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notes on an exoskeleton
Apr. 9th, 2016 11:14 pmA couple of days ago I managed to mess up my morning routine sufficient that I didn't get as far as putting ring splints on 12.30ish, and oh but did my hands hurt.
I'm pretty sure that the hand therapist's attitude would be that I'm wearing them all the time, so of course my hands are getting weaker, so of course they hurt -- except: my hands are demonstrably getting stronger (I'm doing hand physio pretty much every day; I've just moved up to the third and last block of memory foam, which has the most resistance), and it's not the kind of pain that comes with muscle work or fatigue.
Which leaves me at: wow, did my hands just... hurt that much... all the time... and I thought it was normal...? And the conclusion: yeah, probably, that'd be why I started out wearing the splints experimentally and then just kept wearing them despite the fact that they chewed through wheelchair gloves, gave me a bunch of new callouses, did not (in the first instance) fit me terribly well, and were an all-round faff.
So! Yes! If you are bendy, and your hands routinely hurt, and you're sort of dubious about the point of ring splints: yes they're amazing, and please by all means do if we have even vaguely similarly-sized hands ask to try mine on if we're in the same place. Because, to reiterate: I can use chopsticks. I can use chopsticks more than once a week. I can type, and I can make pastry, and I can brush my hair, and my hands just hurt less. They're actually magic.
I'm pretty sure that the hand therapist's attitude would be that I'm wearing them all the time, so of course my hands are getting weaker, so of course they hurt -- except: my hands are demonstrably getting stronger (I'm doing hand physio pretty much every day; I've just moved up to the third and last block of memory foam, which has the most resistance), and it's not the kind of pain that comes with muscle work or fatigue.
Which leaves me at: wow, did my hands just... hurt that much... all the time... and I thought it was normal...? And the conclusion: yeah, probably, that'd be why I started out wearing the splints experimentally and then just kept wearing them despite the fact that they chewed through wheelchair gloves, gave me a bunch of new callouses, did not (in the first instance) fit me terribly well, and were an all-round faff.
So! Yes! If you are bendy, and your hands routinely hurt, and you're sort of dubious about the point of ring splints: yes they're amazing, and please by all means do if we have even vaguely similarly-sized hands ask to try mine on if we're in the same place. Because, to reiterate: I can use chopsticks. I can use chopsticks more than once a week. I can type, and I can make pastry, and I can brush my hair, and my hands just hurt less. They're actually magic.
