Carpal Tunnel Question

[Hal Peeler]

I have what I consider mild carpel tunnel syndrome. One of the things that aggravates it the most, making my hands numb and tingly is running a sander. Do any of you experience this and what do you do about it? Would thick gloves help dampen the vibration? Thanks in advance

[Bradley Gray]

gloves help me with anything that vibrates. I have Stihl gloves.

[John Lanciani]

I have the same problem so when I sand for any length of time i wear a glove like this on my dominant hand; http://www.ergodyne.com/products/pages/default.aspx?PCA=24&PRD=86

It is a little cumbersome but it prevents the problem from getting worse. Also, good sanders (I prefer the upper end Bosch line) go a long way towards aleviating the problem.

[Myk Rian]

It might help by wearing a wrist brace to immobilize the wrist.

[Bill Ryall]

I have the same problem so when I sand for any length of time i wear a glove like this on my dominant hand; http://www.ergodyne.com/products/pages/default.aspx?PCA=24&PRD=86

It is a little cumbersome but it prevents the problem from getting worse. Also, good sanders (I prefer the upper end Bosch line) go a long way towards aleviating the problem.

I have the same issue due to some nerve damage/scar tissue from a little mishap a few years ago. ^^^ I'll second this verbatim.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

And find a sander that vibrates very little (as perceived by you). I was told that the Ceros sander is very good for this.... Well, I think that I was told this.

[Harvey Miller]

I found replacing my PC 5" ROS with a Festool ETS helped me. (I also replaced the microliter pipettes I use at work. It's a fairly common problem for bench workers in the biological & medical sciences- my niece is in her twenties has already had surgery for it.)

[Michael Schneider]

As others have said, gloves help.

I also use a light and fast sander.

I use my dynabrade (air sander) when possible, and a mirka when there is no air.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Never regretted one minute for having surgery. Now I need to do right hand.

[al heitz]

Does a wrist brace help? I think there are also some gloves that proce for them.ide anti-vibration - can't name a brand or sour

[Hal Peeler]

Thanks everyone for your help. The ProFlex gloves should be here tomorrow. Can't wait to try them out. I knew it wouldn't take long for someone to suggest a new sander but I'll just have to stick with my PC for now haha.

[Ken Krawford]

It might help by wearing a wrist brace to immobilize the wrist.
This really helps me. Be sure to wear the brace at night. If I don't, often I'll wake up at night in pain and find I've got my wrist flexed.

[Jim Becker]

Anti-vibration (gel) gloves can help ... as can replacing the sander with one that vibrates a lot less. I started with the former and ended up doing the latter. No regrets. And no pain or numbness from sanding anymore. Not inexpensive, of course, but...

[Brice Rogers]

In addition to all of the other good suggestions, I recommend that you Google carpal tunnel exercises. There are a handful of stretching exercises that may help your problem. Also, sleeping at night with an immoblizer is likely to help.

[Lee Schierer]

I used to have this problem with my RO sander. What I learned was I was gripping the sander too firmly and trying to press the sander into the work so it would work faster, thereby driving the blood out of my hand making it tingle. Without adding gloves or changing sanders, I learned to relax my hand and just guide the sander across the surface letting the sander work at its own pace. I also change hand positions on the sander frequently which tends to let blood flow in the hand.