Hollowing Tool Pain

[Dean]

Over the last five months I have been having a lot of pain in the under side of my right elbow which seems to come on even more when I have been using hollowing tools, I feel comfortable and relaxed when using the tools but the pain always increases a couple of hours after finishing turning. It is not a come and go pain, it has been constant now for about five months, it feels like the after pain from having had a good clout off a hammer.
Does this sound familiar to anyone else, or am I just getting old (38 years )

Dean

 

[CHJ]

Tennis Elbow syndrome? would be my guess.

I think you need to change your posture or method of Hollowing, try some other means of steady support, or fit a 90deg bracing handle to the stem of you hollowing tool to allow your left arm to take some of the load.

 

[Anonymous]

You're a bit young for old age and rising damp to be the cause :lol:

Have to agree with Chas' summation, posture and stance may be key contributors... switch off the lathe and contemplate your work... gives you a chance to stretch and relax the muscles you've been using. The stresses (which you may not notice 'cos you're enjoying it!) tend to be on one side of the body... think about the muscles you've been using and try to restore a balance... sounds a bit mystic/yoga but it might help.... think RSI :wink:

What kind of tool are you using?

If it's a straight handle tool then you may be able to follow Chas' advice and add extra support/leverage and control.

 

[duncanh]

I first started suffering from RSI about 8 years ago and I've been seeing sports physios on and off ever since. At first the symptoms were in my left wrist and at times it was so bad that I couldn't hold a plate of food or a pint of beer.
My job involves sitting at a computer all day every day for about 7 hours and my problem was traced back to posture. The symptoms were in my hand but it was tense muscles in my shoulder and neck referring the pain down my arm. Being worked on by the physio was excruciating but the symptoms slowly disappeared from the wrist and moved back up to the shoulders where it was easier to treat.

It could be that when you are hollowing you are leaning over the lathe and tilting your neck to get a better view and this is putting stress on one side of your body. As the others have said - you need to look at your posture and try to balance your body.

I noticed that when I started hollowing I ended up leaning over way too much so I increased the height of my lathe by 3 or 4 cm. This has allowed me to sit on a stool whilst hollowing and I can now put the back of the hollowing tool under my right arm pit. When I don't need to sit down the stool is used as an extra small table right next to the lathe.

If your pain persists don't just ignore it as it will probably just get worse. I'd definitely recommend seeing a sports physio as they should give you exercises as well as working on you.

There was an article in Woodturning a couple of months back showing stretches to do occasionally whilst turning to ease aches and pains - a great idea but I always forget to do them.

Duncan

 

[Russell]

I experienced similar due to the fact that I was gripping the tool to hard and hanging on for grim death. After learning better how the too cuts and making a gate brace system to hold the tool and stop the handle of the tool from kicking upwards I was able to concentrate more on hollowing rather than fighting the tool.

 

[Dean]

Thank you all for your helpful replies. I will attempt to think more about my stance but I do tend to slip into a state of self induced trance of concentration.

The hollowing tool is a large sorby swan neck. Would anyone be able to give me more info on the arm brace set up or even better, how to make a DIY arm brace.

Thanks again for all replies

Dean

 

[greybeard]

Hi Dean

I have a couple of thoughts you may like to consider. I hasten to add that my experience is not the same as yours, but the lessons I learnt could be beneficial for you - and may even save you money?!
I have a recurrent back pain, eventually diagnosed as sciatica some years ago and believed to date back to my late teens and early twenties when I seriously over-dosed on sport in general and particularly with rugby. And fairly regularly 'crocked' myself as a result.
I had no real inkling of any long term damage until my mid-thirties, when the pain suddenly kicked in and left me - extremely embarrassed! - completely immobilised when I tripped going up some stairs. My GP said "pain-killers and bed-rest if really necessary", so I/we treated the effects, but the cause was never identified.
Several weeks later everything quietened down and all was quiet for another 4 or 5 years. After the next 'attack' it came back (ha ha) with growing frequency and pain, until about 5 years ago, when I finally bit the bullet and - quite expensively! - learnt a lot from osteopaths, physiotherapists and chiropractors.

In a nutshell, and indeed as others have already said, "posture, posture, posture" is the message. The human body is phenomenally adaptable, and extraordinarily adaptive. A huge amount of bad posture, over-exertion, etc etc, is absorbed but eventually your limit is breached.
By all means experiment as suggested above with different positions (!!), but I would also recommend that you get a specialist (osteo/physio/chiro....whatever) to check it out - your GP is after all by definition a General Practitioner.
Ask around, check with relatives friends for their advice and experience, and ask your GP too (I asked mine - eventually - and he said that as my GP he would prescribe pain-killers, but that his wife and his brother had both benefitted from seeing osteopaths for back pains - that was what really set me on my way to a better understanding).
Ignore it - the pain warning - at your financial and/or physical peril! I am resigned now to a monthly 'put it all back in alignment' session, and directly as a result I can and do lead a more active life now than I had been accustomed to for quite some years...but if I'd got it diagnosed and treated properly 20 years ago I'd have a lot more beer and new turning tools money in my piggy bank now!

Don't read this wrong - I'm not bitter, though I am of course arguably twisted (sciatica does that to folk!) - I just wish that either I'd asked a lot more about it 20 years ago, or that someone made me understand at the time about the 'stitch in time' aspect!

Here's hoping it all turns out (groan!) fine in the end.

 

[CHJ]

Dean, Have a look at this Aussie thread: certainly takes a lot of the load, don't know how limiting the movement is though.

 

[Dean]

Thanks Greybeard, all points noted.
I have been paying more attention to my stance, posture and working technique from all the helpful advice and infomation given.
The pain in my elbow is now almost gone
Now, could anyone help with the ear ache I keep getting for the electric bill :roll:

Thanks CHJ, that's an interesting idea that I will look at further, my only concern with such a set up is that it would take to much of feedback from the cutting edge, but you'll never know until you've tried it

Thanks

Dean

 

[Bodrighy]

Now, could anyone help with the ear ache I keep getting for the electric bill :roll:
Dean

Go on a key meter, that way you can just add the odd tenner into it when SWMBO isn't looking :wink:

 

[wood yew believe it !]

something else to consider is what height is your lathe set at?, as i was told, cant remember by who, that it should be at (the bed that is) elbow height when standing normally, dont know how true that is but when i looked at mine it was way over that and i had been having probs too with back / shoulder pain so i made a large but low stool / stand about 4ft long and 3 ft wide to stand on and it made a hell of a differance, also, i know its hard but try not hold the tool so hard, relax, let the tool do the work and not your muscles.