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May 23, 2010 6:32 AM Subscribe
Swollen hands after manual labor. Ways to treat/mitigate?
Just bought a house and my desk jockey hands are not taking kindly to the constant weekends of manual labor. They swell up and 'harden' after long bouts of using vibrating power tools, pruning, digging, etc. This lasts for a day and makes me forgo the next day of work.
I'm staring down (probably) another year of this and want to know if there's anything I can do to mitigate/treat the swelling: preventative steps? Medications, foods or treatments afterwords that lessen inflammation? I already wear gloves and have tried ibuprofen without much success . . . Thanks!
Just bought a house and my desk jockey hands are not taking kindly to the constant weekends of manual labor. They swell up and 'harden' after long bouts of using vibrating power tools, pruning, digging, etc. This lasts for a day and makes me forgo the next day of work.
I'm staring down (probably) another year of this and want to know if there's anything I can do to mitigate/treat the swelling: preventative steps? Medications, foods or treatments afterwords that lessen inflammation? I already wear gloves and have tried ibuprofen without much success . . . Thanks!
Best answer: I use compression gloves - it seems to help with the circulation. I put them on right before I go to bed. It is a little annoying, but does the trick for me.
posted by Tchad at 6:47 AM on May 23, 2010
posted by Tchad at 6:47 AM on May 23, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for the glove tips. I do use gloves, but they're the latex-dipped cloth variety. I will look into some more serious gloves, as well as those wacky compression gloves!
Solomon, does icing help? I've heard it both ways: soak in hot water, soak in ice. I have many an ice pack so I'll try that.
Thanks!
posted by datacenter refugee at 7:24 AM on May 23, 2010
Solomon, does icing help? I've heard it both ways: soak in hot water, soak in ice. I have many an ice pack so I'll try that.
Thanks!
posted by datacenter refugee at 7:24 AM on May 23, 2010
Best answer: Cold will reduce local blood flow, and therefore inflammation.
Heat will increase it, which is work you heat a muscle sprain. You want the extra blood flow to remove the lactic acid from the muscles. The muscles in your arm are going to be more stained by you swinging a hammer repeatedly than the muscles in your hand, so you'd put heat on them at the end of the day for example.
Also see R.I.C.E. treatment.
posted by Solomon at 7:43 AM on May 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Heat will increase it, which is work you heat a muscle sprain. You want the extra blood flow to remove the lactic acid from the muscles. The muscles in your arm are going to be more stained by you swinging a hammer repeatedly than the muscles in your hand, so you'd put heat on them at the end of the day for example.
Also see R.I.C.E. treatment.
posted by Solomon at 7:43 AM on May 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I get a bit of hand swelling when I exercise, just light jogging, and of course I'm not even using my hands. I hear that's a fairly common problem. The usual remedy, I have been told, is to squeeze your hands, shake them a bit, and try to compress them into a fist a few times, just to drive the blood back out of your hands. In your case, it might be good to just take frequent breaks during work and squeeze your hands to get the blood flowing out of them.
I suspect that after a few weeks of labor your hands should be better able to withstand the labor.
posted by charlie don't surf at 10:55 AM on May 23, 2010
I suspect that after a few weeks of labor your hands should be better able to withstand the labor.
posted by charlie don't surf at 10:55 AM on May 23, 2010
Hiker's right. You need a pair of thick, well-padded leather gloves. The same thing happens to me, and wearing good gloves when doing things like mowing the lawn or weedwhacking has totally eliminated the problem.
posted by deadmessenger at 10:58 AM on May 23, 2010
posted by deadmessenger at 10:58 AM on May 23, 2010
This happens to me, although not to the same degree (I can work the next day). Nthing the quality glove advice. Also: are you really well-hydrated? I have the most trouble with this when I haven't been drinking enough water. Dunking my hands in an ice bath is also very helpful.
posted by phisbe at 11:49 AM on May 23, 2010
posted by phisbe at 11:49 AM on May 23, 2010
Best answer: further to charlie don't surf's advice, I find holding my hands up over my head helps too.
posted by spindle at 12:34 PM on May 23, 2010
posted by spindle at 12:34 PM on May 23, 2010
Hey spindle, that's a very interesting tactic, I never heard of it, but it makes sense. It might look a little weird jogging with my hands above my head (not to mention, it would probably screw up my back) but maybe just keeping them above my heart, rather than letting them swing, would help. I will try it.
posted by charlie don't surf at 1:47 PM on May 23, 2010
posted by charlie don't surf at 1:47 PM on May 23, 2010
Best answer: Don't use anything vibrating for longer than twenty minutes at a time. Take a break, or alternate with a job that's not so hard on your hands. It doesn't matter if you just want to finish that wall before you have a break. The wall will still be there later. Why yes, I've been that person who just keeps going, and didn't notice until I stopped that I'd made my hands go disturbingly fizzy despite the lovely anti-vibration gloves. It's really not good.
For general pain, really look at your schedule, and try to get a mix of stuff - in terms of how physically demanding it is, and ideally moving your body in different ways (e.g. painting is easier than prepping a surface to paint, but uses the same hand) - into your weekend. It might not seem as satisfying as planning to have a single big job completed in one weekend, but you really will get there in the end!
posted by Lebannen at 2:00 PM on May 23, 2010
For general pain, really look at your schedule, and try to get a mix of stuff - in terms of how physically demanding it is, and ideally moving your body in different ways (e.g. painting is easier than prepping a surface to paint, but uses the same hand) - into your weekend. It might not seem as satisfying as planning to have a single big job completed in one weekend, but you really will get there in the end!
posted by Lebannen at 2:00 PM on May 23, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks everyone! I'll certainly check out that RICE stuff and will also attempt to vary my schedule. If I could offer advice to anyone who stumbles upon this thread in the future, it would be 'leave extensive rehab work to the under 30 crowd :).'
posted by datacenter refugee at 7:27 PM on May 23, 2010
posted by datacenter refugee at 7:27 PM on May 23, 2010
How are you using the ibuprofen? I've found it works better if you start taking it the day before you're going to do something painful/inflammatory and continue on an every 8 hour/max dose schedule during and the day after. This is assuming this doesn't countervene a doctor's advice, of course.
posted by eleanna at 7:27 PM on May 23, 2010
posted by eleanna at 7:27 PM on May 23, 2010
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posted by Hiker at 6:45 AM on May 23, 2010