9 Ways to Prevent Carpal Tunnel for Cannabis Trimmers

9 Ways to Prevent Carpal Tunnel for Cannabis Trimmers 

Did you know carpal tunnel syndrome affects 3% to 6% of adults? It's one of the most common entrapment neuropathies: a group of disorders that are characterized by loss of function or pain to the nerves because of chronic compression.

Employees in the cannabis industry, particularly trimmers exposed to highly repetitive work, are at an increased risk for musculoskeletal disorders like carpal tunnel. 

Trimming cannabis doesn't have to lead to serious injury or pain, but it can.

Do you want to learn how to prevent muscular-skeletal issues from trimming marijuana? Keep reading for a guide that explains what causes carpal tunnel and the best ways to prevent it.

What Is Carpal Tunnel?

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is caused by repetitive pressure on the median nerve in the hand, wrist, and arm. This pressure can be caused by injury, individual anatomy, and also repetitive movements. 

The CDC has noted that because trimmers spend all day performing repetitive movements with their hands and wrists, they’re at particularly high risk for developing Carpal Tunnel.

Signs of Carpal Tunnel Include:

• ‘Tingling or numbness in hands, wrists, and arms
• Weakness, dropping things
• Electric shock-like sensations in fingers

What Are the Dangers?

As carpal tunnel gets worse and when left untreated, it can become extremely debilitating.

People afflicted with carpal tunnel can lose coordination, find it difficult and painful to move their fingers and find themselves unable to perform daily tasks and job duties.

Typically, a wrist splint is the first order of treatment, which can make it impossible to hold and use trimming scissors or other tools.

Corticosteroid injections can help alleviate pain and symptoms, but the benefits are usually temporary. If symptoms do return, surgery is the next option. 

The recovery process for the surgery (called a carpal tunnel release procedure) can take anywhere from a few weeks to months. Somewhere between 75% and 90% of carpal tunnel surgeries are successful, but symptoms can return if the factors that caused it are not addressed. 

Other Potential Plant Trimmer Injuries

Think about marijuana trimming scissors for a moment. Trimmers spend hours gripping the scissors, which engages all the arm's muscles. Those motions extend to the bicep and shoulder too. 

The work is repetitive, which means trimmers rarely get the chance to recover. Using scissors puts you in danger of causing a number of repetitive strain injuries to the fingers, wrists, and arms.

Whether it's a sprain, a cramp, or a pulled ligament, it's difficult to trim when you're in pain or immobilized. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to avoid marijuana trimming injuries.

How to Prevent Carpal Tunnel

Whether it's a wet trim or a dry trim, manual trimming can cause a myriad of hand, wrist, and finger sprains and injuries. Here are some of the things you can do to minimize those risks:

• Give yourself a ten to fifteen minute break every hour
• Stretch your fingers, hands and wrists
• Don't grip your tools too tightly
• Avoiding bending your wrist all the way up or down (keep it neutral)
• Try switching and getting used to using both hands
• Keep your body warm
• Maintain excellent posture
• Work standing up when you can
• Use Trim Daddy

How Does Using Trim Daddy Help?

Trim Daddy boasts the benefits of trimming by hand but with the power of an electric motor. Anyone can operate the easy trimmer, it's perfect for all different hand sizes, and it saves hand strain!

You can hold and grip it in different ways to trim buds to perfection without having to twist and strain your wrist.

Unlike alternative trimming machines, Trim Daddy offers more than 10,000 hours of trimming, without overheating.

There's less training, less cleaning, and it saves time! 

The Return on Investment Is Quick

If the above benefits weren’t convincing enough, let’s talk numbers because Trim Daddy offers a quick ROI. 

A grower with 100 plants will make back the cost of Trim Daddy in reduced labor costs in just one harvest!

That same grower will spend around $12,000 annually on hand trimming labor and spend a total of 4 weeks a year just harvesting and trimming. 

Trim Daddy’s speed can reduce trim time from weeks to days, reducing labor budgets by over half.

In just one harvest, Trim Daddy can save small to medium growers hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars. 

Trimmers will appreciate the comfortable handheld design that reduces strain and minimizes the risk of carpal tunnel, which results in less pain on the job and less time off. 

Trim Daddy isn’t just quicker, it’s also built to last. It’s 3rd generation brushless motor provides over 10,000 hours of trim time, and Trim Daddy stands behind its trimmers with a comprehensive 3-year warranty, meaning your investment is protected. 

Trim Daddy Is the Best Tool for Trimming Cannabis

Trimming cannabis is a great profession, as long as you use the best tools and take care of your physical health.

When you're required to perform highly repetitive movements at work, it's crucial to sit or stand with excellent posture, and to take a break every hour.

Stretch all your muscles, especially those you move the most. Pay attention to how tightly you grip your trimming tool, and make sure to keep your wrist in a neutral position as much as possible.

Keep your body warm, and use Trim Daddy! It's the premier automated trimmer with technology, quality, and comfort that is unmatched in other trimming tools on the market today.

Plus, it's easy to use! Check out how it works here or start shopping so that you can start saving and trim with ease!