Hand and wrist pain as an artist
About a year ago, I started experiencing pain in my right hand, my drawing hand, that I thought for sure was carpal tunnel. My drawing hand, wrist, and arm often feel weak, tight, tired, and uncomfortable after simple tasks like writing a few sentences, typing out a text, or drawing. Sometimes there are shooting pains and tingling sensations, but mostly it's a feeling of weakness. It improved for a bit, then worsened. I took a month off of work until I was finally able to get a carpal tunnel nerve test. I learned that it wasn’t carpal tunnel (great news) but was probably something like tendinitis.
It seems that frantically texting, typing a lot, and drawing too much really agitate my hand and wrist. The worst flare-ups occurred during work sprints, where I would rush back and forth between hand-drawn sketching, digital drawing, Slack messaging, and tons of clicking.
During my month off, I completely stopped drawing and writing, which led to a small identity crisis. I wasn’t sure who I was if I wasn’t someone who constantly drew. I’m glad that I had to ask myself this question because it’s forcing me to rethink my capacity for illustration and consider the toll it takes on my body.
I can’t draw as much as I used to, which is forcing me to explore new mediums that are physically sustainable. It’s also forcing me to reconsider what is a fair rate for an illustration, how I’m spending my time, and what’s worth spending time on.
What’s helped:
Voice dictation and sending voice messages instead of texting. I think texting is the #1 agitator.
Occupational therapy: learning how to stretch my wrists
Taking breaks, not pushing it much longer once I start to feel a sense of fatigue.
Desk setup: Ergonomic mouse, Heating pad under my wrists/forearms, Wacom tablet
I hear you on the right hand/arm pain! Three years ago I got tennis elbow in my right arm. Not from playing tennis but from rearranging our wall of bookshelves. Gripping a bunch of books with my right hand and lifting them this way and that for a good week set it off.
Typing agitated it even more, and as writer, that's what I do a lot. PT and OT barely made a dent. Wearing a wrist brace helped but I basically was in pain for almost two years. I took up handwriting with my left hand, and still do. It looks like a 3rd grader's handwriting but I don't care. I've always used my left hand for the mouse, so that helps. Then I bought a small, wireless keyboard and taught myself how to type with the left hand only, which was painfully slow but could be done.
Three years on I am rid of the constant pain but I do suffer occasional flareups, when I overuse my right hand, such as from pruning trees, which again I discovered I can do with my left hand.
All that is to say finding alternate ways of doing what you would ordinarily do with your right hand is the way to go.