My wrists hurt

[ryansumo]

Hopefully this isn't an odd question, but lately I've been experiencing some nagging pain in my wrist. I figure it's because I've been drawing more than I ever have been my entire life because I'm trying to make up for lost time (time wasted in college basically, just playing magic and getting drunk).

My question is, should I be worried? Should I rest my wrists some? Is tehre a good practice/rest ratio that you guys can recommend? Because obviously I don't want to damage my wrist (aka my livelihood) but I need to be able to practice every day in order to keep from getting rusty.

[blankslatejoe]

I've had drawing hurt my wrists---you have to build up those muscles if you haven't used them much before. be sure to stretch your wrists as much as you can, and take a day or two to let them heal up--meaning, don't type, draw, use a mouse, play games--anything that uses fine -wrist/finger coordination. See if that gets you back to a good place.

If you push your wrists too far without a break you can screw them up for good--you don't want to do that. I can only use a mouse for about an hour at a time before my wrists are shot for the day because of one particularly bad crunch period a while back.

and if it keeps hurting after a few weeks--see a doc!

[ryansumo]

Damn that sucks. I think it's partly because I also use a tablet to do everyday computing tasks. My had starts to hurt a little when it's always in "drawing" mode so I've taken to using a mouse to minimize the strain. Well I'm going to the beach for a few days so maybe that's a good time to just relax and use the wrists to drink beer!

Thanks for the pro-tip joe!

[Kickflipkid687]

Ya, it's probably just your muscles being in a weakened state I would guess. Although it's possible it could be a start to carpel tunnel. I have carpel, but not that bad. But I have to use a trackball at work and for long term usage, otherwise my wrist cracks like crazy.

[JacqueChoi]

Carpel Tunnels Syndrome.

Just work out dude. Hit the weights, and stretch.


Biggest problem is that it starts from your posture. You need to get a comfortable ergonomic chair, and sit upright.

If it's a REALLY bad problem, acupuncture, and deep tissue massage (VERY painful) seem to work very well.

[Wynn]

If you're drawing rather than typing at a keyboard, chances are you don't have Carpel Tunnel; Carpel Tunnels Syndrome occurs when you squeeze the median nerve that runs down through your wrists and drawing usually doesn't do that.

You probably have some sort of repetitive motion disorder like Tendonitis or Bursitis, although the latter usually takes place in other joints than the wrist.

I've made a habit of stretching my wrist every 25 minutes. A good stretch would be to extend your arm straight out with your palm facing out and up and by pulling on it toward your face with your other hand. Don't just do it for a couple seconds... hold it for 20 seconds or so. And blankslatejoe is right, build up as more muscle in that area, you'll need the extra strength.

[blankslatejoe]

yeah, what I had from mouse usage was the start of carpal tunnel too--I switched to using the Cintiq for modeling and all those problems were solved, since I've always had decent drawing posture/strength..so that helped me.

The wrist/hand pains I've had from drawing have never been carpal tunnel--they've just been cramped/fatigued/strained muscles and I'd have to rebuild up my endurance over a few weeks. But everyone's different.

Enjoy the beach time ryansumo and give your hands a break and see how that treats you!

[KEDavidson]

taking a break from any kind of "serious wrist movement" is probably a good idea...

sorry,
any[B]way, my wife developed some pretty bad tendonidous from Guitar Hero 3, (she's on the comp all day for work, but gh3 is what kicked it in) and has tried just about everything from acupuncture/ massage/ strange chinese soups, you name it and nothing has offered more than temporary relief, her doctor says they only thing for it is to stop using it, but since she needs to work that's out, the surgery is still considered elective so the waiting list is years long.
basically, if you have a chance to stop using it, [B]stop using it

[Wynn]

My wife has Tendonitis as well and she was considering surgery there for a while. She injured her wrist when she was younger and is now a massage therapist. She didn't realize she had it very bad until it came out during her massage school. We were also considering Cortisone shots that would reduce the inflammation but those are also temporary and can lead to problems later on.

She's able to control it now so it doesn't hurt anymore by doing self-friction massage to break up the scar tissue and simulate blood flow in the area. She has to do it about once a day for about 5 minutes at a time and apply ice afterwards but the pain is pretty much gone... kind of nice since she puts quite a bit of strain in that region during the day.

I don't know if you've tried it ScudzAlmighty, but here's an article about it, its kind of painful to do at first because of the pressure and the fact that the area is technically injured but the results are fairly quick... http://saveyourself.ca/articles/frictions.php

[DreameR]

make sure you arms are fairly stretched when drawing/using the mouse, or your muscles cramp and damage can be done if your not giving them space to do their job properly.

think about getting proper support for your wrist when at the computer too. look out for a wrist cushion at a stationary shop/PC world;
http://www.imakproducts.com/img/products/clips/16_2.jpg