Repetitive stress injury and competing activities

We started out the terrace project with 2 tomping sticks. One small diameter and one larger. The smaller one had a bit of weight in the bottom but not much. The larger one had more weight which was great for tomping in holes that it could fit which was not that many. On June 17th, we were at a point in the project where we both needed the small tomping stick. Craig disappeared to the shop and came back 20 minutes later with what he called the ‘perfect” tomping stick. It was metal and had more weight in the bottom than the PVC one. This meant it could facilitate packing just by dropping it. I didn’t have to grip it so tightly to pound it down. Craig personalized. the stick

I didn’t really notice much hand soreness until the last day of tomping. A few days earlier I had started crocheting a blanket in the evening. I am guessing the two activities requiring gripping of the right hand contributed to the right hand aching and mild swelling I have been experiencing for the past 5 days. Ibuprofen helps but I avoided practicing the bass guitar because I don’t want to further inflame the joints and tissues.

The blanket is almost finished so once its done I will try to rest my hand for the next couple of weeks and come back to the guitar when I do not have pain. While I am making progress on the guitar, it is slow and I don’t need any negative associations (pain) with practice. I was able to play a couple of songs with Craig pretty well until I started to learn appropriate technique. As I focus on getting the technique right, I have trouble keeping up with the song. Now I spend my practice time doing exercises. Not a lot of fun, but necessary.

One thing is for sure, older joints are not as resilient as younger joints and I am just going to have to be patient . I do not want chronic pain in my hands. I was wearing padded gloves and using wrist braces but with the combined activities, I irritated the joints anyway. Moving forward I will just have to be more careful. We may have a few more post-holes to dig and fill but the need will be spread over time – nothing like what we just did.

Craig took a bit of an issue with me calling myself and excellent “tomper” after one day of tomping and I do have to admit that I learned nuances to the technique throughout the process.

I am now very comfortable stating that I am an excellent tomper who needs to take better care of my hands. When my hands are better, I will prioritize bass guitar practice over crocheting to minimize the repetitive stress injury..