Zoom-itis - A Crippling Affliction

[Mark_48]

After many years of using a zoom lens, the dreaded affliction of many photographers finally caught up to me, zoom-itis . Constantly rotating the zoom on a lens resulted in a repetitive stress injury known as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. It came on slowly and finally fully manifested itself while I was shooting a three hour event early this year. About 1 hour into the event my left zoom hand went numb and I lost the ability to zoom without significant difficulty and effort. I got through the event, but it was this moment I realized I had to do something to get this corrected. This past week I had Carpal Tunnel Release surgery. Essentially ligaments are cut in the base of the palm to relieve pressure on the nerves that feed the hand. The image below is how my hand will look for 2 weeks. Eventually I'll have my right hand done due to repetitive shutter button pushes on the camera :(. Doc highly recommended not getting both done at the same time, as the wife may not appreciate assisting me in some daily chores :rolleyes:.

Well, maybe photography wasn't totally to blame for having to get this done, but not being able to enjoy shooting sure pushed me to get it fixed.

Not where I had it done, but to show the procedure (not for weak stomachs)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCmU7Ix6Rqw

[jwhite]

Which part of your hand went numb? The times I shoot long events my pinky and part of my ring finger on my left hand go numb after 4-5 hrs. I know there is a nerve that goes down for that part of the hand. I assumed that I bend my hand wrong while holding the camera and it just caused feeling to be lost with that hand. The 70-200 f/2.8 and 5D w/ grip and 580ex ii isn't exactly light either. So far since I don't shoot a whole lot of all day events I just live with it. It has only occurred twice and feeling returns after a day or two.

Is this the same time of problem you were experiencing?

Jason

[moneypenny02]

Man, I feel for you. I have carpal tunnel basically from being a professional student for the past 9 years (with 3 more to go). It used to hurt just typing, not hand writing is problematic too. I never imagined using a camera would exacerbate the problem. Is there any method to using the camera, or type of support for your wrist/hand that could have avoided/minimized the problem? Just curious to know if there is any way I can avoid the same type of progression. I use a long brace on my right hand when I type, and that has helped significantly, but I don't think this same type of brace would work while photographing...


On the up side...really nice photo--and one-handed no less! :)

[Visual Reality]

That's a crappy deal - and I may be dealing with this soon as well...I'm not entirely sure what's wrong with my wrist at this point.

You must have had the open-incision done. Have you heard of endoscopic?

http://www.eorthopod.com/public/patient_education/6559/endoscopic_carpal_tunnel_release.html
http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/carpal-tunnel/endoscopic-carpal-tunnel-surgery-for-carpal-tunnel-syndrome

[Mark_48]

Pretty basically it was the thumb to middle finger going numb if I did anything where I needed to grip something for a while. Most notably if I took the bicycle out for a trek I'd be shaking both my hands out every mile or so to get rid of the numbness. There are excercises that may help, but I didn't have any luck with them.
The tests to evaluate the severity of the problem is a real joy. It involves giving your forearms a jolt of electricity (I think of it as being Tasered), to see how the nerve conduction is. Hurts like the dickens.
I had asked the Doc I had about the endoscopic method. He said he knew of it and was trained to do it, but the chance of cutting something wrong was higher since the view is more restricted, thus he prefered to open it right up. My fingers and thumb still work so he did something right.
In retrospect I wish I had done it years ago and been done with it.

Photography likely wasn't the reason it developed, but just triggered the symptoms. My hands were going numb simply reading a newspaper or driving a car as well.

[24Peter]

Mark - best wishes for a speedy recovery. Sounds like you needed the procedure.
I had hip reconstructive surgery in 1994. Couldn't walk for 6 weeks. So I feel your pain.