Wrist pain from Kayaking
Van
till now. What can be done to alleviate the discomfort during and after
paddling, and what can be done to prevent the pain?????? Please help if
you know.
Van Tsukada
Mark Donley
Jeff's advice is excellent... I changed from a 90 feather to a lighter
(fiberglass) slasher style (asymmetrical) paddle with a 60 degree
feather. My right wrist seemed to always be a little sore... using the
new paddle eliminated any soreness.
BTW I got the paddle from 'Gorilla Whitewater'. Corey Shealer custom
makes the paddles with any feather and any color you desire. They're
excellent paddles and at around 150 bucks a great deal. If you'd like
send me a note and I'll E-mail his Phone # and address. I have no
business ties to Corey... just like to see smaller businesses
supported.
Later,
Mark Donley
>>>>>Jeff Houser <hou...@fox.nstn.ca> wrote:
>>>>>In my experience, wrist pain during paddling can be caused by a number or factors.
>>>>>Extensor Tenosynovitis,
>>>>>Tendonitis may result from excess movement at the wrist and caused by incorrect feather
>>>>>angle of the blades. Contrary to most popular beliefs, the twist is not to reduce air
>>>>>resistance, but to compensate for a natural degree of roll that your forearm goes through
>>>>>as you lift the paddle from the water to set the next stroke. 90 degrees is far too much, 0
>>>>>is far to little. Optimum angle is some where around 60-70 degrees, and should rseult in
>>>>>an exit/lift/entry with no motion at the wrist.
<SNIPPED>
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
Mark Donley
mar...@nando.net
^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^
Jeff Houser
>
> I've been kayaking for 4 years, but have never had any wrist problems
> till now. What can be done to alleviate the discomfort during and after
> paddling, and what can be done to prevent the pain?????? Please help if
> you know.
>
> Van Tsukada
In my experience, wrist pain during paddling can be caused by a number or factors.
Extensor Tenosynovitis,
Tendonitis may result from excess movement at the wrist and caused by incorrect feather
angle of the blades. Contrary to most popular beliefs, the twist is not to reduce air
resistance, but to compensate for a natural degree of roll that your forearm goes through
as you lift the paddle from the water to set the next stroke. 90 degrees is far too much, 0
is far to little. Optimum angle is some where around 60-70 degrees, and should rseult in
an exit/lift/entry with no motion at the wrist.
Pain may also result from excessive flexion or extension of the wrist of the top arm, or
during the exit phase. If during exit, then your exit is a lift, rather than a slice. If you are
rotatiing well, then the exit should be initiated and completed by the abduction of the
upper arm, resulting in a slicing motion to the side. If the flexion is at the top hand
during the 'push' phase, then this can be corrected by relaxing the top arm and allowing
the elbow top drop below your shoulder height.
Obviously, the above are technically related. However; a small number of kayak
paddlers will be subject to overuse injuries ;
Median Nerve Entrapment,
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome-
Compartment Syndromes
There may be a need to treat surgically, but there are effective, and less radical treatments
to relieve pressure. All of these syndromes deal with a decreased mobility of the
structures of the forearm in response to use and hypertrophy. If you forearms fell
'pumped' and are stiff to the point of being solid, you may be affected.
A simple treatment (along with Ibuprofen, or other doctor prescribed anti-inflammatory);
With help ; turn your hand so that your palms face upward, then extend your wrist so
your finger point to the ground then gently massage and spread your palm(you'll need a
helper), increase pressure so you can really feel the stretch. You are trying to lightly
stretch the structures in the hand/wrist/forearm in order to relieve the pressure. Continue
this massage up the forearm. I've had great success with this method, but then one of
my best athletes has required more radical interventions.
Hope this is helpful,
In canoeing,
Jeff H. 96
DaveVoiles
the palm of your hand. Actually stretch the fingers when doing this.
Also take short breaks where you point your arm straight out and
try to gently stretch your fingers with your other hand straight up and
then back towards you. These two things help me.
You may need to look at the shaft of your paddle also. If it is round,
you may find some relief from a shaft that has a cover on it to make
the shaft a little oblong.
Hope this helps some.
Dave
Dave Voiles
Pensacola, Florida
DaveV...@aol.com
P Michael Linzmaier
>I've been kayaking for 4 years, but have never had any wrist problems
>till now. What can be done to alleviate the discomfort during and after
>paddling, and what can be done to prevent the pain?????? Please help if
>you know.
>
>Van Tsukada
>
There is one simple but expensive solution. Wrist and Elbow
pain/tendonitis is caused by using a straight shaft paddle. The wrist
has a natural bend to it. If you hold your arm out in front of you you
will notice this. By constantly using your wrist in an unatural
position you will adversly effect the tendons in your wrist and elbow.
To prevent this you need to buy a crankshaft/bentshaft paddle. If you
are not fimilar with this it looks like a wieghtlifters curl bar. This
will puts your wrists in the natural bent position. Several manufactures
now make crankshaft paddles I use one made by "KOBER" which is one of
the least expensive but is made from aluminum which is heavy. "Savage
Designs" has crankshaft made of carbon fibers that is very good.
I would highly recommend seeing a physical therapist as well. I
had wrist and elbow pain so severe that I was unable to paddle for very
long strechtes. I did the physical therapy which mainly lenghthens the
tendons and muscles and bought the crankshaft paddle and now I am pain
free. These tendonitis conditions will continue to get worse, and if
you don't fix them in the earlier stages can lead to permanent pain and
injury. Bottom line is, if love paddling spend the money now or you
won't be able to paddle in the future.
P DOT
Jim Cavo
says not to paddle again.
Jim Cavo
have small hands, consider a paddle with a smaller diameter shaft.
Jim Cavo
Thomas Chapmond
had some problem with it and other repetitive motion syndromes. Iburopin
(Vitamin I) can help some. My doctor told me that he had heard that
Vitamin B6 helps some people, I tried it and it helped. You might also try
a paddle with less feather. Lightning makes a paddle with 60 degree
feather. I bought one and adapted to it immediately.
I have tried all of these things and they all work to some degree. You
might also look at how tight you are holding your paddle and practice
relaxing a little.
Hope this helps!!
thomas
* Wave Rider 1.31 # 697 *
--
|Fidonet: Thomas Chapmond 1:382/91
|Internet: Thomas....@91.ima.infomail.com
|
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
Roger Collier
cranked paddle shafts help ease wrist pain.
Roger.
Harriet Rector
lax-ligaments in both wrists. This isn'a a result of paddling, but from constantly
using a computer, but paddling sure can make it flare up. When I was first diagnosed
the doc wanted to put me on an anti-inflammatory drug. But, I couldn't take it cause
I was still nursing my daughter. In an effort to find some kind of relief, I was turned
onto taking lecithan in combination with a complex b-vitamin supplement. I have now been
doing this for two years with excellent results. When I get really bad flare-ups, I
add Primrose oil to my therapy. The first day I spent practicing rolling in the pool,
my right arm was aching so bad I couldn't stand it. Ibuprofen didn't touch it, but,
within an hour or two of taking the primrose oil/lecithan/B-complex mix, swelling subsided
and the pain disappeared. There is documentation about using primrose oil and lecithan
for tendonitis. I went and spoke with the herbalist at the Wild Oats here in town and
we looked it up in a few of her resources.
The other thing I suggest is that you spend time stretching your hands and wrists both
before and after paddling. Also, weight training for your wrists will help greatly. I
spent three months in physical therapy when I first had problems as I was unable to
perform my job duties and I had to do something about it. For stretching, hold out your
arm keeping it straight (it is very important to always keep your arm straight while doing
these) bend your hand down and gently stretch using your opposite hand. You know your limits so
don't push it. Now, gently pull back on your hand using the opposite hand again. The third
stretch I do is for my thumb, gently pull back your thumb once again using the opposite hand.
Repeat for the other hand. I spend a good 15 minutes doing these stretches before and
after paddling and then I try to do them at other times during the day. My PT suggested
I do them at least three times a day. When I paddle, I use the wrist supports I use when
I work on my computer (without the metal support). I am in search of neprene wrist guards,
but have had no luck finding them as yet. But, I know they are out there because my
PT once mentioned them to me. If I have to, I'll have her find them for me as I'm guessing
they may not be something readily available to the public. If anyone has any suggestions, post
them cause I'm sure there are others out there who would be interested. For now, I find
I get pretty good support with the ones I'm using, but after a season of paddling, they have
reached the safety pin and duct tape stage. Luckily, they are not too expensive and I will
replace them once the rivers start flowing. I get a lot of strange looks when I'm on the river,
but all that matters to me is that I'm comfortable and acheiving some type of wrist support.
Oh, and I had the opportunity to try an ergonomic paddle in the pool a few weeks ago. Nice
paddle, but I was told it retailed for over $400. Maybe someday. I am using a lighter and
shorter paddle (Lightning) now that I'm a more confident paddler. I think the less weight
definitely makes a difference.
Best wishes with the wrists and happy paddling!
Harriet
Ghyslaine Rioux
which will cause some inflammation. Great use (overuse) of the forearm
muscles (caused by moving the wrist) will cause those muscles to shorten
(it does it to any muscles) and will therefore cause the excess strain.
Changing the angle of the blade will help at the cause but to heal the
wrist faster, first icing for 10 minutes couple times/day especially
before and after paddling will help. Also very important is to massage
deeply the muscles of the forearm anteriorly and posteriorly to relax
them, to ease the related tendons. And do not forget any little spots.
Don't worry, when you massage it will be sore and if not, it will not be
sufficient to relax those muscles. But as soon as you stop the pressure,
the pain will resume and a bit of ice will help.
And if this is not sufficient, well you'll have to move to the one blade
stuff. ;-)
Good Luck!
Ghyslaine Rioux
Chiropractor
Bruce Fisher
avoid skin damage) for twenty minutes before and after paddling to the
affected wrist. Paddling really cold rivers without gloves works for me
also.
--
- Bruce Fisher
b...@ssnet.com
http://ssnet.com/~bef/BrucesPaddlingPage.html
{Public PGP key available}
David A. Davison
I have had the same problem, except I had a fare amount of swelling.
Unfortuantely, ice didn't work. It hurt to write. Had to wear a brace for
about 3 weeks. Hasn't came back again luckily.
******************************************************************************
David Davison afn0...@afn.org, G...@afn.org
G'ville Hash House Harriers http://www.afn.org/~gh3/
University of Florida Canoe and Raft Club http://www.afn.org/~canraft/
******************************************************************************
Paddling can give you the opportunity to get away from everyday life and find solitude[and]silence.
-Bunny Johns
Valoc1
long as I give it plenty of time to heal before I paddle again.
Thankfully, open boating doesn't aggrivate it at all like a day in a
kayak. (God I spell shitty).
Dan Valleskey
d...@deltafaucet.com
Russ Patterson
Here are some more suggestions for wrist pain. This is basically a
repetitive motion injury (like typing on this keyboard too long).
- try a wooden paddle with more "give" to it if you're paddling a
composite shaft.
- use a paddle with less than 90 degrees of feather to reduce
your control hand stress.
- you also might try experimenting with the bent-shaft kayak
paddles that racers are using now. These allow the wrist to be in a more
"neutral" position during the pull/power phase of the stroke.
--
Russ Patterson
rive...@his.com
Roger W. Lynn
>Dan Valleskey
>d...@deltafaucet.com
My personal favorite for this is to take Vitamin I (Ibprofin) before
and after I paddle. Keeps the inflamation in check. In Colorado you
usually don't need to ice it, the river does it for you.
One other thing, if you are in a dry suit check the tightness of your
wrist gaskets. Too tight can create problems. Another idea might be
to try a paddle with a smaller feather.
Hope these help. Been there, done that, have the 500 tablet bottle of
Vitamin I.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
* Roger W. Lynn - Roger...@aol.com *
* 75603...@compuserve.com *
* "If not me, who? If not now, when? *
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
John Y. Liu
covered already.
I was told you can reduce or prevent wrist pain by several measures.
First, open your fingers and push with the palm with the forward-pushing
arm, rather than keeping your fingers wrapped around the paddle shaft.
This allows your wrist to remain straight rather than bending sideways as
the paddle shaft angles during the stroke. It also gives your hand and
fingers a chance to relax. Second, reduce the feather on your paddle.
Third, consider carrying a wrist brace if you know a wrist is suspectible
to pain.
Ken Timmins
>
> I missed the start of this thread, so maybe the following has been
> covered already.
I missed it too, but. . .
I went through all this at one time and being an aquaholic spent a
serious amount of time trying to get the fix.
I have plowed through a ton of info on RSI's (Repetitive Strain
Injuries) AMT (Adverse Mechanical Tension) and Tendonitous.
What I have been looking for is prevention not just a remedy for when it
happens and there are a number of things you can do. First is resigning
to remedying the condition yourself by getting serious about self
treatment and "conditioning".
You can keep the wrist tendon irritation from happening by keeping your
upper body in shape regularly or at least getting up to snuff a few
months before the start of the season. The common condition that
most people experience is more common with the climbing crowd (as well
as the keyboard crowd). When the tendon sheaths become irritated it is
usually from an uncommon exertion in the problem area (in this case
wrists or forearms). Apparently, one's muscles will develope
considerably faster than the tendons and as a result the injury occurs,
hence the reason for on-going conditioning year round. Good circulation
and absence of muscle tension are also important.
Adding to the probablility of occurence is a lack of warming up or the
heavy exertion of the muscle group if it is cold from the surrounding
water (i.e. you didn't put enough woolies on on that first spring trip
but still had to play!). Cold is good intial treatment if you have
caused the injury to happen and are treating it and so is rest. Warm
muscles however, are the key to keeping it away.
All upper body stretches - neck, shoulder and arm stretches as well as
hand stretches are a must if you are having serious problems. You
should do them regulary (several times a day), you are basically doing
your own phisio. It can be as much a stress thing as a poor conditioning
thing. Once you get it under control the stretches should stay as a pre
exercise thing ( you know, the way you are supposed to do it) or you
might very well end up with bursitis when your 60! All this typing I
could have surfed several waves.
These things have worked well for me,
Ken
P.S. . . . just ideas. . . "like on the river your
responsible for our own butt!"
Russ Patterson
> Mine was diagnossed as tendonitus. It has recurred, but not too bad as
> long as I give it plenty of time to heal before I paddle again.
> Thankfully, open boating doesn't aggrivate it at all like a day in a
> kayak. (God I spell shitty).
>
> Dan Valleskey
> d...@deltafaucet.com
Your grammar's not all that hot either. It should be "shittily".
--
Russ Patterson
rive...@his.com
Arthur Lucas
Julio MacWilliams
movements. Many people grab the paddle with the control hand
very tightly, and that hands get the tendonitis.
The paddle should not be grabbed to tightly, and both hands
should do a little bit of the rotating, that is, if your right
hand is the control hand, then the left one helps slightly to
relieve the right hand's wrist movement.
Just take a few minutes to see what you can do to relieve the
effort out of your wrist.
Also "454" or any out-of-the-shelf eucaliptus based pain reliever
when used before and after the sport, helps a lot.
There go my two cents
- Julio
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:|: :|: Julio MacWilliams
:|||: :|||: direct line: (408) 527-3645
.:|||||||:...:|||||||:. e-mail: jul...@cisco.com
c i s c o S y s t e m s
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Lee Choo
>I was told you can reduce or prevent wrist pain by several measures.
>First, open your fingers and push with the palm with the forward-pushing
>arm, rather than keeping your fingers wrapped around the paddle shaft.
>This allows your wrist to remain straight rather than bending sideways as
>the paddle shaft angles during the stroke.
I get this problem on my left wrist because it has to angle too much on the end of the push stroke. I was wondering if the design o=
f the cranked shaft is made to relieve this?? Anyone know?? If so, I'm thinking of get a paddle with a crank shaft.
Please advise. (please make sure you email me directly as I don't get a chance to check this newsgroup too often. Thanks in advanc=
e.)
over...@ixl.net
>Mine was diagnossed as tendonitus. It has recurred, but not too bad as
>long as I give it plenty of time to heal before I paddle again.
>Thankfully, open boating doesn't aggrivate it at all like a day in a
>kayak. (God I spell shitty).
>Dan Valleskey
>d...@deltafaucet.com
Have you tried reducing the feather angle on your paddle, or using an
unfeathered paddle, to see if that prevents recurrence of the problem?
---Leander