# Out of action for a few days.



## WillC (Mar 5, 2012)

I had mentioned it on my updates thread, but thought I had put a separate post so those waiting for work are aware of the delays. My neck freezes up on me from time to time. Its an occupational hazard and there are probably changes I can make to some work surface heights to help avoid it as I am working more in different ways with blade finishing, I will need to adapt to make long sessions comfortable.
Anyway sometimes it clears up as quickly as it comes on, with a little rest combined with stretching. Sometimes it turns into quite a painful situation where I need to be zonked out on painkillers for a few days to avoid it going into spasm. This is unfortunately now the case. Although it feels awful right now, it does seem to get better quite quickly after any inflamation subsides. So I will likely be unable to work for a week/10 days. I intend to see an osteopath monthly from now on even if I am having no problems. Hopefully this will help avoid delays in the future which are an annoyance to customers and a burden to the business. i notice most of the farmers around here visit an osteopath regularly to keep them fully operational, so i will do the same.
So if my posts go a bit ga ga for a while you also know why.:dazed:


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## TB_London (Mar 5, 2012)

Sad times, hope it eases up soon
ATB,
Tom


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## WillC (Mar 5, 2012)

Cheers Tom, its annoying when there's allot to get done. But maybe I can get some design stuff done later in the week at least. I'm seeing the osteopath on thursday, who is supposed to be excellent.


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## ecchef (Mar 5, 2012)

Feel better Will.


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## WillC (Mar 5, 2012)

Thanks Dave, I went to the doctors and they supplied me with a weeks worth of the "good stuff" So I shall be nicely sedated in any case.


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## Mingooch (Mar 5, 2012)

Feel better!


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## Deckhand (Mar 5, 2012)

Wishing you a speedy recovery.


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## DeepCSweede (Mar 5, 2012)

Hope you are back up n running quickly Will. Hope the meds do their trick for your pain.


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## HHH Knives (Mar 5, 2012)

Get well, and take care of yourself.. Prayers sent ^^ for a speedy recovery!!


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## tk59 (Mar 5, 2012)

I hope you feel better soon!


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## RRLOVER (Mar 5, 2012)

I truly feel your pain!!!! Get Well


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## SpikeC (Mar 5, 2012)

Best fishes for a speedy recovery!


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## PierreRodrigue (Mar 5, 2012)

I'm finally back in the shop. I know what your going through, been there. Get well soon, but for now take your time, and feel better first! Meds are ok, but I hate living in a fog...


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## Aphex (Mar 5, 2012)

Don't rush back on my account. From my own experience of back problems, unless the problem is fully healed, the pain quickly returns. Getting back to full health is more important right now. I'm shure those expecting knives form you won't be bothered by waiting an extra couple of weeks for their special delivery's to arrive.


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## WillC (Mar 5, 2012)

Thanks Guys for the well wishes, thats made me feel much more cheerful.:biggrin:
Pierre yep not good to be dosed out all the time. I had a lower discoptomy a few years ago too. Had to wait about 4 months before the operation so was on tramodol daily, I had a few sleepless nights when I stopped taking them after the op.
It's unlikely this is a disc job though, thankfully, just a case of recovering and taking measures to prevent it in the future.


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## Deckhand (Mar 5, 2012)

PierreRodrigue said:


> I'm finally back in the shop. I know what your going through, been there. Get well soon, but for now take your time, and feel better first! Meds are ok, but I hate living in a fog...





As already mentioned good body mechanics helps.*I used to get back and neck problems. Took my big thick wallet out of my back pocket thinned it out and put it in my front pocket. That tilt really messed with my back. *On rare occasion if I get back or neck pain I do a yoga move called the cobra then I am good again for months. Also, physical therapists can really help showing you stretches. My favorite neck one is arm out straight,palm of hand on wall,lean head towards wall, then lean head away from wall works well. On rare ocassion I take ibuprofen. I don't like the fog either and so I take 800mg of ibuprofen three times a day for ten days. At that level it is an anti inflammatory. Every grocery and drug store has the 200mg tabs just take 4 tabs to hit the 800mg. Always take with food. I hope that this will be of use to people.


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## Lefty (Mar 5, 2012)

Get well soon! We all love looking at your work and hope to see more of it soon. However, take time to heal!
I'm REALLY looking forward to your stoned messages!


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## WillC (Mar 5, 2012)

Lol, I might be too sedated to type. Maybe I will have some shamanic visions of the perfect kitchen cutter:IMOK:


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## Crothcipt (Mar 5, 2012)

Being 5'11" and working in kitchens I find that my lower back is always in a kink just because of the low counters. I have taken to finding anyway of making my cutting board higher up closer to my chest, than my waist. Changing heights has saved me many of painful nights.

Hope you get well soon, and you see this as a small step to better health.


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## tk59 (Mar 5, 2012)

Deckhand said:


> ...Took my big thick wallet out of my back pocket thinned it out and put it in my front pocket. That tilt really messed with my back...


+1, come to think of it. I also put my grinder on a taller table a few months ago. MUCH BETTER.

Shamanic visions... :rofl2:


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## Deckhand (Mar 5, 2012)

WillC said:


> Lol, I might be too sedated to type. Maybe I will have some shamanic visions of the perfect kitchen cutter:IMOK:


Lol a little Ayahuasca tea ought to do it.:biggrin:


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## Mike Davis (Mar 5, 2012)

Best of luck Will!!! Here is to hoping for a quick recovery.


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## Johnny.B.Good (Mar 5, 2012)

Get will soon Will.


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## Eamon Burke (Mar 5, 2012)

That sucks! I have trouble with that stuff from time to time.

I agree you should spend some time making changes to break up the repetition.

I'll say a prayer for you man.


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## Johnny.B.Good (Mar 5, 2012)

Johnny.B.Good said:


> Get will soon Will.



Make that "well" Will!


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## WillC (Mar 5, 2012)

Thanks Guys, i'll be right. I'm feeling lovely and fuzzy at the moment, as long as I don't move too much. 
Yoga a good thing for sure. I have a book, it keeps it a bay, just need to make sure I do the routine at least once a day when i'm better. And i'll have a think about some of my vice and bench heights. All my machines are a good height. My lower back went years ago from having the power hammer set too low and forging huge tapers on there single handed. I avoid doing that sort of thing these days without a gantry set up or I just design in smaller pieces with joins.
I'm thinking about a variable speed dic sander job next, I've heard they can speed up the hand finishing quite a bit.


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## Marko Tsourkan (Mar 5, 2012)

Feel better, Will -

M


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## sachem allison (Mar 5, 2012)

get will soon.


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## Johnny.B.Good (Mar 6, 2012)

sachem allison said:


> get will soon.



I said the same thing Son!

Tough to say "get well Will."


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## sachem allison (Mar 6, 2012)

i was just too lazy to write his name.


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## WillC (Mar 6, 2012)

Thanks Guys, a little better today so i'm on the mend:biggrin:


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## Seth (Mar 6, 2012)

I am somewhat hesitant to lecture but here goes anyway. There is no surgery or therapy that will rid me of chronic spine pain; or shots in the cervical spine, or anything. I shamelessly take enough pain killers that would put you guys in a coma. There is nothing worse than having doctors tell you there is nothing that can be done other than manage pain. If you are young or middle aged and get cervical spine pain take this stuff very seriously. If your work involves bad body mechanics as said above do something about it. Here are a few thoughts:
- gentle neck stretches in the shower; the heat of the shower helps
- take breaks as often as possible from activities that put you in bad posture
- be mindful of tension in the muscles in the neck area; there are lots of tiny muscles here
- try a soft collar next time you plaster your ceiling
- stay away from chiropractors who do violent neck snapping. It's way out of fashion now and dangerous according to neurologists
- good diet that nourishes joints (we should be good at that)

That's the end of the lecture. Will and others, please take care.
~s


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## WillC (Mar 6, 2012)

Thanks Seth, I completely agree with everything you've said. I went through this before with a lower disc. I kept working on it for 6 months and could barely stand or walk by the time they operated on me. So I know I have to make changes and stick to them. I never want to end up in that situation again. Im with you with chiropractors too. I had one which made things much worse when I had lower back problems. I am seeing am osteopath on thursday. I'm hoping regular visits, keeping up with my yoga and making some of my work areas more comfortable will keep problems at bay.
Thanks
Will


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## Bulldogbacchus (Mar 8, 2012)

I hope you feel a lot better soon


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## DeepCSweede (Mar 8, 2012)

How are you feeling Will? Hope you are on the mend.


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## WillC (Mar 9, 2012)

Bored but its given me time to read. I've got most of the way through this
http://www.feine-klingen.de/PDFs/verhoeven.pdf
But it keeps sending me to sleep
The osteopath says its muscular rather than a dodgy disc so thats good. Hope to be at work next week.
Thanks for all the well wishes.


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## zitangy (Mar 9, 2012)

Hey Will,

inspite of your condition, much appreciated that you did send out the 2 knives. Much appreciated.

You know what to do to correct the neck pain problem.. Is all up to you.

Tks and have a relaxing week-end..

rgds
D


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## DeepCSweede (Mar 9, 2012)

WillC said:


> Bored but its given me time to read. I've got most of the way through this
> http://www.feine-klingen.de/PDFs/verhoeven.pdf
> But it keeps sending me to sleep
> The osteopath says its muscular rather than a dodgy disc so thats good. Hope to be at work next week.
> Thanks for all the well wishes.



Thanks for the link Will. As a perpetual student of all things in life, I am interested in reading this just to understand metallurgy and knives better.


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## WillC (Mar 9, 2012)

I've read and re-read bits of it and it still hurts my head. And this is written in a language for blacksmiths? The stainless section is very useful, there is a whole section dedicated to aeb-l.

Thanks David, no worries, yes I know what I need to do. I think its as simple as lowering the present height of my grinder. And also breaking up tasks a bit more so i'm not doing one thing all day.


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## WillC (Mar 13, 2012)

Right i'm up and running, after a fashion, did a full day today, giant billets being welded up in the press, more blanks being drawn out and ground. Sparks were flying today big style. So be prepared for a whole load of photos of stuff coming together by the end of the week. But now to soak in the bath and do my yoga to keep myself ticking over.:biggrin:


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## zitangy (Mar 13, 2012)

hey,nice to see back you in action... go easy .


Look fwd to the photographs...

rgds
D


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## van Zanten (Jun 28, 2012)

Hey Will, how are you doing right now? I'm familiar with a few of the problems you have. Years ago I was to enthusiastic at the gym, and overloaded my shoulders. Have had problems in shoulders, elbow and pulses ever since. But I always thought my problems were physical (they were for a certain part), but I found out that stress was a huge factor as well. Last winter was not so good for me, I was very stressed at school, had my computer business, and my forge, things going bad with my girlfriend etc, and all that gave me a lot of pain in the neck. This pain transferred to my elbow etc. I had a therapist pressing somewhere at my back, and I felt it in my bycep tendon.... Pains can come from far. Anyway, what I wanted to tell you is, make sure you don't work too hard, giving you mental stress. People with a lot of (work related) stress, won't get old. I cut down on a few of the things I was doing, and now I'm focusing on bladesmithing, I'm happier and the pain in my neck is gone. 

I hope this will help you. Blacksmithing is a killer job when you don't mind your body. I was always thinking I could do any physical thing to my body, but from now on I'm very careful, and I plan all my activities. 

Johan


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## WillC (Jun 29, 2012)

Well thanks for asking. It is certainly all due to my lower back discal problems in one form or another. I had an opp a few years ago which sorted one bulging disc but they noted the lower 2 were also bulging. So I think its all nerve related. I had back pain pretty bad again a few weeks back and worked through. It is now just a numb foot, but quite annoying. I try to break my day into a mixture of standing and sitting work. I don't think I'll be making any 3 ton sets of gates anymore put it that way. At least not without a whole crew of people. I'm finding it hard to get enthusiastic about anything apart from knives and damascus at the moment and whilst i'm taking smaller jobs. I'm pretty much re-gearing my workshop to smaller scale work and comfortable work environment. But yep struggling a bit but i'm getting better rather than worse which is good. Many thanks
Will


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