My left shoulder is shot from osteoarthritis. They took away my Celebrex
because of blood pressure, so I am restricted to Tylenol. When I do a lot of
wiring or other bonsai work (even though I'm right-handed), my shoulder feels
it that night. I have no intention of giving this up. Has anyone with similar
problems developed any tricks or techniques to minimize shoulder stress?

My late wife was plagued by both osteo and rhumatoid arthritis, and had
high pressure problems too. She also happened to be ratherstuborn and
there wasn't much she wasn't gonna do :-)

The first thing she did was reduce the amount of bonsai work she would do
at any one time. So instead of working 30 minutes or an hour at a shot,
she'd do 15 minutes, stop for half hour and start again.

She also got me to make her elbow rests. Basically a little box with a
cushion that she would place on the table top and then put her elbows on,
so the weight of the arm would be supported.

Finally, she often resorted to the "let me borrow your hands" approach.

As you know, I also have a disability, though haven't been really touched
by arthritis yet (slowly starting in fingers). As a wheelchair user, one
thing I do is only do smaller trees. :-)

Hope this helps some.


Nicolas
http://www.bmee.net
"A community that excludes even one of its members is no community at all"
- Dan Wilkins
"You must deal with me as I think of myself" J. Hockenberry

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I have been taking Pilates (bonsai for people) and there are a lot of neat
stretches one can do for various parts of the body. The composition of a
Pilaties sculpted body is formal upright with a slight curve about 3/5 up
from the roots and firm core stabilizers. Both "roots" face forward not
greater or lesser than hip width, not much taper. I also sleep on a
heating pad set on low with a towel on top of the pad. Herbal feedings
work only for short periods. Valarian is a muscle relaxant. There are
also the Glucosamin/Clondroiten combinations as well. I had to stop them
because I am allergic to shellfish, but they did work.

Kitsune Miko

At 01:31 PM 7/4/03 +0000, Iris Cohen wrote:
My left shoulder is shot from osteoarthritis. They took away my Celebrex
because of blood pressure, so I am restricted to Tylenol. When I do a lot of
wiring or other bonsai work (even though I'm right-handed), my shoulder feels
it that night. I have no intention of giving this up. Has anyone with similar
problems developed any tricks or techniques to minimize shoulder stress?
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40

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My left shoulder is shot from osteoarthritis. They took away my
Celebrex
because of blood pressure, so I am restricted to Tylenol. When
I do a lot of
wiring or other bonsai work (even though I'm right-handed), my
shoulder feels
it that night. I have no intention of giving this up. Has
anyone with similar
problems developed any tricks or techniques to minimize
shoulder stress?

I suggest Taoist Tai Chi as a way of strengthening aging and
weakening shoulder, neck and back.

Jackie has been doing it for years now. She had cartilage
deterioration in both shoulders. Tai Chi has helped her
immeasurably. I have taken it up too -- just recently -- because
of chronic neck pain. It's early days (I'm only half way through
learning the 108-move set), but it seems to help.

There are other forms of tai chi, but some of them are so rigid
that their muscle/tendon health benefits (aside from
cardiovascular, which all of them help) are limited.
www.taoist.org to find a chapter near you.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Who is
working on a couple of bonsai for the local/state Taoist Tai Chi
Society headquarters.

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Iris,

A physical therapist will help without hurting and has the
knowledge to exercise that shoulder and arm and the shoulder
blade, too, so it will keep some flexibility, otherwise your
trouble will get worse probably. Daily routine limits our
shoulders and muscles to one set of routine movements while
the real flexibility and balance slowly fades.
You would be entitled to a physical therapist under your
health care system or medicare. It really feels good to
have an arm loosened by their knowledgeable manipulation and
you tend to make more movements with it then and can progress
the flexibility, thus relieving some pain.
I first over-stressed my shoulders with golf, then with
bonsai lifting and flagstone placement - so even without
serious arthritis I know one can fight the old tendon damage.
I discovered that surgery to reattach tendons are not so good
in women, or impossible where thinned in fiber.
My husband is almost entirely an invalid from injuries and
rheumatoid so I have seen what these therapists can do. The
tai chi would add some more flexing cause its movements as Jim
explained have so much variety. Slap a few of those quick
ready-made hot patches on and go for it. Really - try those
instant hot patches - they let you relax. Pilates took too
much room and equipment for me and tai chi too far away. I
thought it might be the same for you since you mentioned ranch
or farm house.
Glad to hear you're fighting it -
Lynn

-------------------- FROM Iris
My left shoulder is shot from osteoarthritis. When I do a
lot of
wiring or other bonsai work (even though I'm right-handed),
my shoulder feels
it that night. I have no intention of giving this up. Has
anyone with similar
problems developed any tricks or techniques to minimize
shoulder stress?

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Mike Page ++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++