Carpal tunnel

[Eric Franklin]

I've been thinking about getting into using more hand tools. I have mild carpal tunnel in my right wrist from spending to much time on a computer. I was wondering if hand tools are known to aggravate carpal tunnel?

Eric

[JayStPeter]

Not as much as ROSs. Excercise seems to help me and hand tool work is a positive in that regard. Things that vibrate (like my PC ROS for example) can be very bad.

[Ken Werner]

Be careful not to hold tools with a death grip. Also, never use your palm as a mallet. And as Jay said, vibrating tools can be really bad.

[Zahid Naqvi]

My understanding is that CTS is aggravated from repeated movements, such as a random orbit sander etc. The only thing I can think of within the Neander domain is probably wood carving, as it requires holding a gouge for long periods of time. Other than that just try hand planing a few boards one day and see what it does.

[Greg Cole]

Regardless of CT Syndrome or not... Ken has good advice there. My first few days of Neandering were'nt pleasant from exactly that.. the death grip. Learning the REALLY sharpen the irons helped a bunch as well as upgrading from a Borg block plane bench plane.. both circa 2003 or 2004 Buck Bros offerings...
I have some issues with one wrist from repetitive mundane factory work when I was a kid... ROS's kill me as do weed eaters. At least the ROS discomfort got me to stroll down the Neander path....

Greg

[Brian Kent]

I asked my friends what to do about my Carpal Tunnel symptoms. One said, "Erase the video game from your computer." I did and it helped.

I find that in general the variety of movements I do with hand tools helps my arms.

[Ron Brese]

Eric,

Your post made me remember something that I had forgotten all about. Many years ago I had begun to worry that I was experiencing some carpel tunnell symptoms. I started into hand tools to see if I could omit some of the many hours of sanding that were required to complete my projects. This was a real issue for me because I was trying to make my living woodworking. Since those times I have eliminated probably 85% of the sanding I used to do thru the use of hand tools. It's been so long since I've hand any symptoms I had completely forgotten about it.

I guess it worked for me.

Ron Brese

"If you're too open minded your brains will fall out"

[Jeff Wittrock]

I write software for a living and my wrists often bother me during the week. I don't know that I have carpal tunnel, probably I just rest my wrists on the desktop while I'm typing.

For what it's worth, during the weekends when I have time to work with hand tools, my wrists feel much refreshed. Then again, maybe they just feel better because I'm away from that @#$* computer and doing something I enjoy , so your miles may vary.

-Jeff

[Gordon Harner]

I've been a safety professional for 35 years and the whole carpal tunnel syndrome issue is not clearly understood. If you talk to 5 doctors you'll probably get 5 opinions. Vibration certainly is a problem and the docs have a special name for the problem, I don't remember it. Some think genetics is a big part ie. the diameter of the tunnel. Also there is theory re blood chemistry. Computer users get the symptoms from compressing the sheath (tunnel) by leaning their wrist on an edge the edge radius really doesn't make much difference. If the doc recommends surgery be wary because scar tissue can make the problem worse. All that said, the grip on the tool and the size of the grip in relation to the size of your hand make a big difference. A difference that you should be able to feel pretty quickly. Many tool manufacturers are improving all tools, the ergonomic designs, unfortunately, many of these tools are poor quality. Personally, I have more problems with my elbow and shoulder than my wrist. The best advice I could give is not to flex the wrist. Keep your wrist in a relaxed "natural" position. If the position feels unnatural or uncomfortable at all rethink the process

[Matt Z Wilson]

Unfortunately Mr. Harner, you are incorrect in your assessment of carpal tunnel syndrome. It is a very well understood entity in the field of hand surgery and very easily treated...having personally done the whole operation in under 10 minutes. The genetics argument has poor support in the medical literature and most often the cause of carpal tunnel syndrome is repetitive use of the fingers while compressing the underside of the wrist or the carpal tunnel. Using an orbital sander is unlikely to cause carpal tunnel, but it is not unreasonable to think that the vibration caused by one will aggravate an already compressed median nerve. If you (the op) are truly concerned you are experiencing median nerve compression, see a doctor.

[Ben Hobbs]

I started having symtoms of carpel tunnel a few years ago. I decided to force myself to use my other hand more. Sometimes I plane right handed and sometimes left handed. I also do quite a bit of chisel work using both hands. The symtoms have been gone for quite awhile. Ben

[Eric Franklin]

Thanks for the input. It sounds like it really depends on the person what effect hand-tools will affect someone that deals with carpal tunnel.

When I get some money to invest in some hand-tools, I will give it a try and will let you know of it works.

Thanks,
Eric