your back and neck then it is your neck. If not do not run to the doctor! It has been my experience that doctors will not tell you how to prevent something that they have a "treatment" for especially if that treatment is expensive like surgery. Now don't get me wrong here there are times when the ONLY recourse is to a good surgeon. Carpel tunnel syndrome is only irreversable in its very advanced stages ie. after much scar tissue is built up.
First what is the cause? The cause is doing the same thing over and over especially gripping (Gee, that sounds like engraving!) What happens when you do a muscle action over and over? Those muscles get bigger, and bigger and harder etc. Eventually this will cause pinching of nerves, scartissue around nerves and damage to the myelin sheath of the nerve fibres (carpel tunnel syndrome) The cure is to also excercise the opposite set of muscles, and the good news is that it does not take equal time! Get a large rubber band and loop it around your fingers and thumb. this will be resistance. Them ungrip, open your fingers against the resistance of the rubber band. It will hurt at first. Keep doing it until you can ungrip 50 times. Then do it a little every day and you will have good healthy working hands for life. any questions?....Owen

 

[Tim Wells]

That makes sense. I've known two girls that avoided the surgery by taking vitamin B-50 complex daily and it cured them; your results may vary.

Both my boys were born there in Puyallup and it took me a while to learn to pronounce that name correctly, (like a native, not a Kentuckian). I miss those big Doug Firs and Hemlocks and the airpark I lived on in Buckley, but I get to go back every year to get a dose of rain...

 

[grizz]

carple tunnel

This is Grizz and this is my experince or non experince.

This also is my first real post but it might be of some help.
I have been engraving for 37 years. In the begining my hands used to go to sleep and at night I thought I was haveing a heart attack. I would wake up with my whole right arm numb. I would twist my arm around a while and then I could feel the blood comming back. All would be well for a while. Now this was in the early 70's before the words carple tunnel were put together. So, one day I menchened this to a nursey friend of mind and she told me to stop sleeping with my hands balled up in fists. In other words sleep with your hands flat so they can't curl up. That was about 30 years ago and I have never had any trouble what so ever sence. So that's my story and I am sticking to it. I was mostly push engraving cowboy style for the first 20 years and then I discovered electric mussel.

Give it a try
Grizz

 

[FL-Flinter]

Mine is too far along for cutting and I've got other issues that prevent them from operating anyway.

The finger spreading is good, it works even if you're as bad as me, doesn't cure it but does afford some relief from the pain. I was told keep arms strait out in front, spread the fingers as far as possible then work the wrist up and down then rotate. Do it about ten times on each hand and repeat the process several times throughout the day.

I started with the tingling (sleep) then some mild discomfort. Got progressively worse over a few months then the pain started. Nerve damage in my neck & shoulders compounded the issue, last testing I had done also confirmed ulnar nerve damage as well. Add in the OA and it's a wonderful combination...not

Hard wrist splints worn while sleeping help too.

 

[Dave London]

Yes you should sleep with your hands flat not bent inwards. or use the splints. I had the surgery for both hands and after five + years still no pain. At least not from carpla tunnel

 

[Ron Smith]

Just as some one just explained, I think stretching and using your hands for other things too is essential. I have pushed a palm tool for forty years and have never had a lot of trouble with anything but autheritis. I went through a period of pretty good pain with that for a while, but I am over it I think. I don't settle for believing anything is permenent. You r body makes changes as you do, so you don't have to believe that these conditions are permenent once you are diagnosed. When I start hurting, I now try to get up and do something physical to use the principal of reverse mussle control. Also, with a name like Ron, how can you lose? You have to be a nice guy, talented, with a sharp wit and much potential............Ha Ha............

Ron S

 

[qndrgnsdd]

Yeah! right on Ron! It is very much in the attitude and applying a few sensible principles!!....Owen