Painting related injuries

[krom1415]

I painted with my elbows pushed into my sides to give me support and stop the shakes. After doing this for nearly 1 year, I have had to see a physiotherepist who has said that this position is very bad and has caused the injuries I now have in my shoulders, which includes pain that keeps me awake at nights and restricts what I can do elsewhere.

Have any of you had the same problem, and how was it corrected?

How do you sit and paint that is different to how I sit?

Any help would be gratefully recieved
Happy painting

 

[cdukino]

I paint and sculpt with my underarmsmostly (but not exclusively) pressed at (or rather layed against only, no pressure as that\'s bad on the musscles and joints while painting) my sizes... my underarms making a more or less 90 degree angle (elbows sticking out a bit)... meaning I have my hands meet... and the fig, pretty close to my body in front of my chest (well boobs actually... hahaha... if i bend my wrist I can let the fig fall into my cleavage if I wanted too without any further movement... but why on earth would I want too? )

But this pose ain\'t problem free (and probably rather like your pose... hurts your neck and back in time. Taking breaks and shifting pose is very important... as is having a good chair at a good hight (I don\'t). Nearly any pose will get problematic is kept for to long.

 

[generulpoleaxe]

i force myself to sit correctly nowadays.

i used to end up all hunched over, and my neck used to be in agony afterwards.

i do make shure every hour or so i get up and have a five minuete break (make a brew/have cigarrette outside)

 

[Torn blue sky]

Iv\'e always rested my forearms,elbows or wrists on the table. It gives you a solid platform and reduces shakeage to a minimum. Plus the added benefit of puting zero strain on any part of your body!
Perfect for lazy baskets like me

I have, however, acrued a good few injuries due to pointy minis. Luckily my safe practice with scalpels and such doesn\'t ad to this phenomina...Much

 

[krom1415]

Thanks for the replies, the physio has suggested, trying to paint with my elbows out, and away from my body, or getting a rig/vice to hold the mini in, but I cant see how I am going to keep a steady hand. (not that its that steady anyway)

Its rather worrying as this is my main hobby/life apart from martial arts which I have had to stop as well, and only go along to teach, but I want to get back into that as well, before I\'m to old. And there is no way in hell that I\'m giving up painting!!!

Well they have said they will try lazer treatment on my shoulder so fingers crossed it will aleviate the trouble

 

[III I III]

My tecnique to avoid shaking is to look for contact between the hand holding the mini and the one holding the brush. I usually extend one or more of the fingers I\'m not using to move the brush until I touch the other hand. In this way I can regulate and soften the mutual vibrations between the 2 hands, without having to fix elbows

 

[Modderrhu]

Originally posted by cdukino
but why on earth would I want too? )
...
Nearly any pose will get problematic is kept for to long.

Well, Cindy, I can think of at least two reasons.

But yes, almost any pose is trouble if held for too long. I usually rest my elbows on the desk, lifting the mini up to my nose. Or perhaps rest my wrists on the desk. Either way, I hold the heels of my hands against each other, for stability, sometimes locking my pinkies together too. But both ways cause my shoulders to lift instead of drop, and therein lies the problem. Fortunately, I\'ve found some really nice exercises that quickly relax the shoulder muscles.

 

[krom1415]

I do take loads of breaks and do stretching exercises as well, the physio said it is a common problem

The hand vice idea sounds good, I will try that, cheers

 

[yaro]

I am used to paint laying on the floor of course not on the naked ground, but on some muffy thing
you can piant 10 hours a day , day by day, and your back don\'t hurt.

 

[krom1415]

you must be young yaro, i just tried your suggestion, and no way can I do that, I\'m almost 47 years old and my body says no
Thanks for the suggestion though, it was worth a try

 

[generulpoleaxe]

a few people have mentioned resting elbows on the table.

there are two problems with this, you can compress a nerve if painting for too long like this (did it years ago) and second, as soon as you slouch a little your shoulders become raised and the muscles are more likely to become cramped/full of lactic acid. (which causes shaking)

(i know all this boring crap due to lots of physio years ago due to various injuries)

joining your hands together at the wrists (most of the time) helps stop the shaking from being as bad.(as both hands move together then)
also having your hands no higher than chest level will stop your arms from tiring as quick.

your head will only need to be looking downwards ever so slightly and thus stopping your neck from getting stiff.

these are just things i have picked up over the years due to injuries (mostly self inflicted through stupidity) and are by no means me saying you should be doing this, this and this.

 

[krom1415]

Cheers, for that generulpoleaxe, great info there,
This elbows still needing to be out thats causing me a problem. I\'ve been thinking of making up a jig to rest my arms in, as the spine must be upright with shoulders back whilst sitting with good posture.

 

[Modderrhu]

Ironically, krom, I gave up fencing because of my shoulder, yet it\'s martial arts that is fixing my shoulder. Spending all day on a computer does the shoulders no good, but after starting Taijiquan, my shoulders are noticably less tense.

I don\'t recall what you practise, but it might be worthwhile looking into a soft martial style that can be carried into old age? Edit: Baguazhang, Liu He Ba Fa, Taijiquan, Aikido or Hsing-I, off the top of me bonce.

 

[penguin]

What is Tajiquan?

 

[Dragonsreach]

Generally paint with my elbows on the table and the mini as close as I can get to see it properly.

However as I\'m older than most the damage is probably too late to correct
So I have Callouses on my elbows, and an occasional stiff neck (usually on the run up to Gamesday {Wonder Why?})
Other than that I have to agree to the suggestions that generulpoleaxe makes.
Take breaks, not just walking away from the painting table but relaxing your hands and eyes. Walking away will do your legs and lower body circulation good as well.

Recently I found that holding the minis for protracted periods was hurting my hands which is why I came up witht my version of a holder.
A cheap and cheerful plastic tube, cut to be slightly longer than the lentgh of my hand from index finger first knuckle to heel of the hand by the wrist. Into this I either insert, or Suple glue, a Demi-john cork.
No more aching hands.

 

[james sequeira]

ive got a damaged nerve in my shoulder that sets off if i paint for too long

my joints in my fingers started swelling up and got really painful to paint but i just take some tablets and its alright

 

[krom1415]

Thanks for that Modderrhu, I\'ve learn\'t tai chi, and its what I will probably end up doing, although I do prefere my Wing Chun.
Cheers, Dragonsreach, yes I think a bit of exercise every hour or so will help, the physio said that.

Penguin, Tajiquan, is Tai Chi Chuan, a chinese form of soft health promoting exercise that can be also trained as a self defence art.

 

[Modderrhu]

Originally posted by krom1415
Penguin, Tajiquan, is Tai Chi Chuan, a chinese form of soft health promoting exercise that can be also trained as a self defence art.

Hmm, close, but not quite. It was initially developed as a martial art, and has a reputation for being \'untouchable\'. It is called a \"soft\" style, because; it\'s relaxed and keeps muscle use to the minimum, preventing exposure of one\'s intention to the opponent, and also to enhance the sensing of the opponent\'s intention. \"When your opponent moves, you move first.\" But because of the way it generates power, and its methods of cultivating this power, it was found to be (and introduced into the west as) beneficial for health. Those who practise Tai Chi purely for health purposes learn just a subset of Taijiquan.

Heh, how about that for a bit of thread railroading?

 

[Arkzein]

I can relate to the pointy mini related injuries above. (Paint solely 40k Chaos for many years and it will happen rather a lot) but never really had any problems with stiffness and such.

I think it\'s down to a good chair in my case. I sit with my back resiting on it, my elbows on the arms which leaves the mini juust in front of my nose when holding it up with my neck straight. (yes, rather long arms ). Tend to stretch a bit after every few layers or so.

Also lock my hands thinking about it, just always felt comfortable though, wasn\'t to do with shakes or conscious thought even. Also don\'t think I\'ve painted for longer than an hour or two at a stretch since getting back into things so I imagine that\'s what\'s keeping things safe more than anything.

Still, always wanted to have a desk that I could butcher with a stand to hold a mini at my eye level leaving both hands free to paint. Would remove any stress at all.

 

[Swordwind]

Barefoot. Gondorian warrior with sword raised. To the hilt.

Thats all I want to say.