With St Patty's Day just around the corner, the word "pinch" comes to mind. Hopefully, you will remember your green this year and not get pinched, but this brings up an important topic for dental clinicians.
Many clinicians struggle with pain in their hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, and necks. Sometimes, this pain can be traced back to a tiny but mighty habit many of us have.
Our grip or pinch force.
Our pinch force is how tightly we grip or pinch things. Just think about how much we use our hands and that for most of our day, we grip or hold things.
Our mirror.
Our instruments and handpieces.
Our suction and air/water.
While we have to use these things to perform our duties, what we don't need is to hold said things with excessive force.
The death grip.
The next time you're in the op, watch and feel how hard or tightly you're gripping things. You could probably stand to lighten up a bit.
Try to hold things with as little pressure as possible (without dropping things on your patient)!
Here's what happens when we grip or pinch things too tightly:
We strain the muscles/tendons/ligaments in the hands and forearms. When these muscles, especially the ones in the forearm, become tight, they also become short.
This pulls on the tendons and ligaments in the wrist and elbow, which can cause symptoms of carpal tunnel and tendonitis/tennis elbow.
All because the grip is too tight!
To learn more about protecting your hands and arms, check out my podcast, "How to Reduce Hand, Wrist, and Forearm Pain."
Also, check out my favorite microbreak for the wrists and forearms here.
Save your pinches for St Patty's Day!