Warm-up exercises before sculpting

[WhiteWulfe]

17 hours ago, TaleSpinner said:

 

Aren't you doctors supposed to say "This won't hurt a bit" for the placebo effect?  

My doctor figures it's better to tell the truth about such. 

 

My old physiotherapist on the other hand...  Would basically say things like "this is going to hurt like hell, but do your best to stay relaxed and it'll be better when I'm done".  She... Wasn't kidding when she said that. 

 

 

 

... As for the topic here, I should probably look into such things, because I think not doing something is making it so that I get rather hesitant to do more work on Wyrmgear for some reason... 

[Corsair]

Praying for you here, thought you could use a smile on the subject of needles...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cUZhHS0PMM

[CivilDungeoneer]

Thanks everyone for the replies! I had checked back several times to the forum's main page and it gave me no indication the thread had been replied to. That's a first, so, sorry! Next time I'll know to check the thread directly.

 

@TaleSpinner Good luck with that stuff. I blew my shoulder all apart in high school and it got to the point where it would partially dislocate in my sleep. I didn't have the nerve concerns but boy did that suck. After some major surgery to cinch it all back up and 6 months of PT, it's been pretty solid for the last 15 or so years. I hope your situation won't require that.

[TaleSpinner]

Carpel tunnel in the wrist and a probable pinch issue in neck or shoulder.  I get an MRI next week.

 

I just ordered a pair of these to support my arms as I sculpt:

 

[CivilDungeoneer]

On 7/17/2019 at 4:18 PM, TaleSpinner said:

Carpel tunnel in the wrist and a probable pinch issue in neck or shoulder.  I get an MRI next week.

 

I just ordered a pair of these to support my arms as I sculpt:

 

 

I'm kinda interested in those just for stabilization and/or prevention. Would you feel comfortable sharing a link or make/model?

 

That's some hot garbage :( Good luck with your ride in the tube.

[TaleSpinner]

59 minutes ago, CivilDungeoneer said:

 

I'm kinda interested in those just for stabilization and/or prevention. Would you feel comfortable sharing a link or make/model?

 

That's some hot garbage :( Good luck with your ride in the tube.

 

I can't share a direct link due to commerce rules, but if you go to Amazon and enter the following, you'll find them:

 

Aluminium Alloy Ergonomic Computer Desk Arm Support Wrist Rest Arm Rest. Tuned Both Horizontal and Vertical Direction

 

 

The MRI sucked.  I really don't think I am that claustrophobic, but MRIs make me into a quivering lump.  It really isn't the tube and confined space so much, as the complete lack of control of my own destiny.  My shoulders barely fit in the tube for one thing (I'm pretty broad and have been putting on a lot of muscle this summer), but the thing that really gets me is having my head restrained in a cage and knowing that I cannot get my hands up there to free myself should I need to.  That makes me 100% dependent on the tech and I HATE it. Oh well, it's all over except the after nightmares.  I should get results from the doctor today or tomorrow.

[GHarris]

Ugh. Sorry to hear that you had to go through an MRI. I had to do it with both hands, which basically involved laying in an odd position with one arm stretched above my head. The position aggravated my carpal tunnel, and it got progressively worse as I tried to hold still for half an hour....then do it all over again on the other side. I would do an EMG again over another one of those MRIs any day. 

 

I hope you are feeling better soon!

[TaleSpinner]

MRi results are back: arthritis in my neck.  Options are to try physical therapy and see if that can work and if not, surgery. 

[Jasper_the_2nd]

Crappy news.

But a good physio can do wonders.  My last lower back impingement had me walking with a cane and them talking surgery.  Shannon got me back to at least 95% percent (ankle is still a bit weak but doesn't look like that's ever changing) within 4 months. Been good for must be about a decade since. Now if it starts to act up at all I just book an appointment and she gets me sorted before it gets bad. 

[TaleSpinner]

2 hours ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

Crappy news.

But a good physio can do wonders.  My last lower back impingement had me walking with a cane and them talking surgery.  Shannon got me back to at least 95% percent (ankle is still a bit weak but doesn't look like that's ever changing) within 4 months. Been good for must be about a decade since. Now if it starts to act up at all I just book an appointment and she gets me sorted before it gets bad. 

 

My doctor is skeptical if PT will help, since I am getting actual bone deposits growing into the nerves, but we still want to try any way, worse case scenario is that nothing changes.

[Jasper_the_2nd]

4 minutes ago, TaleSpinner said:

 

My doctor is skeptical if PT will help, since I am getting actual bone deposits growing into the nerves, but we still want to try any way, worse case scenario is that nothing changes.

So this would be cervical spinal stenosis or something similar?  If so, if you start getting any sort of lingering numbness, don't delay with getting the surgery. My dad started getting numbness in his feet and he ended up getting bounced around between specialists for too long before finally getting diagnosed with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis (one of the disadvantages of the Canadian health system is this sort of thing can happen....one specialist sends you to another, repeat until you run out of specialists). He ended up with significant permanent nerve damage. I'm pretty paranoid about it because my back (and back problems) are much like his...

 

[TaleSpinner]

11 minutes ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

So this would be cervical spinal stenosis or something similar?  If so, if you start getting any sort of lingering numbness, don't delay with getting the surgery. My dad started getting numbness in his feet and he ended up getting bounced around between specialists for too long before finally getting diagnosed with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis (one of the disadvantages of the Canadian health system is this sort of thing can happen....one specialist sends you to another, repeat until you run out of specialists). He ended up with significant permanent nerve damage. I'm pretty paranoid about it because my back (and back problems) are much like his...

 

Not spinal stenoisis, but of stenosis of the branches where the arm nerve leave the spine (I can't remember what he called it).  But yes, we are worried about permanent damage which is why we are giving the PT only 4 weeks to heal and I am stopping hand sculpting and painting all together for the next few weeks.   ZBrush is my new friend; it doesn't hurt.

[ManvsMini]

On 7/29/2019 at 8:18 AM, TaleSpinner said:

MRi results are back: arthritis in my neck.  Options are to try physical therapy and see if that can work and if not, surgery. 

 

I'm glad you at least have answers. Actually knowing what the problem is lifts a load off. I have my own cervical MRI next week to see if it will reveal what is wrong with my arms.

 

28 minutes ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

one of the disadvantages of the Canadian health system is this sort of thing can happen....one specialist sends you to another, repeat until you run out of specialists

 

It's not just limited to Canada, I've had the same go around here in the US. I've seen so many specialists in the past several years; I've been told it's all in my head, that it was stress, anxiety, etc. If I had listened to all those people, I'd never found a doctor who actually did an EMG that showed a nerve entrapment. Granted, the surgery for that issue hasn't yielded any positive results yet, but at least I knew I wasn't crazy. Now, I'm fighting the same battle again with my arms and neck; complaining about issues for the past 2 years, no one bothering/willing to check my neck, trying to tell me it's anxiety etc.

 

I'll say this; the only people who saw the symptoms and issues I complain about were the physical therapists, because they spend an hour working with you instead of 5-10 minutes. I have a deep distrust of doctors now.

 

Again, I'm glad you got a diagnosis @TaleSpinner and I hope the PT helps. Keep us updated so we can keep you in our thoughts.

[GHarris]

6 hours ago, TaleSpinner said:

Not spinal stenoisis, but of stenosis of the branches where the arm nerve leave the spine (I can't remember what he called it).  But yes, we are worried about permanent damage which is why we are giving the PT only 4 weeks to heal and I am stopping hand sculpting and painting all together for the next few weeks.   ZBrush is my new friend; it doesn't hurt.

 

Ugh. Yeah PT can't do much about that. Usually in the lumbar and thoracic spine you can talk strengthening and weight loss but in the neck you are a bit more limited. You have the right idea about not delaying surgery any longer than you may have to! 

 

Honestly I would probably have more work if I was still sculpting by hand vs on ZBrush but at this stage in my life ZBrush is so much kinder on my body and eyes. If you are having neck problems you probably already see the advantage of being able to use better posture sculpting digitally vs sculpting by hand (unless you are one of the guys that hunches over their Cintiq). Have you been enjoying ZBrush? I remember you mentioning that you might like to try it for jewelry design.

[TaleSpinner]

13 hours ago, GHarris said:

Honestly I would probably have more work if I was still sculpting by hand vs on ZBrush but at this stage in my life ZBrush is so much kinder on my body and eyes. If you are having neck problems you probably already see the advantage of being able to use better posture sculpting digitally vs sculpting by hand (unless you are one of the guys that hunches over their Cintiq). Have you been enjoying ZBrush? I remember you mentioning that you might like to try it for jewelry design.

 

Yeah, I have two clients who prefer hand sculpting, so that will be interesting to see how it develops.  Since I have the lost wax foundry, I'm buying a Photon S resin printer so I can print my models in resin and then cast them into metal myself.  Being able to produce them myself should allow me to serve my smaller customers.  I can also likely do a hybrid approach where I do the bulk of the work in zbrush and then print it and do the final details (like fur) by hand.

 

I'm really liking ZBrush; its frustratingly fun! Unfortunately, I can't show you what I'm working on as I'm jumping straight into the deep end with a Bones V project.  It's going well though so far.  After the initial learning curve on how to manipulate stuff and where is everything, I'm finding working in it to be fairly intuitive; of course, I've been working in 3D CAD and illustration software for 30 years, so that likely helped me grasp the concepts and layout a bit faster.   I haven't yet tried any jewelry pieces, but I will after Bones V, and I get the printer.

 

As for ergonomics, I have one of those arm cradles positioned to hold my hand above the cintiq.  I can work on it for hours without pain (with hand sculpting I'm only getting 5 to 10 minutes, even with the cradle). I wonder if there will be room at the artist table at ReaperCon for me to attach my cradle. Hmmm....