Re: [Paddlewise] Puffy hands

It have experienced the same problem.  Particularly when I first wake up in
the morning my hands will be swollen and stiff.  It seems to resolve itself
after a few days of continued paddling.  I suspect the cause is , as you
say, "holding and using the paddle for hours".
Some things that may contribute to the problem include the fact that all the
lymphatic drainage from the hands must go back through the wrist with its
relatively small cross sectional area packed with tendons, vessels, nerves,
and at least 8 bones. The soft tissues in the wrist likely swell somewhat
from the thousands of repetitive movements (minor traumas) associated with
paddling.  In the very compacted wrist a little swelling goes a long way.
The forearm too which houses the vast majority of the muscle that works the
hands is likely to swell somewhat from the work of paddling and its swelling
would further impede lymph flow from the hands.  And, the amount of
extracellular fluid in the hand is gonna be increased from the incessant
pressures of paddling. Even if you don't hold the paddle too tightly there
is still a tremendous cumulative pressure applied to it with the pushing and
pulling that goes on for hours.
It amazes me how fast our hands do accommodate.  I doubt that there is much
you could do to minimize this effect.  Weight training wold probably be
useful.  Anti-inflammatory medicines like ibuprofen or Aleve probably help.
Resting the hands when they've first swollen ( which of course means not
paddling  for a day or so) early in a trip would obviously be useful.  The
best thing of course would be to never quit paddling between trips.  Folks
like Verlen Kruger probably don't experience it much.
Larry Koenig
----- Original Message -----
From: Evan Dallas <Evan_Dallas_at_notes.ntrs.com>
To: <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 1999 2:03 PM
Subject: [Paddlewise] Puffy hands


>
>
>  Sorry if this is an old topic, but I've been paddling for maybe 8 years,
>  and consistently find that my hands always get 'puffy' on trips of more
>  than a day or two.  From those I've spoken with, this happens fairly
often
>  with others as well.  I suspect the primary cause is (a) the strain of
>  carrying the boats to and from the water, using muscles that don't get
> used
>  like that very often.  I assume the other possibilities are (b) just
>  holding and using paddle for hours at a time (I don't grip the shaft
>  particularly hard, so I doubt that's the cause) or (c) exposure to cold
>  water and air for hours at a time.
>
>  Does anyone else on the list experience this much and have ideas what the
>  culprit is?  Can it be minimized by doing some kind of hand exercises?
>
>  Evan
>
>
>
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