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What pole design hurts thumbs?



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 18th 05, 08:45 PM
toller
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Default What pole design hurts thumbs?

My wife fell on her thumb a couple year ago and it took many months to heal.
The orthopedist told her to use poles where the grip wraps around the hand,
rather than the kind with straps, to protect her thumb in the future. The
wrap around kind is no longer available, so I have picked them out of
discard piles whenever I see them.

I also use the wrap arounds because I don't like the straps, and you can
hook them on the chairlifts rather than hold them. Several people have
noticed mine and said they used to like them also, but they are not
available anymore because they can cause thumb injuries.
Well, that is the exact opposite of what her doctor told her. (and she is
sure she isn't confused on what he told her.)

So, which kind is safer for thumbs? I am not going to change either way,
but she should be using the safer ones. Thanks.


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  #2  
Old March 18th 05, 09:07 PM
Ron - NY
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I like the older ones better too and still have mine even though I use the
newer ones with the straps . I was on the lift one day with a ski patrol guy
and he told me there is a special way to wrap the strap around your wrist
when gripping the pole but It might not be easy to explain . He said to put
your hand through the strap and instead of just gripping the pole , to put
your hand over the strap so it's between your index finger & thumb and then
grip the pole . If you can make sense of that then your all right . As far
as which is safer for the thumb I'm not sure but it would seem obvious the
older style is , at least to me anyway . I've actually heard of quite a few
people hurting their thumbs with the newer style poles but I don't know if
it's related .


"toller" wrote in message
...
My wife fell on her thumb a couple year ago and it took many months to
heal. The orthopedist told her to use poles where the grip wraps around
the hand, rather than the kind with straps, to protect her thumb in the
future. The wrap around kind is no longer available, so I have picked
them out of discard piles whenever I see them.

I also use the wrap arounds because I don't like the straps, and you can
hook them on the chairlifts rather than hold them. Several people have
noticed mine and said they used to like them also, but they are not
available anymore because they can cause thumb injuries.
Well, that is the exact opposite of what her doctor told her. (and she is
sure she isn't confused on what he told her.)

So, which kind is safer for thumbs? I am not going to change either way,
but she should be using the safer ones. Thanks.



  #3  
Old March 18th 05, 09:18 PM
TexasSkiNut
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toller wrote:
My wife fell on her thumb a couple year ago and it took many months

to heal.
The orthopedist told her to use poles where the grip wraps around the

hand,
rather than the kind with straps, to protect her thumb in the future.

The
wrap around kind is no longer available, so I have picked them out of


discard piles whenever I see them.

I also use the wrap arounds because I don't like the straps, and you

can
hook them on the chairlifts rather than hold them. Several people

have
noticed mine and said they used to like them also, but they are not
available anymore because they can cause thumb injuries.
Well, that is the exact opposite of what her doctor told her. (and

she is
sure she isn't confused on what he told her.)

So, which kind is safer for thumbs? I am not going to change either

way,
but she should be using the safer ones. Thanks.


The safest usage of poles for avoiding thumb injuries, other than not
using poles at all, is to carry the kind with straps and just don't use
the straps. My orthopedist recommended cutting the straps off
altogether. For a while, I just secured them with a rubber band.

Nowadays I typically either don't use the straps or just put my hand
halfway through the straps, leaving the thumb free with the strap then
going across the back of my hand. This allows me to drop the pole
easier and still provides me with some opportunity to try to hang on to
it during a fall. Naturally, how much opportunity depends on how bad
the fall is. If I'm really serious about hanging on to my poles (like
on a very steep run) then I place my hand up through the strap loop so
that it is actually around my wrist. When holding the pole, the strap
is then between my hand and the handle. When skiing trees, I don't use
the straps. Better to hike back up and pick up a snagged pole than
have to pop my shoulder back in it's socket.

Most people just stick their hand through the loop so that the strap
comes over the top of the thumb. Then they instinctively stick their
hand out during a fall and the strap attempts to rip their thumb off.
I did this during my first ski trip and mentioned my sore thumb to a
friend, who proceded to enlighten me. This topic was covered years ago
here and someone drew some nice ascii-art of the two strap
configurations.

The old sword-grips are convenient, but they can be difficult to let go
of in a fall. Lots of people were tearing up their thumbs/hands when
using these, so they became less popular. Here's a thought, if being
able to hang your poles on the lift bar is a top priority, go to your
local hardware store and get some hooks to mount below the pole
handles. Or bend a coat hanger to do the job. Maybe secure it with
some duct tape. Either that or just sit on the poles like the rest of
us who are too lazy to hold them while on the lift.

  #4  
Old March 18th 05, 09:32 PM
Walt
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Ron - NY wrote:
I was on the lift one day with a ski patrol guy
and he told me there is a special way to wrap the strap around your wrist
when gripping the pole but It might not be easy to explain . He said to put
your hand through the strap and instead of just gripping the pole , to put
your hand over the strap so it's between your index finger & thumb and then
grip the pole .


The advantage of using the strap that way is you get more leverage when
you're poling across the flats. It's essential for X-C, but I'm not
sure I see the advantage for downhill.

Personally, I don't put my wrists through the straps - you're supposed
to unstrap when you get on the lift, and with the small hills here it's
just not worth the extra ten seconds to re-strap every run.

Note that going strapless is a really really bad idea if you're skiing
terrain where self arrest may be necessary. So whenever I encounter
such a slope, I carefully put my wrists through the straps, taking
sometimes three or four minutes to do so. Usually by that time I've
come to my senses and go ski some other run.

Returning to the OP's question, The "handguard" style pole is probably
useful for bashing gates, but I doubt it's really much help in
preventing injuries where the thumb falls on the pole. Usually, these
are a result of someone trying to break their fall by putting their hand
out in front of them.* The safest bet is to fall with your hands close
to the body and trying to land on your hip. Or not fall at all (c:


* Yes, this happened to me. I speak from experience - broken thumb
metacarpal.


--
//-Walt
//
// There is no Völkl Conspiracy
  #5  
Old March 18th 05, 10:20 PM
bdubya
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On Fri, 18 Mar 2005 16:32:02 -0500, Walt
wrote:

Ron - NY wrote:
I was on the lift one day with a ski patrol guy
and he told me there is a special way to wrap the strap around your wrist
when gripping the pole but It might not be easy to explain . He said to put
your hand through the strap and instead of just gripping the pole , to put
your hand over the strap so it's between your index finger & thumb and then
grip the pole .


The advantage of using the strap that way is you get more leverage when
you're poling across the flats. It's essential for X-C, but I'm not
sure I see the advantage for downhill.


The advantage I find is that if you let go of the pole in a fall, then
it's dangling harmlessly from your wrist, leaving your hand completely
free. Whereas if you do the instinctive thing (reach horizontally
_through_ the loop so that you only grip the pole, rather than reach
UP through the loop and then grip both the pole and the strap), then
when you let go, the pole hangs from the strap which is nestled in the
webbing of your thumb, turning the pole into a very well-braced lever,
admirably suited for tweaking your thumb or wrist.

bw
  #6  
Old March 18th 05, 10:48 PM
Jeff
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TexasSkiNut wrote:


Nowadays I typically either don't use the straps


At some point this season I stopped fscking with the straps altogether.
Now they just flap in the breeze. It was a became as liberating as my
disoveries of birkenstocks and boxer shorts....

Jeff

  #7  
Old March 18th 05, 11:11 PM
Ron - NY
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Note that going strapless is a really really bad idea if you're skiing
terrain where self arrest may be necessary

The things I learn here :-) . What does self arrest mean ?


  #8  
Old March 18th 05, 11:15 PM
Ron - NY
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"bdubya" wrote in message

The advantage I find is that if you let go of the pole in a fall, then
it's dangling harmlessly from your wrist, leaving your hand completely
free. Whereas if you do the instinctive thing (reach horizontally
_through_ the loop so that you only grip the pole, rather than reach
UP through the loop and then grip both the pole and the strap), then
when you let go, the pole hangs from the strap which is nestled in the
webbing of your thumb, turning the pole into a very well-braced lever,
admirably suited for tweaking your thumb or wrist


Yep , that's pretty much the idea I got from it . But it's a little bit of a
nuisance to do and it makes the grip feel a little weird because your
holding the handle plus the double thickness of the strap and it feels like
your not getting as tight a grip . But then again a broken thumb can be a
nuisance too :-) .



  #9  
Old March 18th 05, 11:37 PM
Armin
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Ron - NY wrote:
"bdubya" wrote in message

The advantage I find is that if you let go of the pole in a fall,

then
it's dangling harmlessly from your wrist, leaving your hand

completely
free. Whereas if you do the instinctive thing (reach horizontally
_through_ the loop so that you only grip the pole, rather than reach
UP through the loop and then grip both the pole and the strap), then
when you let go, the pole hangs from the strap which is nestled in

the
webbing of your thumb, turning the pole into a very well-braced

lever,
admirably suited for tweaking your thumb or wrist


Yep , that's pretty much the idea I got from it . But it's a little

bit of a
nuisance to do and it makes the grip feel a little weird because your


holding the handle plus the double thickness of the strap and it

feels like
your not getting as tight a grip . But then again a broken thumb can

be a
nuisance too :-) .


I think you'll find that the "weird" feel is only weird because you're
not used to it and, as long as the strap is threaded through the buckle
properly, so that it isn't twisted, the extra thickness isn't really an
issue and you won't even feel it with your gloves on. It must not be an
issue for most people because almost everyone I ski with uses their
straps in this way.

As for it not feeling like you're getting as tight a grip, well, when
using the strap this way you don't need to have a death-grip on you're
handle in order to keep your hand from slipping down it when you put
some weight on it because the strap supports your hand and keeps it
from sliding down the handle. You can have a loose, relaxed hold of
your poles and yet be more secure than you would be no matter how tight
you gripped it without the strap.

Lastly, if you're worried about catching the pole on a something and
having it dislocate your shoulder then just by a decent set of poles
with break-away straps. I use the Life-Link Alpine Extreme Carbon Fiber
- AEC (www.life-link.com) pole which also doubles as an avalanche
probe. I think they're well worth the price but there are certainly
cheaper alternatives out there.

A.

  #10  
Old March 19th 05, 12:04 AM
Armin
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Sven Golly wrote:

The Leki or Lifelink straps will release if the tension gets too high

such
as getting caught in a tree or jamming it into really hard snow.


I think you're mistaken about the Life-Links. They release fairly
easily on an upward pull, such as when the pole catches on a tree, but
you can push down on the strap as hard as you want without having them
release. That's the beauty of them.

A.

 




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