"Back pain - painting??" Topic

One of the ogres I've been painting recently has been moaning a lot about…

No, seriously. I've recently got back into painting minis after a few years and I swear it's wreaking havoc with my upper back. The hunched posture I had no problems adopting a few years ago have resulted in a pretty much constant pain in my upper left side which seems to worsen after every session.

I'm just wondering whether anyone else has experienced this problem with modelling and what you've done to prevent it. I'm feeling a higher table/ trying to keep my back straight but I've never been very good at this. Thanks for reading.

Yes. I'm 6'4" and 37 years old. I had a lot of pain recently painting at the kitchen table. My wife suggested I use the 10" thick tv box we had on hand as a platform to paint on. Has helped me tremendously. I don't hunch when my painting area is closer to my eye level. Hope this helps.

I would experiment with different chairs, table height, etc. I used to get stiffness in my back and a different chair (not a particularly good one at that) really helped. I'm not very good at keeping my back straight, but pushing my chair pretty far under the table keeps me from hunching overly much.

Yes, you need to adjust your posture. If you can't adjust the furniture, try holding the figure up in one hand, in front of your face more or less, and painting on it there. Some hobbyists use forceps or locking pliers as handles, or glue the figure onto a handle.

Had a lot of back pain painting for hours straight. I now paint for one hr max at a time. Break for a while and then go back later. Paint less that is all. get other to do big armies and paint only commanders.

I have had the back pain problem for awhile too. The three things that have helped the most is to get good eye wear so I am not having to go get so close to what I am working on. The other thing is to use a proper height chair or table to discourage slouching, and like combatpainter suggests, take regular breaks so that your are not in the same posture for too much length of time. Also if it proves to be necessary, buy a good quality back brace and wear it while painting. It may relieve some of the strain on your back muscles and also encourage good posture while sitting and painting.

Cheers.
GeorgeD.

quick solution i use when my back starts to hurt. turn the chair around and sit down. the back keeps you from slouching over too much and provides a great place for forearms to rest.

Here's the ticket: get up, exercise, then go back to it for a spell. Don't try and do continuous painting marathons like you could get away with when you were younger. In particular, make sure you exercise your arms and shoulders/upper back. Do something with good muscle stress involved in it. Do it for c. an hour a day if you can swing it. Here's what I do as part of my daily routine: eight position core body exercises, followed by waving a heavy broadsword around (very good for the lower arms and wrists in particular, and a good counter to carpal tunnel stress from gripping minis and brushes – or hovering over keyboards too long): total time c. 35 minutes. Then I go for an hour walk with a pair of walking sticks so that my upper body gets a workout and not just my legs. I haven't had back pain for years. (I've never injured my back so I have that going for me: the best way to avoid back injury is to know how to lift properly, i.e. "a man's got to know his limitations, yes sir"….)

Yup, back pain from painting. I've had other back problems, but the painting exacerbates it.

Posture, breaks, stretches: all as well suggested above.

Allen

I have a bench height painting table at which I sit in a table height chair, problem solved.

Robert

Since it is in your left side, do you tend to rest your left elbow on the table as a support while holding the mini? If so, you might want to consider more frequent breaks, a softer support for your elbow and, of course, a change on posture. The pain might be in your back, but it is surprising how everything is connected.

Rob

I have blown L4 and L5 disks in my back since last spring, I cannot paint for more than hour at a time now. And since my 8-hour marathon painting sessions are a thing of the past, I am out of practice and do not paint nearly as well as I use to (I previously painted 16-20 hours a week, now I am down to to 2-4 hours a wweek.)

Not that I am much help woth your pain, just sharing my experiences.

Many years ago (23+) we purchased a set of back chairs from Hag Balans – not cheap (over £120.00 GBP then) but we use them every day. Though not 100% effective they have helped my back more than anything in chiropractor savings alone

Do not skimp on the chair – the cheaper ones are not worth using for firewood.

Andrew
blog.kings-sleep.me.uk
2mmwars.blogspot.com

RSI, Sciatica, LBP – you name it, I've experienced it and, as has already been stated, painting can really set it off.

As a 'pro' painter I have to find ways round it and that has been difficult of late – a fall on the ice set just about all of my back conditions off and added another one.

I stand to paint on a 1m high table I also use for gaming. I found that this considerably reduced the upper back stress but does sometimes get to the lower back.

I also reccommend having the figure in a holder rather than hand-held but I paint mostly small scale stuff and so having them on strips is feasible, that may not be so for larger figures. This means that you are placing less micro-strain on the shoulder muscles keeping both hands steady and allows you to use the bench for support – pushing the control strain to the lower arm and wrist.

Frequent breaks and neck exercises are a must for me – they have now become a part of the routine. I'd say a break after 15 mins for a minute or so and 3 or 4 minutes after half an hour and sessions no longer than an hour before a 15-20 min break and anything that uses a different posture.

I'd also suggest a consultation with a Physio if the condition doesn't abate. They can give you an exercise regime that will hold the damage at bay for many years.

Don't just put up with it – do something about it. RSI is often the biggest threat as, by the time you feel the pain, permanent damage has possibly already been done and it doesn't heal and will get worse with age. At 60 I'm getting the payback of years of carelessness – don't make the same mistake I did.

You could try becoming younger – everything else is just a palliative.
-Kle.

I sometimes have the shoulder pain you describe and find that since I raised my painting desk and use a piece of pink foam as an elbow rest , it seems to help.

Try one of those chairs that you have to kneel against, with your knees at a diagonal and the chair seat also at a diagonal. The chair forces your spine to remain upright.

As others have said, take frequent breaks away from the painting table. I go for an hour at the most, take a short break, then go back and paint some more.

Quite often I get a pain when I read some people's comments on TMP, the pain isn't in my back though.

Just play with unpainted lead on the table

---- just kidding -----

use pain as the warning that it is … stop …. take a break and return later, do not just work on through the pain.

you could do a mild streching exercise BEFORE painting and during the breaks.

I use a bright lamp so that the figure is well illuminated so that I am not tempted to hunch over the figure to see the detail.

A lot of great suggestions from people….stretching exercises, different chairs, breaks, postures, table height, etc. Can I add another one which works for me?…..swimming. Seriously, taking a swim for say 20-30 minutes a couple of times a week does wonders for back and shoulder tension. Freestyle works for me, but just about anything should ease the back muscles. I know it sounds absolutely crackers, but it really does work.

Do some core strengthening exercises and yoga. Core muscles weak = back pain.

It sounds like you need to do some Eagle poses when you take breaks from painting. You don't have to do the twisting of your legs and stand on one foot. That is an advanced pose. Just do the upper body portion, which is known as the half-eagle.

yogajournal.com/poses/785

Seriously. Go find the book "Real Men do Yoga" by John Capouya. He goes through basic excercises to stretch and strengthen your back and surrounding muscles which will help alleviate back pain.

Yeah, I know who would have thought, wargamers doing yoga!

Discomfort, pain and injury (DPI) come about from a combination of seven contributory factors:

1) Individual factors – what you were born with. People are all different as to what influences whether or not they experience DPI, or the degree of it they experience.

2) Psychosocial factors – the way a person interacts with their environment, and the influences on their behaviour. Are you already tired when you paint? Do you tense up? Etc

3) Work organisation – how your work is arranged. Do you paint for long periods? Or at times when you would normally be asleep? Etc.

4) Workplace layout – how your workplace is set up. Do you have to reach for your paints? Hunch over to see the figure? Etc.

5) Task invariability – how much a task changes over time. How much do you repeat the same task, using the same muscles, when painting?

6) Load or forceful movements – what objects a person handles, and the forces they use. While unlikely to be a big one for painting, do you do this in other parts of your life, which would still make it a contributory factor?

7) Environmental issues – where the work takes place and conditions a person works in. Temperature, fumes, lighting etc.

DPI happens as a combination of the above, so you need to address all factors to control DPI. Where you can't do something about one factor (for instance, individual factors, which are hard to deal with), you might make wins with another factor.

Rider: I'm not an expert on DPI, but it just so happens that at work I am currently writing an educational resource about DPI, using the services of subject matter experts.