<div>I have had ulnar nerve problems that may have started when I started tuning but I had bypass surgery a year after that and I'm inclined to think they crushed something in the shoulder or my poor neck posture, etc. Maybe all but I was a pipe fitter out of the plumbers union and have lived and worked in the mountains (chop your own firewood) so I haven't felt that the strain on my arm was much in comparison but the torque  on the spine while tuning is mostly in the same direction. So my ulnar stopped working completely. The tennis ball would knock the racquet out of my backhand. It stems from the neck C6,7,8 where the radial (they call that the medianin the simplified drawing) and ulnar bindle branches come out. The radial controls the rotation and the ulnar is the in out or back forth.  The chiropractor helped but the yoga exercises are doing the best and I now actually have a backhand. </div> <div> </div> <div>Keith<br><br></div> <div class="gmail_quote">On Dec 21, 2007 8:07 AM, Donald McKechnie <<a href="mailto:dmckech@ithaca.edu">dmckech@ithaca.edu</a>> wrote:<br> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"> <div style="WORD-WRAP: break-word">While we are on the topic of aches and pains, here is one I have not heard about among piano technicians. Just wondering if any of you have experienced this? We are fairly familiar with carpal tunnel problems in our ranks but I have not heard about ulnar nerve problems. Take a look at this diagram of the two primary nerves that go through the wrist: <div><br></div> <div> <div style="MARGIN: 0px"><font style="FONT: 12px Helvetica" face="Helvetica"><font size="4"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14px"><a href="http://www.eorthopod.com/images/ContentImages/hand/hand_guyon_canal/hand_guyon_canal_anat01.jpg" target="_blank"> http://www.eorthopod.com/images/ContentImages/hand/hand_guyon_canal/hand_guyon_canal_anat01.jpg</a></span></font></font></div></div> <div><br></div> <div>About a year ago I started to experience pain in both wrists, numbness in the little finger and the next, with occasional shooting pain up the arm. A visit to a neurologist confirmed ulnar nerve inflammation. (Nasty little test involving needles being stuck into your hands and arms but really cool to actually hear your nerves firing away and seeing a graph of it on the computer.) The best part of all this was the cure. Wear bicycle gloves when tuning! I'm a lefty but I switch back and forth on a grand as some described in the shoulder posts. A trip to a local bike shop produced these gloves:  </div> <div><br></div> <div> <div style="MARGIN: 0px"><font style="FONT: 12px Helvetica" face="Helvetica"><font size="4"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14px"><a href="http://www.shopatron.com/product/part_number=1481034/444.0.17246.22482.19762.0.0" target="_blank"> http://www.shopatron.com/product/part_number=1481034/444.0.17246.22482.19762.0.0</a></span></font></font></div> <div style="MARGIN: 0px"><br></div> <div style="MARGIN: 0px">I like these as they have good padding and are easy to put on and take off. Also, the knit back helps to keep the hand cool. Since I have been wearing these I have been pain free. I believe they will help with carpal tunnel problems too. </div> <div style="MARGIN: 0px"><br></div> <div style="MARGIN: 0px">Don </div><br> <div><span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 14px Helvetica; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px"><span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 14px Helvetica; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px"> <span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 12px Helvetica; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px"> <div style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><br></div> <div style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px">Don McKechnie</span></span></div> <div style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px">Piano Technician</span></span></div> <div style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px">Ithaca College</span></span></div> <div style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><a href="mailto:dmckech@ithaca.edu" target="_blank">dmckech@ithaca.edu</a></span></span></div> <div style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px">607-274-3908</span></span></div> <div style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><br></div> <div style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><br></div><br></span></span></span></div><br></div></div></blockquote></div><br>