Wednesday, October 12, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
When your sedentary hobby hurts you
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
Injury comes with the ter-
ritory when you’re an active
athlete. Skiers hurt their
knees; weightlifters strain
muscles. You don’t usually
associate quilting or knitting
or sewing with injury risk —
but it’s every bit as real as it
is for more active pursuits.
Yes, quilting can hurt you.
Local therapists see it all
the time — a patient who is
all stove up from long hours
of repetitive activity in awk-
ward and unnatural positions.
Headaches, neck pain, back
pain, sciatica, “tennis elbow,”
even numbness in the extrem-
ities can be the result of hard-
core crafting. Even kids are
susceptible when they sit for
hours manipulating video-
game controls.
A lot of the problem stems
simply from sitting for long
periods of time.
“Sitting is the new smok-
ing,” says Sarah Conroy,
a chiropractor at Bigfoot
Wellness in Sisters.
She’s only sort-of kidding.
Sitting is very hard on the
body not only because you
are sedentary, but because
you are in positions that are
unnatural. Posture is really,
really important to your well-
being (see related story, page
14), and our hobbies often
throw our posture out of
whack.
Matt Kirchoff of
Therapeutic Associates notes
that much of our hobby work
— from quilting to writing
— puts us in a posture of
rounded shoulders, with our
head forward and not prop-
erly supported. Then, too,
your legs are often tucked
away where they tighten up
and … well, pretty soon it all
catches up to you.
Pain and discomfort alone
are usually not enough to
send a hardened quilter look-
ing for help, though.
“It’s when they end up
with pain and limitations,”
says Ann Griffin of Bigfoot
Wellness. “Limitation is a
great motivator.”
In other words, it’s when
people feel like they might
have to give up their beloved
craft that they get motivated
to get help. It doesn’t have to
be that way.
The earlier you can get in
to see a chiropractor or physi-
cal therapist, the quicker a
problem can get resolved.
There is a multiplicity of
techniques that can bring
relief and get you back in the
game.
“I prefer to see them
before it’s really painful,”
Conroy says.
But Sisters’ practitio-
ners aren’t just about seeing
patients and doing repairs.
They want to help us avoid
getting racked up in the first
place.
“People are not as proac-
tive and preventative as we
would like them,” Conroy
notes.
There are plenty of things
you can do to make your
hobby easier on your body.
Kirchoff recommends get-
ting a quilting table that is set
up ergonomically. Adjust it to
the appropriate height, so you
minimize awkward reaching.
You can even set yourself up
to stand instead of sitting.
Griffin agrees.
“It’s not really what
you’re doing, it’s what you’re
not doing,” she says.
Griffin and Conroy rec-
ommend “active sitting,”
using a stability ball, which is
also known to improve brain
function and productivity.
And all agree that taking a
break from sitting is the sim-
plest and most effective way
of countering its effects.
“I think the biggest thing
for folks is frequent rest
breaks,” Kirchoff says.
Sitting is the new
smoking.
— Sarah Conroy
Get up and move around
for about two minutes ever 30
minutes. Do shoulder-blade
squeezes and shoulder rolls.
Move. Of course, it’s easy
to get lost in your work and
completely lose track of time.
Griffin says setting an egg
timer is a great way to remind
yourself that it’s time to get
up and move.
Listen to your body. If it
hurts, you’re doing some-
thing wrong. Get in to a ther-
apist, chiropractor or massage
therapist before things prog-
ress to the point where you
can’t do the things you love.
Your sedentary hobby may
not be “athletic” but it has its
demands — and you need to
be fit to enjoy it.
15
Oregon teen’s
bandage
invention
wows judges
PORTLAND (AP) — An
Oregon teenager has invented
a bandage that can tell doc-
tors when it needs to be
changed, impressing Google
judges and securing a $15,000
scholarship.
Anushka Naiknaware, 13,
placed in the top eight in an
international science con-
test run by Google. She won
the Lego Education Builder
Award, which included the
scholarship, a free trip to
Lego world headquarters in
Denmark, and a year of entre-
preneurship mentoring from a
Lego executive, reported The
Oregonian/OregonLive.
Large wounds must be
kept moist to promote heal-
ing, but changing bandages
too often to check moisture
levels can make things worse.
Naiknaware, a seventh-grader
at Stoller Middle School in
Portland, designed and tested
a bandage that is embedded
with tiny monitors.
Partners In Care
Partners In Care is committed to bringing compas-
sionate care into the homes of hospice patients and
their families throughout Central Oregon—including
Sisters, Black Butte Ranch, Camp Sherman, Metolius,
and surrounding areas. Our hospice volunteers are an
important part of the patient care team.
Sisters resident Jennifer Boley is one such volunteer
— along with her therapy dog Griffyn. As HosPet vol-
unteers at Partners In Care, Jennifer and Griffyn visit
patients together.
“Taking Griffyn on visits with me is a simple thing
I can do, and yet his presence does so much for the
patients as well as their families,” said Jennifer. “I have
seen over the years how a therapy dog can bring a smile
and a bit of brightness into people’s lives, especially
people dealing with life-changing circumstances.”
To become a hospice volunteer in your area, contact
Partners In Care Volunteer Coordinator Jason Medina
at 541-382-5882 or visit PartnersBend.org.
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