Non-trauma hand injuries in knifemaking...anyone?

Bob Ohlemann

Bob Ohlemann

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When I started making knives about three months ago my hands cramped up occasionally during bevel grinding. I just assumed it was a case of having to pay my dues and my body would adapt. I'm 47 and retired from a full and demanding career in the Army that was always tough on the hands. Now it seems I've developed "trigger thumb", a condition where the thumb doesn't easily articulate through its' range of motion. In the mornings, when I wake, my right thumb (yes, I'm right handed) will not fully extend. It can be pushed past a sticking point to full extension with a "pop" in the tendon at the base of the thumb. If I work it for 10-15 minutes with my other hand I can gain control of it and use it normally though, there is a very sensitive point where the tendon runs through the sheath at the base of the thumb.

Knifemaking is not the only activity I pursue which requires good thumb strength and dexterity; I also ride and train horses several days a week. The knifemaking is new, the horses are not. So I'm wondering about the toll that this kind of work takes on the hands. The cuts, scrapes, and callouses are easy enough to deal with but how many of you have endured other hand issues as a result of this craft?

Bob
 
I have had similar problems but worked through them, you may want to go on the internet and see exercises to help with the issue and see your doctor.
 
Working out of an apartment, I cut my bevels with a file. I'm right handed, and use the left hand to hold the tip of the file. When I have been doing a lot of filing, my left pinky and ring fingers feel numb, especially in the mornings, for some weird reason. Those fingers get curved under the file tip, and I noticed I usually grip the file with both hands with too much pressure anyways. Like nerve damage numb, but after a few days without filing, the numbness goes away.
 
I get some bad arthritis in my thumb joint while hand sanding. If I hold the sanding block and pinch the paper with the pad of my thumb, it starts to ache in no time. I find that if I keep the tomb bent and use the tip of my thumb instead, I have far less pain.
 
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Just a note, but when the pinky and ring finger gets numb, it is usually due to cubital tunnel syndrome ( ulnar compression). Carpal tunnel affects the thumb and index fingers. It
Ulnar compression is a type of tennis elbow condition where the ulnar nerve gets squished against the ulna bone by long sessions of using the arm with the elbow bent at more than 90°. Straightening out the arm and "shaking it out" regularly can help with most hand and finger problems. As we age, these problems get more common. At 47 with a long history of heavy arm and hand use already, I can only say, "Welcome to the Club:) "
 
I had trigger finger and it eventually went away. But, I had terrible pain in my neck after I started making knives. My wife had a brilliant? diagnosis. I operated a crane for 30 years and spent most of my day looking up. Now I spend most of my days looking down. I'm still amused by that. I'm thinking of submitting that to Readers Digest for 25 bucks.
 
William Schrade said:
I had trigger finger and it eventually went away. But, I had terrible pain in my neck after I started making knives. My wife had a brilliant? diagnosis. I operated a crane for 30 years and spent most of my day looking up. Now I spend most of my days looking down. I'm still amused by that. I'm thinking of submitting that to Readers Digest for 25 bucks.
Click to expand...

Same here, just forklifts for me. Not only are you looking down, but add the weight of a respirator, face shield, ear muffs etc...

I try to incorporate hand/finger/wrist exercises and stretches into my daily routine, it cuts down on the cramping, as well as staying hydrated.
 
I think these are classified as "over-use" injuries. Full range of motion exercises are the best thing to fight it off.

I'm not a doctor, nor a physical therapist, and I don't pretend to be :D
 
I have some of the same issues and from some of the same causes. I too use to ride horses for the public, for many years. I also developed a pretty wide reputation of being able to work with the "bad" ones. I didn't get the cupcakes. Last stop before Alpo for lots of ponies. When I started knife making. I could hardly hold onto things. Interestingly my hands feel better now. But it took a couple of years to wrk through. Now the only thing that bothers me is hand sharpening a couple knives in a row.
 
bladsmth said:
Just a note, but when the pinky and ring finger gets numb, it is usually due to cubital tunnel syndrome ( ulnar compression). Carpal tunnel affects the thumb and index fingers. It
Ulnar compression is a type of tennis elbow condition where the ulnar nerve gets squished against the ulna bone by long sessions of using the arm with the elbow bent at more than 90°. Straightening out the arm and "shaking it out" regularly can help with most hand and finger problems. As we age, these problems get more common. At 47 with a long history of heavy arm and hand use already, I can only say, "Welcome to the Club:) "
Click to expand...

I have ulnar and thoracic nerve damage from a car accident, incidentally I often get tingling in my ring and pinky.

Of course as Murphys law would have it, I am left handed and that is the side I got hit on. Big part of why I started knifemaking. I was able to cope with the pain for about ten years at a day job, but got to where I absolutely had to be able to dictate my own schedule.



Bit more on topic, I've been doing tasks similar to knifemaking for some time, and when I wake up in the morning my grip strength is about half of normal until I warm up and get moving for a couple hours. I save more intensive tasks for later in the day. This plays quite nicely with the muscular atrophy on my left side, which already knocks about 1/3 of my strength off on that side. Basically my left arm is only good for lifting my coffee cup until just before lunch.

On the other hand, my physical issues led me to knifemaking, which I am enjoying immensely. Wouldn't change a thing.
 
The only injuries i get from working in my shop are cuts, road rash, and burns. on my hands. Half the time, i dont wear safety gloves while working so this is the main reason i get injuries. I usually cut my fingers while hand sanding by rubbing a finger along the edge of the blade, not realizing it was very sharp yet. Other times i cut myself is when i see how well my knives hold an edge after chopping through some wood, i almost cut my thumb tip clean off when i was testing my new 5" blade bushcraft knife a few days ago. I sometimes get road rash on my hands by accidentally touching the belt on my grinder to. I burn my fingers to when i dont wear gloves while grinding, so when the blade get hot and i touch where it is the hottest, i burn one or two of my fingers. I recommend always wearing some kind of gloves to protect ones hands.
 
Gary, those are trauma injuries. Keep going like that and report back how your hands are working in about thirty years.

I'm right there with you Ian; my hands are basically clubs until I get them warmed up and functioning. When I retired from the Army I told them that I wanted them to document in my records that I had arthritis in my hands. The joints get really stiff and ache in the cold/damp weather. They did x-rays and told me I didn't have arthritis in my hands. Now they get stiff and ache regardless of the weather.

I'm doing a lot of range of motion exercises with the thumb and some cross tissue massage in the tendon/sheath at the base. The massage hurts like hell but it does seem to be working.

Bob
 
RangerBobTX said:
Gary, those are trauma injuries. Keep going like that and report back how your hands are working in about thirty years.

I'm right there with you Ian; my hands are basically clubs until I get them warmed up and functioning. When I retired from the Army I told them that I wanted them to document in my records that I had arthritis in my hands. The joints get really stiff and ache in the cold/damp weather. They did x-rays and told me I didn't have arthritis in my hands. Now they get stiff and ache regardless of the weather.

I'm doing a lot of range of motion exercises with the thumb and some cross tissue massage in the tendon/sheath at the base. The massage hurts like hell but it does seem to be working.

Bob
Click to expand...
I guess I didn't understand the point of the thread then, I thought it was just shop injuries in general. I should have read the whole thing before posting
 
Gary, the thread states, "Non-Trauma."

Bob, sorry to hear about your troubles in getting documentation for your hand issues. I had the same problem following an injury from an IED. Apparently my back pain is just in head. Go figure. As far as Non Trauma injuries, I've noticed that after holding something in hands for a while, they "lock" up and I have to slowly work them back into an open position. Though, it seems to only be an issue early in the morning. Any way, as Stacy said, hand exercises help quite a bit.
 
I've already got rsi of the hands and wrist from working with PCs. Wrapping handles my fingers start to just lock up and act bad when I'm holding pressure for extended periods of time. On filing, I just bought a bigger file and use it open handed.
 
I have carpal tunnel from a sawmill job I use to work/slave at..........hand sanding or gripping anything small is not very comfortable. I find if I sleep with my hands open rather than clenched shut I have less discomfort. Also, it is common to grip small parts(guards etc.) in a death grip when you are really concentrating hard.. A conscious effort to use minimum force(just enough to not loose control of the object) helps a bunch.
Darcy:)
 
bladsmth said:
Just a note, but when the pinky and ring finger gets numb, it is usually due to cubital tunnel syndrome ( ulnar compression).
Click to expand...

Or a c8 nerve root compression in the neck. That is quite a far way from those fingers but fairly common.
 
This will seem like petty whining, but for me the most common and annoying problem is the my nails get worn down, warped, and weird, and my cuticles get tough and sensitive (if that even makes sense), requiring me to do work on them to keep my nails from becoming ingrown. Mostly I think this has to do with the way I hand sand.

Apart from that, the usual array of neck and back pains due to not having my work stations ergonomically adjusted. The good news is since I tend to only do this a couple of hours a day it isn't resulting in any semi-permanent injury... just muscle spasms.
 
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