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fingers and wrist problems

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Offline grat

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fingers and wrist problems
« on: May 03, 2017, 07:04:57 AM »
Hi all,

I am developing a bit of an issue with fingers and wrist pain, numbness, and... how to say: when fingers move a bit in a jerky way. It's most likely some form of carpal tunnel/guyon canal problem because of driving. I probably do not hold the wheel right and should improve that. But I am wondering whether some of you with more experience have specific suggestions, like I should use some sort of gloves or stuff like that.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Offline Wally

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Re: fingers and wrist problems
« Reply #1 on: May 03, 2017, 07:41:45 AM »
I think it's good practice not to hold the wheel too tightly. It also helps with feeling the FFB and being able to respond to slides and corrections more quickly.


Maybe you need to reduce the strength of your FFB.


I have a sore wrist (but from the gym), so I have been wearing a wrist brace from the chemist for driving - one of those that hooks over your thumb and tightens around your wrist with a Velcro fastener.
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Offline marty

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Re: fingers and wrist problems
« Reply #2 on: May 03, 2017, 10:33:58 AM »
As Wally said try to get yourself to lighten the grip a little, I used to pretty much strangle it and why I ripped a g27 wheel off the base once lol. If you think its from driving then looking at how you hold the wheel. I cant imagine gloves making much difference these are used to avoid blisters, calluses etc and in a real car to protect hands from fire. My hands are fairly tough so I dont need gloves but for someone stuck in an office never using their hands maybe gloves will help.  ;)

I have a past injury in my right hand from a silly tennis fall that dislocated 2 fingers and broke 4 bones that actually ended my golf career. Even years later hitting a lot of golf balls it can get fairly bad but I just cant put in any practice so playing competitively isnt possible any more,  surprisingly sim racing isnt a big issue but simply lightening up my grip helps a lot with that as when I strangled it my right hand would get sore.

With a lighter wheel tension you stay more relaxed and will tend to drive better and have no issues on a long run. Strangling the wheel just adds tension and takes away feel so best to avoid it as much as possible.

Offline Joe

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Re: fingers and wrist problems
« Reply #3 on: May 03, 2017, 11:38:13 AM »
My wrists were pretty sore during last night races probably from holding the wheel too tight. I also only have the formula rim at the moment so my hands are always in a fixed position which probably doesnt help. I have some overtime coming up though so may order the BMW rim  8)

Offline Gratulin

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Re: fingers and wrist problems
« Reply #4 on: May 03, 2017, 04:22:17 PM »
After years (and years!!) in IT I struggle with sore wrists from time to time and am lucky to be able to limit my computer time these days.

One of the best things (in addition to good advice above) is to take note of your wrist angle while holding the wheel. When you dangle you arm in a relaxed fashion there is a natural correct angle that the wrist assumes relative to your arm. If you are gripping the wheel in such a way as to always be straining the wrist at an incorrect (ie not natural) angle then you will build up stress in the tendons in the hand. So reducing FFB is good but may not be the actual cause. I got RSI from using a mouse until I learnt to hold the mouse in such a way that my wrist was in the correct, relaxed position.

My understanding of the correct driving position is with the wheel fairly close so that your arms and wrists can hold the wheel in a relaxed position.

hope this makes sense. Difficult to describe without a diagram.
« Last Edit: May 03, 2017, 05:29:44 PM by Gratulin »

Offline Phil.8

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Offline Simone

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Re: fingers and wrist problems
« Reply #6 on: May 03, 2017, 06:30:31 PM »
Hi all,

I am developing a bit of an issue with fingers and wrist pain, numbness, and... how to say: when fingers move a bit in a jerky way. It's most likely some form of carpal tunnel/guyon canal problem because of driving. I probably do not hold the wheel right and should improve that. But I am wondering whether some of you with more experience have specific suggestions, like I should use some sort of gloves or stuff like that.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

i hear you Grat,lately is my huge handicap,as i said before i have been playing tennis all my life and driving this silly sims a lot,,i mean a lot,i had to slow down.Also my job does not help either.
So i tried to slow down ,instead of 999 laps every week i do 50,and during the race when the pressure is on i try to hold the wheel less tight,it worked a treat,I know i am less competitive but who cares.
I also suffer of tennis elbow since years on both arms,at one stage i could not lift a glass of water for weeks.I have never seek medical help though  which probably would help a lot.   

Also be careful not to insist to much or you might develop something more serious,it is not normal to hold something very tight with your hand and arms for hours every day,is sad but thats the way it is Grat,we r made of meat!!!
« Last Edit: May 03, 2017, 06:33:47 PM by Simone »

Offline grat

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Re: fingers and wrist problems
« Reply #7 on: May 03, 2017, 07:09:03 PM »
Thanks a lot to all of you for all the advice. I really appreciate it.

The driving position is all correct, but for one thing. The CSW has its 20° angle support and so my wrist "changes" angle during the rotation. I would love to have a wheel with just 5° angle or so, but with my rig then the wheel would be too low compared to my shoulders and too far from me. So right now I have the correct height and the correct closeness to my body (elbows are pretty much exactly at 90°), but not the correct angle. NOTE TO JOE: this is twice a problem with the Formula wheel than with the round rim.

My holding of the wheel: I always try to remind myself of lighten it up, both for performance and for this issue. But of course the human brain is as good at controlling tension as coffee machines are good at solving math problems. So I probably end up being way too tense on it. I'll try to be more careful. I have also noticed that my little fingers, especially the right one, ends up holding the wheel on its mounts (you know: the three bars that connect the center to the rim). I think this is pretty bad and every time I notice it, I try to correct it. But again it goes back after a few minutes.

As for the frequency: funny enough, the problems are coming up in the last few weeks, when I am not really able to drive much, bar for weekends and Tuesday night. But yeah: I should check it out. In any case: I'll have to take a 3 months break starting July. So maybe that will do.

Thanks a lot again!

Offline RussG

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Re: fingers and wrist problems
« Reply #8 on: May 05, 2017, 04:20:13 PM »
I don't have the trouble with fingers and wrists, but some other issues :)
Like Marty I have a right hand injury from my car rolling on it during a club rally. That would be about 35 years ago, but it still flares up now and then and causes severe pain in the back of the hand for a few days until it settles down again. I do hand stretches while it is causing a problem.
Like Simone I have had bilateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow in both arms) for the last 14 years - it put a stop to my ten pin bowling career (well not actually a career :) ). Also like Simone at one stage I couldn't lift a cup of coffee with one hand. for this I also do hand stretches which stretch the forearm muscles, and I do weights while watching TV. Put your arm on the armrest and dangle your hand over the edge, put a weight in your hand and slowly curl it up and down. This strengthens the forearm muscles which helps the tennis elbow issue, but it never goes away. It's a matter of 'managing' it.
Knees - I have Chondromalacia in both knees which can cause severe pain in the kneecap region. For some reason I seem to keep pressing the accelerator harder than necessary and after some races My right knee is really sore. When I notice that I'm doing it I try to correct it but I think it's like grat said about the human brain and coffee machines :D

I'm not trying to have a whinge as I am not too badly affected, but it seems like a lot of us suffer from conditions that make it more difficult to do the things we have fun doing. I would hate to have to stop Sim racing because of something like this, so I just try to 'manage' the issues. Sometimes I have to limit my already limited lapping time, but not very often.

I actually have the Obutto seat and tried to follow the ideal driving position. I took out the CSW angle support and tilted the wheel similar to what grat said -  maybe 5 degrees or so and that was all about trying to get a better wrist position as wrist also affects tennis elbow.
So after doing all all this, why am I so slow ... I think it is this thing called Skillz. I've tried to buy some but I can't find where they sell it :D

grat, I wish you luck with your current issue. Hope you get it sorted mate.
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Some days you're the statue ...

Offline Joe

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Re: fingers and wrist problems
« Reply #9 on: May 05, 2017, 05:02:52 PM »
We're a bit broken in this group aren't we  :o

I had a nasty ankle break 15+ years ago jumping off a high wall and landing badly which put an end to my skateboarding career (again, not a career). I had 7 months in a cast with no weight on it for all the bone to grow back. A few years ago I had another surgery as had bone spurs and little ankle movement. Though that surgery was technically a success in giving me some movement back I have arthritis in it which the extra movement aggravates. It's not too bad during the summer but with the weather changes recently in Syd it's been pretty sore. Had a take a few anti-inflams before lasts nights race for the clutch...


 

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