I got a job landscaping this summer. I pretty much just carry stones around, wheelbarrow dirt around, and dig holes in various places.
A few days ago, after a month or so of working, I woke up with my fingers feeling weird. They felt really odd when I tried to make a fist - almost like the joints weren’t bending correctly. When I tried to uncurl my fingers, the bizarre “out of alignment” feeling continued. After my fist was about half unclenched, the fingers would just snap up back to an unclenched position, like they had popped back into the correct alignment. They didn’t make any weird popping sounds, or anything like that.
15 minutes or so after I woke up, the weirdness started to go away, and eventually my hands were back to normal.
This happened for the last three days.
The first incidence happened to be the day after I had to wheelbarrow a lot of stuff down an incline many, many times, which I guess could put strain on my hands.
Any idea what’s going on with my fingers? Should I take some time off from working?
I’ve experienced this too. I just finished building a patio, which meant initially shifting 21 tonnes of sand with a barrow. Being as the most punishment my hands usually get is the odd paper cut, this was a bit of a shock to the system.
My WAG is that the hands swell up through a buildup of fluid around the joints, which are coming under unusual stress. My hands certainly felt as if they were about 10 times bigger than usual and making a fist was almost impossible. Like you, it wore off after I’d flexed them for a while, which makes me think that the flexing action squeezes fluid back out of the inflamed joints.
Someone more knowledgable will be along shortly no doubt to refute or confirm. Me, I’m off home to sit on my new patio (in the rain, by the look of things…)
Take some time off. If you can go see a doctor. I do alot of landscaping and horticulture on an 150 acre lot. About 5 months ago I developed Tendenitis in my wrists and forearms from gripping/lifting so much. I found it painful to put my hands into a fist. Had I taken some time off or taken things easy, I probably wouldn’t of been suffering so long. I should of gone and seen a doctor as soon as I noticed it. About the stage where you are right now. Instead I continued to work and it got much worse. Stretch out the hands every hour. Drink lots of water. Try some over the counter Alleve or Ibruprofen. Your work should be covering the expense of the doctor visit anyways so there’s no good reason not to go.
My brother owns a small landscaping company and cannot afford to offer any medical coverage to his summer employees. I’m not sure whether workman’s comp would cover regular doctor visits for something like this…I’ll ask him tomorrow.
In many states Workmens Compensation Insurance is mandatory for any company with over 1 employee including family members. Sole proprietors and partners are not required to but can elect to buy Voluntary Workmens Comp insurance.
Here in Minnesota, The Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Law states that all employers are required to purchase workers’ compensation insurance or become self-insured.
For example, In Pennsylvannia, It is a third-degree misdemeanor offense for an employer not to carry Workers’ Compensation insurance. Fines of up to $2,500 and/or 1 year in prison for each day of non-coverage can be imposed for noncompliance with the law.
I’m not sure where the OP lives, but a couple minutes searching on the web will find the answers. If your company is small, they might be exempt, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have to pay either.
OP doesn’t necessarily have to go thru his employer for workmens comp. I filed all the paper work thru my doctor. She sent all the paper work in and notified my boss. I see my doctor twice a month with 4 sessions of Physical Therapy a month all at no charge to me whatsoever.
