Fly Fisherman's Health

[Sage]

I forget to stretch my hand out while fishing. I'll cast for hours having never given my hand a rest, so I need to me more careful about this. Also, I am a FIRM BELIEVER in BC Powder. If you've played a lot of sports and labored hard during life, I don't think there is anything that will make you feel young again, but there are some good ideas here on this thread. Glucosamine condroiten helps with the joints, but it takes several weeks to start feeling any relief. Sometimes I wonder what happened to DMSO. Don't know what was in it, but boy it sure worked. Probably why people my age and older are starting to develop so many wierd cancers and such.

[BuckeyeRick]

After a morning of landing Smallie after Smallie in Canada, my buddy and I developed "geezer fishing" - I think some of you call it trolling.

I go on a 3-day fishing trip every spring. Last year I spent an entire day casting my 8wt with big bass bugs. That night my hand swelled up to 3x its size. The next morning, I taped it up and fished for 5 more hours. Besides arthritis in the hand and shoulder, I also have something called Radial Tunnel Syndrome, so I am able to achieve a pain that will not allow me to lift a fish with the rod. I have pretty much taken care of all of these problems with exercise and Alleve.
Exercise one - stretch out one arm with your hand bent down and pull on it with the other for 30 second intervals. Do this 3x for each arm.
Exercise 2 - using a weight (it can be a can of soup) put your arm over an edge with your palm down. Lift each wrist 20x.
Exercise 3 - Hang a 1 pound weight about 4 feet from a 1" piece of dowel. Using both hands and holding your arms straight out, wind it up and wind it down. Do this 5 to 10x.

Add any shoulder, arm, or hand exercises you like. I have found the more I exercise, the less pain I end up with - and yeah, I HATE exercising. Only the thought of pain-free fishing keeps me going.

[Kingstonian]

Originally Posted by buckeyetrouter

I have arthritis in my hands and a long day on the water can be a challange. To this point i have only used Tylenol Arthritis strength to a bit of success, but any other suggestions would be appriciated....Any Old Time remedies would be welcomed.......

buckeyetrouter

When I have flareups in my hand or elbow, I start taking Aleve every day. It isn't so much a pain killer as an anti-inflammatory, and taking it for several days can reduce the pain for me.

For tendonitis, Aleve is good, but ice packs are better.

I guess we can look at this thread and see who the older posters are.

[Grumpy]

Yep, after a couple of bone transplants in my earlier years, back & neck surgeries, motorcyle wrecks & construction work most of my life, i feel the pain, sure beats the alternative though.

Grumpy

[MTN_TRT]

As I read this thread I kinda started to laugh. I started ff w/ my grandfather. Sometimes he would quit early b/c his wrist would hurt or something like that (but no matter how early he knocked off, I never could out-fish him) I always would give him a hard time about being like that. As I read yalls posts it kinda gave me the same feeling. I never thought there were so many old guys on this board! Im just kidding- Im reading the reccomendations for ff health and takin it to heart. Cuz I know one day Ill be the same way....

[Troutman]

MTN TRT,
I was kind of hesitant to even write about FF related health problems. I am surprised by the number of replies. I'm in a health related business and I see patients every day from teenagers to mature adults needing pain relief from years of hard work or sports related injuries. When your in your teens and early twenties, you feel indestructable.
I'm 40 and still feel that way, but after hiking and fishing hard all day, I'm reminded that its important to take care of ourselves and enjoy life.
I can't think of a better way than spending time in God's country casting a fly!

[Gerry Romer]

Originally Posted by MTN_TRT

As I read this thread I kinda started to laugh. I started ff w/ my grandfather. Sometimes he would quit early b/c his wrist would hurt or something like that (but no matter how early he knocked off, I never could out-fish him) I always would give him a hard time about being like that. As I read yalls posts it kinda gave me the same feeling. I never thought there were so many old guys on this board! Im just kidding- Im reading the reccomendations for ff health and takin it to heart. Cuz I know one day Ill be the same way....

Kinda misleading when there are so many "senior members" here that aren't senior!

Gerry