Repetitive Strain Injury RSI

Here’s a bit about RSI for the people that think they may have it.
Is it possible to avoid getting RSI?
How?
Anyone have any ideas to avoid getting RSI in first instance.
READ BELOW BEFORE ANSWERING

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"Other factors may contribute, such as poor posture whilst doing the movement, using excessive force whilst doing the movement"
Quote from article.

Ya … if you’re cleaning windows the wrong way you will eventually have to retire because of the pain. Loads of guys loose their careers in window washing every year because going to work is simple to painfull for them to continue.

PS
The Jim Willingham instructional video on window cleaning solved my pain problem and saved my career at 55 because he showed me what I had been doing wrong for years. I stopped cleaning windows the wrong way and the pain went away.

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This video makes sense to me. My dad use to say there’s a right way and a wrong way to do everything.

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I worked in a factory setting for a decade and battled with pain right from the start. I discovered that it was much worse when i wasn’t drinking enough water. We were also taught by our in-house therapists to do stretches at regular intervals, which helped. They also taught us the need to be stronger than our work and encouraged us to exercise in addition to the physical labor we were doing. Sufficient rest is also critical.

With window cleaning I’m trying to apply those lessons along with principles of ergonomics like maintaining good posture, switching sides, not using excessive force, and keeping the body in a more neutral position as much as possible. One reason I’m actually excited to enter the world of wfp is to add more variety of movement into the day. Rather than exclusively squeegeeing, i can use some different muscle groups while poling.

Nevertheless, I encounter pain on nearly every job already. Thankfully, i discovered a site that I’ve linked to before on trigger points. It mentioned that most carpal tunnel diagnosis are not really carpal tunnel at all, but instead referred trigger point pain. If you find and relieve the trigger point, you can eliminate the pain. This had been a godsend for me as I’ve found it to be the most effective remedy yet.

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Here’s what I had,it was so bad I had to sell my Reach-IT pole and go as light as I could.

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:grimacing:

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iv found its essential not to work weekends. this job its easy to slide into doing a bit on a Saturday -but if you make a habit of it this could cost you dearly. not letting your body recover. i know the other week id really pushed myself [and my workers] and i hurt my shoulder. i was so thankful i got it rested over the next weekend

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was the reach it heavier than a harris pole ?

I try to focus on erect posture, full ranges of motion and working ambidextrously.

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That looks so painful. How is that joint now?

If that’s a current picture how long will take repair and what kind of rehab do you have to do?

That picture is from last year,it was extremely painful. I’m a one man band so I had to carry on working.It took three visits to my doctor to sort my elbow out,it had to be drained which wasn’t a pleasant experience.The elbow is 95% ok now.

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Julian: i have shied away from using my WFP because it feels physically abusive to me. I have a light carbon fiber Gardiner SLX but using it is a physical work out compared to simple traditional storefront work. Are you still poling? How goes it?

What exactly happened there? Did it fill with fluid due to the repetition of cleaning windows? Never saw anything like it.

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Yes I’m using a super hi mod pole now,the elbow seems fine now.

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Yes it was a build up of fluid due to cleaning windows.Id never seen anything like it either lol :see_no_evil:

When I pole I rock back and forth to lessen the action in my arms wrists and shoulders. A trick I learned back in my truck mounted carpet cleaning days. Still feel beat up after a big job.

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I’ve seen the same thing on body builders using too much weight.

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I’ve been realizing that i basically have a “deathgrip” on my tools…not so much my squeegee, but definitely the mop. And using steel wool on every window is killing my wrists (@Luke how the heck do you manage, especially with your wrists already being shot?).

So now I’ve been trying to conscientiously maintain the lightest grip possible at all times. It takes some serious effort cause these habits are already engrained. Trying to let the weight of the mop do the work and rely on the steel wool for the real scrubbing power.

I also got the idea today to unroll the steel wool and put it on this tool:
https://shopwindowcleaningresource.com/pad-scubber-holder-3x6-for-gripper.html

Made it so much easier. No wrist pain caused now pressure was going through my arm rather than my fingers. Plus, it was way faster cause the wool surface area was bigger and it never bunched up as usually happens.

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Steel wool dosent bug my wrist…wagtails do :face_with_head_bandage:

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