[nabs-l] Cane grip and hand, wrist, forearm pain

[Sarah Alawami]

Yep I use that methid and I can walk for about 5/7 miles that way.

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Dezman Jackson
Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2009 2:11 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Cane grip and hand, wrist, forearm pain

Jim,

There's a more comfortable grip especially more suited to the NFB type canes
with there round grips.  It is called the open-palm technique and you could
definitely try it with the cane you're using now.  Basically, you hold the
cane with all of your fingers rapped around it in a loose grip with your
palm facing upward.  You then move the cane by opening and closing your last
three fingers while grasping it between your thumb and index fingers.  In
this way, there's little need to use your wrist or forearm.

Best,
Dezman
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <sarah.jevnikar at utoronto.ca>
To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2009 3:37 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Cane grip and hand, wrist, forearm pain




Hi Jim,
Oh the belly poke ... bad times for sure. I find sliding the cane
rather than tapping it helps to aleviate this problem, but it's not
infalible either. Sometimes having the cane at a less steep angle can
help, or maybe getting a bigger tip that won't stick in so many cracks.

As for the grip, I believe the recommended grip is that of a fist
around the cane with your pointer finger lying along the flat side.
The flat side should be pointing skyward, so to speak. for arm pain,
you might consider using more wrist action; moving the cane back and
forth by bending your wrist from left to right rather than moving your
entire forearm.
HTH,
Sarah
Quoting Jim Reed <jim275_2 at yahoo.com>:

> Hey all,
> The pain in my hand/wrist is not going away, and Now it seems to be 
> spreading to my forearm, and even my bicep. Last night, I was ready   to 
> call it quits after just three blocks. The hand/wrist pain is not  so bad 
> that I can't or won't use my cane, but it certainly makes it 
> uncomfortable to do so. A majority of the pain I experience is in  my 
> hand, mostly in the meaty section just below the thumb, and just  above 
> the wrist. My cane has one side of the handle that is   flattened, and 
> I've tried three different grips, and nothing works   to alleviate the 
> pain. Grip 1: make a fist with the cane inside the   fist, with the thumb 
> along the flat side, on top of the cane. Grip   2: Index finger pointed 
> out, resting along the flat part of the cane  and is on the top of the 
> cane. Grip 3: make fist with cane in the   middle of the fist, with thumb 
> along the flat part of the handle, on  top of the cane, while my pointer 
> finger is extended and running   along the side of the cane
>
> Additionally, I've been working on trying to keep my cane hand   extending

> out in front of me, in the middle of my body, and I feel   that that may 
> be contributing to the forearm/bicep pain. Also, I   find my cane hand 
> drifting towards the side of my body (where it   would normally be if I 
> wasn't using a cane). One problem I have had   with keeping my cane in 
> front of me is that when the cane gets stuck  in a crack or something in 
> the sidewalk, I end up taking a poke to   the gut. I don't really mind the

> poke to the gut, what worries me is  that I will break the cane; with the 
> speed that comes with being 6   foot four and having long legs, and with 
> mass, energy, and momentum   that comes with being 340 pounds, I have put 
> some pretty severe   bends into my cane via a gut poke, and I am afraid 
> that once I move   away from a strong aluminum cane, I will snap or 
> otherwise destroy   every cane I touch. Literally, my cane bent like I was

> in the   process of doing a pole vault. After
>  the bend, my cane had enough stored energy that the tip of it   jumped 3 
> feet in the air without me doing anything. The unstopable   force meets 
> the immovable object. I pity that cane.
>
> I walked to my campus for the first time last night, and it went 
> flawlessly. Prior to having this cane, I never even would have 
> considered walking to class after dark. The route was just too dark,  for 
> too long.
>
> Any suggestions on the grip and location of the cane would be appreciated
>
> Jim
>
> "From compromise and things half done,
> Keep me with stern and stubborn pride,
> And when at last the fight is won,
> ... Keep me still unsatisfied." --Louis Untermeyer
>
>
>
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