Health

I did not see a section on health, thought this would be something for shop (shed, down under, lingo I think, Ray F. please correct me if I'm wrong) discussion.

Arthritis!

Right now thumbs for me, had my first shots of cortisone last week. Didn't seem to do much for the one.
Would like to hear about what is working and what is not.
Sucks, I don't need more of a handy cap then I already have.

Be safe!!!

Good luck my friend. I type this with stiff aching fingers. Might get them limbered up in another hour or so.

I will be keeping a eye on this post.
Been having issues myself , just wondering at what age , and health issues , does a mechanic say enough is enough.

Hopefully early enough he/she can enjoy a life after. I know the last couple years of aches and pains have changed the way I do things. Work smarter not harder!

I was hell on my body as a young man and working in the heavy equipment field doesn't help any. I already have issues with my left hand, cut the fingers dang near off many years ago, and my right shoulder. Lord knows what 50 or 60 will feel like......

I'm doing ok so far. My knees are much better now since I've been trying to use a soft mat to kneel on as much as possible. I've found that working out regularly and shedding about 40lbs of excess weight has really helped me feel a lot better after a 12 hour day as well.

Im 51 and hope to do something diffrent to make a liveing next year. I could write a book on how to make a mechanics life easyer now that i have done every thing the hard way.I cant stay working were i am because of alot of walking i dont have a problem but its to much and no good way to handle heavy stuff.If i was training starting out mechanics i would take their rachets away when they were takeing stuff apart and make them us air tools every time it was possable.

Hearing has been gone for years, the wife is my interpreter. It was when the vision thing started at around 52 that I started noticing I had to stretch a bit when I woke up in the morning. The fingers on my left hand started to tingle at 56 and then got real painful at 59. A year of looking and found bad neck problems. On the way to that the left shoulder was found to have arthritis and now the right shoulder is just as bad. My right knee has been getting better of late, likely because the weather is warm now. I ask myself if there was anything I could have done different way back when. From this view of point I don't think so. We didn't have cranes on the trucks so much so lots of lifting, pulling, pushing and hammer work.

This is a good topic. Prevention is the best medicine. I'll keep watch for the pointers.

One fellow in his 40's gave me some great advice. Gloves when using impact tools and don't smack wrenches and ratchets with your palm to bust bolts loose. He said he damaged the artery in his hand doing that.

For others, who would like to know. Corticosteroid or cortisone injections can improve pain in some people with Osteoarthritis. You can also take some foods that may help ease the symptoms of your arthritis like cherries, strawberries, soya beans, fish and others with a substantial dose of antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

Use a brass hammer or dead blow to tap on wrenches. Doesn't hurt the tools and doesn't hurt you either. Nupla? used to make a deadblow knocker.... looked like just the head of a hammer.

Hearing protection. These are telling. Language is not for snowflakes.

And for the younger folks.

Almost 40 years in the trades, and I can say I'm beat to hell, not as bad as some I've seen that are my age, but I'm thrashed for sure.

For the most part I worked smart, I've never been a big fan of pain, so I liked safety, I also had the opportunity to work for some good employers most of my time. They seemed to put value on keeping you healthy as you are a asset to them. They knew they needed us to get the job done, mutual respect, something missing I think at times today.

I was dumb in the earlier part of my career for sure, I thought I knew better than the old hands.
Joke is in me now!

Maybe should start a thread of all the advise one has been given over a career of wrenching professionally, but didn't follow and the out come. Health, safety or otherwise...
I'm sure that thread would have some interesting advise.

The bit of advise that I recall being given, and seem to recall the most especially in the morning,
is being told
"don't jump off the flat bed trailer after setting the choker",
but I knew better.
I can't wait to pay for the knee reconstruction some day.

It is good to see that the trend today is more towards not to be a tough guy, but be the work smart guy, let the equipment do the job, take that extra moment to put your safety glasses on or do whatever to protect oneself and others around you.

Boy sure seemed like the transition from, I know it all, to give me a dam moment, I got warm up,
happened overnight...

At 53 hearing is excellent, my mom was adamant about wearing hearing protection when operating anything.
Knees still still good, use a mat all the time, makes things easier.
Chiro. keeps my back in tune, only go every 3-4 months.

Double hernia surgery at 40 gives one a new outlook on lifting and doing stupid shrit.

Ed

Williams Marine, HEALTH thread; complex topic!
Hippocrates approx 2500yrs ago supposedly stated, (simplified) 'you are what you eat'...'use it or lose it'...modern civilization with manufactured foods full chemical residues, i.e farming with poisons!

RayS, you drink beer? You're joints will ache! Consume sugars in any forum, you're joint will ache! Sugars are inflammatory! Also best 'fuel' for cancers!

Hippocrates: http://www.greekmedicine.net/whos_who/Hippocrates.html
Believe Allopathic doctors (conventional) referencing 'peer reviewed studies'?
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/evidence-based-medicine-coins-flip-worth-certainty
Follow the URL links!

Snake OIL Salesman's son, 1 responsible for our current societal and worlds' previous and continuing conflict. John D. Rockefeller Sr. DNA was named for Rockefeller; he wanted to find a way to control the masses! LOL

Junkyard said:

Hopefully early enough he/she can enjoy a life after. I know the last couple years of aches and pains have changed the way I do things. Work smarter not harder!

I was hell on my body as a young man and working in the heavy equipment field doesn't help any. I already have issues with my left hand, cut the fingers dang near off many years ago, and my right shoulder. Lord knows what 50 or 60 will feel like......

Click to expand...

The worst is when the mind goes numb like mine.

StanRUS,
Wish I had the time right now to watch 1 hour 11 minute video.
Will be sure and watch when time permits, thanks for forwarding.

To busy with my York!

After two jars of this my knees and back are way better. Used to be I couldn't even more than one auto brake job continuously.

https://www.amazon.com/BEYOND-Osteo-Fx-POWDER-Canister/dp/B00DVNLRSM

Williams Marine said:

StanRUS,
Wish I had the time right now to watch 1 hour 11 minute video.
Will be sure and watch when time permits, thanks for forwarding.

To busy with my York!

Click to expand...

Addressing YOUR health issue, KNEES
Before reconstructive KNEE surgery, I would exhaust all alternatives, i.e. exercise therapy, diet etc. $3billion annual scam? Latest from Kaiser Health News...Arthroscopic Surgery Doesn't Help With Arthritis Knee Pain May 11, 2017

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-...-surgery-doesnt-help-with-arthritis-knee-pain

‘The surgery was questioned in 2002 after researchers reported in The New England Journal of Medicine that in a randomized trial of older veterans with osteoarthritis in their knees, arthroscopic surgery was no more effective in treating pain than a placebo surgery in which patients had incisions made but no instruments were inserted into the knee. At least three other studies in that journal since then have also found arthroscopy is not better than sham surgery or physical therapy in relieving arthritis pain in the knees of older adults.
1 ref http://www.bmj.com/content/357/bmj.j1982
Placebo effective; you believe XXXX, your mind will heal the body. ALL diseases start in your mind via 'how you handle stress', stress starts inflammation.
Take care

The best advice I was ever given and actually listened to, was to spend the extra money on GOOD workboots. I have knee and back problems at my young age from some prior choices and if I wear junk shoes, my knees are done after a couple days.

I have heard of sports yoga but is there heavy mechanics yoga? At 40 even though I try to respect the skelliton ,the joints are not able for long days in succession any more . I wear safty shoes , boots 2heavy and god save my box of studs . They never ache holding heavy stuff all day .

Volvomad said:

I have heard of sports yoga but is there heavy mechanics yoga? At 40 even though I try to respect the skelliton ,the joints are not able for long days in succession any more . I wear safty shoes , boots 2heavy and god save my box of studs . They never ache holding heavy stuff all day .

Click to expand...

Yoga is Yoga, great to start at any age.
Pedram Shojai site
https://well.org/category/fitness/page/2/
You're located at higher latitude have Vitamin D level checked; Vit D is required for bone health, our bodies have over 1,000 receptors for Vit D.

KNEES https://well.org/fitness/how-to-keep-your-knees-healthy-when-running/