Hands

  • Thread starter Thread starter top_notch
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 40
  • Views Views 7K
top_notch

top_notch

Treehouser
Joined
Feb 9, 2008
Messages
760
Location
Steamboat Springs, CO
My hands have been acting up in the mornings. When I wake up and close my hands into a fist they kind of lock that way, mainly in the main knuckles of my fingers. When I open them they feel like they click open. This only lasts for a few minutes or a few opening and closings, then they loosen up. Anyone else experience this? Is this something I should be worried about...Arthritis at 24 I surely hope not!!!:\::cry:
 
i've never had mine lock, but mine have gotten alot stiffer in the last year. It makes it a bit harder to pull myself up a rope or footlock and get a good grip on a limb.
 
Doesn't sound too good...maybe having a doc take a look, or better yet maybe a sports therapist would be worthwhile.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5
I pee on my hands everyday!!! :lol::|:. I have a friend who's a sports therapist, perhaps I'll chat with her. Not too worried about it yet, since I work all day 5 days a week and don't notice any decreased grip on rope or branches. It's just strange to me, been going on for about a week or three now.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8
Only on dead pines or really sappy wood. Most of the time I do not though. They are pretty hot. You think that might be part of the problem?
 
In my tiny opinion, Gloves help. I feel I'm not gonna get something jammed under my finger nail or whatever.

They save strength, in gripping. Some climb in leather gloves, i need more grip than that.
I know people that "can't" climb with gloves. i think it's one less thing to think about, your hands.
 
Heck yeah. Throw some blue atlas on and you'll notice right away. I've just come to terms with the fact that my hands will be sweaty basically all day, but it's a small price to pay.

Gotta girl? She'll be happy you make the switch, too!

love
nick
 
I bet Nick's thoughts are running to how the easier grip that the proper choice of glove can provide might ease the work your hands have to do all day long climbing DRT. And I agree.

Edit: Nick beats me to the punch again :D.

Double edit: And Deva, too...agree with him as well.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #12
LOL, my girl likes my hands all rough!!! I've got the blue atlas gloves and they are pretty sweet, its just that time of the year when I'm doing everything possible to keep my self cooler. But they might have to become a permanent addition during work hours.
 
I have almost the same issue...with hands that is!
Right middle finger locks up in the morning, that clicky clacky till everything loosens up, joint is swollen a bit too. Doctor said its the old 'arthur'...I feel bad for you if you're getting this at 24!!!

Blue Atlas grippy gloves take a lot of strain off when climbing, even moving around a tree I find, kinda like spiderman hands, sometimes the friction alone is enough, no need to grip really hard.
Use whatever aids you have available to you to reduce the impact on your body.
 
Properly fitting gloves that help grip will reduce strain on your tendons. Gloves that are too small will increase the resistance, causing more wear. It appears that am getting surgery to reattach one tendon in my left thumb, and possibly looking at the same happening to my right. All the years of running saws, pulling lines, etc have taken their toll.
 
Sounds like "Trigger Finger" to me...check this link:

http://www.webmd.com/osteoarthritis/guide/trigger-finger

I use the Atlas gloves all the time...I agree that too tight makes them hard to use. But when they fit right I feel like I have 30% more strength available...they make gripping anything easier which reduces the amount of force you have to use to effect holding what you need to (rope, limb, cardboard box...much easier to handle boxes with Atlas gloves). Using less strength (being more efficient) may help reduce the inflammation...less inflammation and maybe no more trigger fingers...voila? Good luck. :)

I get mine at PalmFlex, by the dozen.

http://www.palmflex.com/atlas-fit-300-gloves-blue-dozen.html

I tried their "re-grips" which have a heavier coating, should last longer...BUT, they fit tighter since they are thicker and make the hands tired (and hotter) quicker...get the regular 300's.
 
Funny, you are the third person to tell me that. First it was Gary(gasoline) at the GTG this year, then the Doc. Sounds like the Garys in the House know a thing or two. Their plan is surgery on the left and steroids on the right. I've over a thousand splices since January and that is what pretty much sealed the deal. I do less than 10 a week now, really cut back on using my left hand as much as possible.
 
Well-hydrated? It matters how much fluid comes out, not how much goes in. Clear and copious.

Stretching after warming up, and before quitting for the day?
 
Nothing with the hands, but I've got something going on at the elbow joint, but on the inside of the arm there, I guess the tendon. Pulling on things and it hurts. I think it started after hefting a heavy saw all day, and doesn't seem to want to go away. :(
 
Jeff: I've had the same thing. It is carpel tunnel. My guess is that yours will go away when the particular work-load of your current job hits a different cycle. (I know all of you guys know what I'm talking about. You do removals for a while, and you hardly grasp a rope. You prune for a while, and you're doing it all day long. You drag brush for a few jobs, and you're good.) Mine utterly went away, and I've got ridiculously skinny, weak little forearms. I've never worn gloves in the summer time.

All of these guys are right about the grip thing though. Most of us who don't wear them are guilty of succumbing to ridiculously stupid macho stuff. I'm starting to age a bit faster that I'm enjoying, and my hands are starting to split something fierce.

I think that we'd both do better to wear blue or grey grippy gloves, though for different reasons. Old habits die hard though.:|: The knot tying facility which glove-less hands afford is a luxury that is sure hard to part with.
 
If you can't tie knots in Atlas blue or black nitrile gloves, you aren't trying. I can pick up a dime off a tabletop with the blue type, and a pin with the nitrile.
 
Yeah, what he said. Well I don't know about the dime or pin, but aside from throwline, I can tie knots plenty fast enough with gloves. Just takes getting used to, probably.

For a running bowline, I pull my tree down the rabbit hole, then the rabbit jumps over the tree, and the tree pops back out of the rabbit hole, like Alice.

If you think that you will have 30% more strength and a lot longer career by wearing gripper gloves, how can it not make sense to use them. Consider them PPE, or proper technique, like safe lifting to preserve your back. Your body only has so many miles on it. I'm starting to find it out, too.

Gloves will also reduce vibration, if only minimally, its better than more vibration-exposure over time. Carpal tunnel, white finger, whatever, you don't want it.

I actually just got the gloves Che mentioned...
https://www.masterblasterhome.com/showthread.php?14496-cheap-anti-vibration-gloves
http://www.galeton.com/hulk-anti-vibration-gloves/9100950-product/ ...
for work. I've worn out my ~$25 plus tax Stihl gloves

http://www.stihlusa.com/apparel/anti-vibration-gloves.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Che
'verticle mouse' for bad hands
Replies
8
Views
3K
MasterBlaster
MasterBlaster
woodworkingboy
Cold Hands
Replies
22
Views
4K
mryb
mryb
NickfromWI
Hand Planer
Replies
7
Views
3K
tblough
tblough
Back
Top