Re: [Paddlewise] Thumb pain

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I was already in my 50's when I starated paddling with doubleblades. I
had my first paddle, an Eddyline Swift double indexed, just to give me a
larger loom and let me keep my hands in a more open relaxed position
because I am getting arthritis in my hands and the back of my right gets
very painful if I have to grip something tightly.  

I haven't checked lately but there used to be kits to index your paddle.
They have some foam and a little piece of plastic that allows you to feel 
the correct placement of the paddle.  I never needed the sticks but the
foam enlarges the loom.  However some of them are too short to be useful
in all conditions.  (I had a kayak that severely weathercocked and I
would compensate by paddling with a shorter paddle on one side so
sometimes I would have to hold the padedle in a place that was not enlarged.

You might also want to check out the padded tape the bicycle shops sell.  
The adhesive should be waterproof as they sell it for off road bikes and
the whole bike is often out in the rain. 

This might be an issue we want to take up with paddlemakers. It seems to
me that most sea kayakers are middleaged and getting older all the time
so there should be a large group of people wanting the larger looms. 

Marilyn Kircus


Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 12:42:22 -0800
From: John Blackburn <digipixs_at_erols.com>
Subject: [Paddlewise] Thumb pain

This past year I have been experiencing pain in my thumb joints, the
ones that are at the base of the thumb that you can't see, located
inside the hand.  I've also found that in switching back and forth
between my greenland and euro paddles, the discomfort occurs with the
euro paddle 100% of the time and very much less so with the greenland.
My Euro paddle is an AT crank that I just love and would hate to give it
up.

I had a chance to talk to my Brother in Law this past week who just
happens to be a damn good hand surgeon and he confirmed my initial self
diagnosis that the greater loom diameter of the GP helps.  What doesn't
help is that I've screwed up these same joints sking and it's not going
to get better, but he said the thicker loom will help with the pressure
on the joint and postpone the more radical solution of replacing the
joint.

His recommendation was to build up the diameter of the loom of my Euro
paddle with duct tape.  Granted that this approach  might work, it is,
however, a rather inelegant solution and I am thinking of something less
"red neck" like modifying foam bike hand grips, or using foam pipe
insulation, as a more permanent and lighter solution.

Any thoughts out there on alternatives to duct tape?

Thanks
John Blackburn


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