Arthritis and thumbs

Timid Toad

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Anyone with arthritic bow hand thumbs found a comfortable solution? I have basal joint arthritis (amongst others) and it's affecting hand placement. At the end of a day's shooting, lordy it's sore!
I have a nice squishy but firm Jager grip, so it's better than an all- wood or plastic one, don't want to use a glove (too inconsistent - I've tried it) and am all out of ideas.
 

KidCurry

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Do you use a high/low grip? I have found a very low grip is far less strenuous. I have transferred this from compound to recurve barebow and is working very well.
 

Timid Toad

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A low grip is not for me, its a basal thumb joint that's the problem.

And Phil Escott *Hahahahahaha*...... yup, another charlatan, in my personal view.
 

bimble

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lol, being a lot kinder than I would have been with "charlatan" 😂

the obvious answer would be to compromise your grip to take pressure away from the base of the thumb.. or course, the problem then becomes you've compromised your grip.
 

Timid Toad

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I'm considering some extra padding, the option of a locating point for my thumb so it goes straight in to a lower stress position, or even something as radical as a saddle or loop for it. I love a bit of Sugru!
I already balance my bow so it has a neutral balance so it doesn't swing and hang off my thumb.
 

geoffretired

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When you are holding the bow at full draw, is the pain caused by pressure on the bottom edge of the thumb pad? Could that be reduced if the wrist was supported so the back of the hand could not flex back so much? Something to keep the pressure points closer to the web of the thumb.
Or would it help if the thumb could be prevented from opening away from the index finger?
 

Timid Toad

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I use a high grip, which enables me to place an even pressure across the whole of the fleshy pad of the thumb. No part of my hand meets the bottom edge of the grip. The sore joint is within the pad.
By making the grip higher I fear increasing pressure on that part of the hand. By lowering the grip I'm concerned with compromising an until now consistent and reliable hand position.
Part of the pain seems to be generated in manoeuvring the bow around prior to and post shot, so if I can get into and out of position minimising use of my thumb that would be good too. So I am literally considering a built up area to slot it into to lighten the load of 6+lbs without introducing torque into the system.

I was rather hoping (like KidCurry above (y) ) that a few people would have worked through this.
 

modernlongbow

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As you can see from the profile picture, my bow hand thumb is quite involved in the shooting. Four fingers are on the front of the bow, and the bow is well back in the joint, halfway between the cleft and the first knuckle. It helps that I have blacksmith's thumbs. I also have arthritic joints in most of the fingers, but so far the thumbs have been spared. To quiet the screaming fingers, I use warm oil baths. A coffee can filled with warm, not hot, mineral oil relieves the pain for days at a time.
 

Stretch

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Ouch, sounds most unpleasant. Not sure my suggestions will be much help but first thoughts...

Assuming your bow hand is in the 45 degree rotation could you lower the knuckle angle and potentially get the bow weight further across the palm. Just thinking that a tiny shift in pressure *could* make a big difference. Just looking at the variation across top archers shows that a wide range can be effective.

I can see why you might not want to use a glove but have you tried tennis overgrip to give you a little padding? Anything from Tourna classic through to something thicker like a Pros Pro thick or Head Hydrosorb Comfort. Maybe even a gel grip if you are adventurous.

Most of the Koreans tape their grips, most use quite thin grips like Yonex Super Grap (honest that is how you spell it) but you also see some chunkier stuff too.

Of course if the pressure is the problem (rather than hard object pushing on joint) then the overgrip won’t help- it won’t change the pressure.

Last idea! Change to a wrist sling which would at least take some of the post shot stress out of the thumb?

I empathises as I get a nerve pinch that causes a bow hand tremor. It is bad with a high grip, terrible with a low grip and a bad with a wide grip. But a bog standard factory Hoyt grip is usually OK. A Thinner grip is even better but not as comfy.

Stretch
 

Timid Toad

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Two good suggestions there: tennis overgrip might just do the trick. Not sure about the wrist sling; it took me about 3 years to stop grabbing the bow when starting out with a wrist sling but it would certainly be worth another go.
Off to Ebay goes I...
 
Following a fracture at the base of my thumb a couple of years back, I swapped to a wrist sling for a while - it certainly reduced the post shot discomfort for me (admittedly, my issue was not the pressure during the shot, more the tug on my thumb via the fingersling looks post shot).

Worth noting that I used a sling that attached to my wrist, looped round the riser then hooked back to itself, rather than a bow sling, so it still felt nice and secure.
 

Stretch

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Just to be clear, when I say wrist sling I do mean the “hook and rope” type - I think Shibuya make one. Not the permanently attached to the bow type.

Also using slightly stretchy cord in the sling helps. ArrowSocks make finger slings that way but you can buy the cord cheaply on eBay.

Stretch
 

Timid Toad

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Yes, I was already there on that one :)
So far I've ordered some grip tape, and while I was fishing around found the gel tape downhill cyclists put on their handlebars to reduce handshock and vibration. It's relatively cheap so I've ordered some of that too.
Meanwhile I've not changed where the palm portion of my thumb sits but rather where the extremity of the thumb goes. By taping a chunk of foam to the joint nearest the nail my thumb is positioned further away from the bow. This appears to be having a material affect on comfort without too many cockups with torque or pressure point. I will persevere.
 

geoffretired

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If the foam on the thumb works, it might be worth changing the foam if it is too easily compressible. More or less compressed between shots might be varying the results. Leather could give comfort and reduce any variation as it does not compress so easily.
 

Rik

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Re: slings, you can always make a hybrid, wrist to finger sling... I did that - didn't like the loop on my thumb.
 
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