THE STORY OF ROLEO

Part 1

By Paul Kleiman

              My hands and wrists hurt so bad I wanted to put them through one of those old-fashioned clothes wringers mounted on washing machines in the early part of the last century.

              No.  Really.

              I understood, from years of treating thousands of clients, that my wrists and hands hurt because of the repetitive stress of performing deep tissue, Shiatsu and Swedish massages, 30 or more times a week.  And I also knew from my anatomy and physiology teachers at the Shiatsu Massage School of California in Santa Monica, CA, that when you use your hands and thumbs and fingers for hours a day, massaging, or on the computer, or working as a dental hygienist or musician, you can strain the flexor and extensor muscles in the forearms that control hand and finger movement. These muscles tighten and may become inflamed, resulting in sometimes severe finger, wrist, or hand pain.

              I learned that even though it hurts in the hand or wrist, the source of that pain is in the forearms, where overused muscles compress nerves that run through the forearms to control function of the hands and fingers.

              CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME is an epidemic.  Everyone knows what carpal tunnel syndrome is.  Most people assume that if they have chronic hand or wrist pain, it is likely carpal tunnel.  Even without a doctor’s diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome, people will say that they have carpal tunnel syndrome.

              Recent medical studies have shown that often they don’t.

              So they call it REPETITIVE STRESS INJURY. Or REPETITIVE STRAIN.  But it is essentially the same, symptom-wise,  This is an example of the medical profession acknowledging that other conditions may cause these symptoms, and that some of the favored treatments, including CARPAL TUNNEL SURGERY, might not be appropriate, or effective, in many cases.

              It may be argued that carpal tunnel surgery should only be considered as a last resort.

              For months and years, I begged my colleagues in the breakroom of one of the largest day spas in the free world to massage my arms, wrists and hands.  We all massaged each other.  Which is great, of course, massage therapists are very giving, but it also meant that those of us giving the massages were continuing the repetitive stress that got us hand and wrist pain in the first place.

              There had to be a way for all of these massage therapists to self massage away their pain, numbness, and tingling, symptoms that could get so bad that they couldn't work.  There had to be a way to deliver a deep pressure massage that would strip the flexor and extensor muscles of the forearms and relieve the pain. I knew what I wanted: a clothes wringer.

              I remembered seeing one in an old “Little Rascals”episode.  It made sense.  A wringer could provide a mechanically deep massage.  It would roll in the same direction as the muscle fibers of the forearm muscles, and move blood and lymph in and out of the muscle tissue, increase oxygen and nutrients to the muscles, and soften the tight bands of muscle that developed from the continuous strain of working as a massage therapist, or any other profession, hobby or sport involving use of the hands and arms.

             Of course, it would also crush my arm.

NEXT: The wringer inspires the Roleo