Hand and Wrist Pain Prevention for Polymer Clay and Jewelry Artists

Bead Making Tips for Those Who Suffer From Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Arthritis and Other Hand Pain Issues:

As a Fimo crafter or jewelry artist, your hands are one of your most important assets. So take care of them! There are definitely things you can do to help protect your hands and wrists from injury, irritation and discomfort.

I am speaking from experience here about wrist pain. A few years ago I was teaching tile mosaic courses and was using tile nippers to cut ‘mountains’ of ceramic and glass tile. After doing this for a year or so, my hands would tingle and go completely numb in just a few minutes of ‘nipping’.

The symptoms got so bad I couldn’t sleep at night with the pain. Turns out I had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and needed surgery in both wrists. The problem was, up here in Canada (and probably everywhere else), the waiting list was so long that it was a whole year before I could get one hand done and 6 months after that to do the other. I wore wrist braces 24 hrs a day for almost two years, until I was through it.

The surgery went extremely well and I don’t have any tingling or numbness from carpal tunnel any more. Recently however, I’ve developed lumps on my wrists and have been feeling pain in my hands and elbows after subjecting them to strenuous activity. Since my dad and my younger sister both have rheumatoid arthritis, I suspect these new symptoms are telling me that and I need to go in to the doctors office and get checked out.

The reason I brought up this topic today is because several of you indicated that Arthritis has created challenges for you when it comes to bead making. From my carpel tunnel experience, I can understand what you are going through. So here are some things you can do to relieve the pain and to even help prevent it from happening in the first place.

1) Talk with your doctor: Some injuries and conditions are made better with use and some get worse. So finding out which one applies to your situation is very important. You do not want to cause further damage to your body.

2) Take breaks: If you are working on a particular polymer clay project that has repetitive movements, such as cranking the pasta machine, or sanding beads, make sure to stop every 10 minutes or so to move your hands and wrists in a different way. You can try making your hands into a fist, opening them wide, and rotating in circles. A resource to check out with some exercises you can do for preventing and healing** Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and repetitive stress injuries is: http://www.mydailyyoga.com/yoga/rsi.html

3) Avoid doing squeeze motions: When my hands and wrists are in pain, nothing makes them sore quicker than the squeezing motion. Kneading clay, cutting thick wire with pliers and cutting with scissors are all squeezing motions. Limit the length of time you do any one of these activities. Switch to a different type of movement before your hands start to go numb or tingle, which is usually a sign you’ve pushed them too far.

4) Use tools that will do the hard work for you: Use your pasta machine to mix colors instead of your hands. If manually cranking a pasta machine creates strain on your wrists and elbows, there are models that come fitted with electric motors. A food processor can be an enormous help for conditioning clay too. It does a nice job of chopping up stiff clay, and in the process, warms/softens the clay for easier hand mixing. For more info, read this article: A Super Handy Polymer Clay Tool

5) Sooth sore joints with warmth: A hot steamy towel or a heated cloth rice bag can do wonders for sore wrists and hands. Fill a cloth bag with rice, barley, dried peas etc. and place in the microwave to heat up. The moist heat relaxes the muscles and joints, and makes them feel a whole lot better!

Having aches and pains does not mean you you have to give up on your love of crafting and art.

My grandmother had such severe rheumatoid arthritis that her fingers looked like the twisted claws of an Eagle. Yet she still continued to do needlepoint until she passed away. She was such an inspiration to others with arthritis that many of her needlepoint artworks were auctioned, photographed and made into cards for the Arthritis Society.

She taught me that crafting can keep your mind sharp and your fingers nimble even through a debilitating disease. She also said that strength, determination and the creation of beautiful things, made her life worth living! This is how choose to live my life as well.

** For more information on joint pain, try searching Google for “Arthritis”, “Carpal Tunnel” and “Joint Pain”. But be sure to consult a qualified Doctor before doing the first thing you read. Prevention and early diagnosis is key to a healthy life. Take care of your body… you only have one!