ramenth
Gratis persona
I've been wanting to put this thread up for a while now, just haven't been able to find the wording that doesn't make me sound like a know-it-all or old fuddy duddy, but figured that it might help those who are just starting out in the field.
It pertains to work related chronic injuries from a man who's spun a wrench pretty much all of his adult life and didn't take the necessary precautions, who's now paying for it.
I'll qualify this with:
1.) I've been professional paid to do everything to a car except drive them and sell them. I've owned my own shop twice, the first a restoration shop, the second a general repair shop. I started off detailing cars at a local Chevy garage and less than ten years later I was pulling frames at a Ford garage. From there I switched to the mechanical side, starting off with simple maintanence and repairs at Midas to wind up back at Ford as one of the go-to guys for the most complicated repairs.
2.) Before anyone thinks this is a "later years" thing, I'm 45 years old.
Over the years I abused my body to the point that the chronic injuries may lead to disability, but hopefully not.
I spent years on my knees, inside doors and crawling around inside cars without knee pads. I now have a bad right now that won't weight bear and is affecting my right hip.
I have repetitive motion in my left elbow (favored hand) that needs Tommy John surgery. That came from years of vibratory air tools usage without impact gloves and not switching back and forth from hand to hand. The vibratory air tools and constantly have my hands covered in solvents and chemicals means I can't feel hot or cold with my fingers anymore. Water has to be hot enough to scald me before I know it's too hot for the rest of my body.
Now, both shoulders are showing signs of tendonopathy, to where it hurts some days to the point that I want to scream in pain as the tendons knot.
My point being, doing stretching exercises and wearing the proper PPE, such as knee pads and impact gloves would make my life a lot more bearable now, but like a lot of idiots, in my youth, I thought those things weren't "macho" enough. PPE was for panzies who couldn't take the pain. Now, I know what the pain is like.
I'm not posting this to ***** or whine. It's my own fault that's lead to this, no one else's. I'm just hoping to pass on a bit of wisdom, learned the hard way, to help others not have to deal with these things as they get older.
It pertains to work related chronic injuries from a man who's spun a wrench pretty much all of his adult life and didn't take the necessary precautions, who's now paying for it.
I'll qualify this with:
1.) I've been professional paid to do everything to a car except drive them and sell them. I've owned my own shop twice, the first a restoration shop, the second a general repair shop. I started off detailing cars at a local Chevy garage and less than ten years later I was pulling frames at a Ford garage. From there I switched to the mechanical side, starting off with simple maintanence and repairs at Midas to wind up back at Ford as one of the go-to guys for the most complicated repairs.
2.) Before anyone thinks this is a "later years" thing, I'm 45 years old.
Over the years I abused my body to the point that the chronic injuries may lead to disability, but hopefully not.
I spent years on my knees, inside doors and crawling around inside cars without knee pads. I now have a bad right now that won't weight bear and is affecting my right hip.
I have repetitive motion in my left elbow (favored hand) that needs Tommy John surgery. That came from years of vibratory air tools usage without impact gloves and not switching back and forth from hand to hand. The vibratory air tools and constantly have my hands covered in solvents and chemicals means I can't feel hot or cold with my fingers anymore. Water has to be hot enough to scald me before I know it's too hot for the rest of my body.
Now, both shoulders are showing signs of tendonopathy, to where it hurts some days to the point that I want to scream in pain as the tendons knot.
My point being, doing stretching exercises and wearing the proper PPE, such as knee pads and impact gloves would make my life a lot more bearable now, but like a lot of idiots, in my youth, I thought those things weren't "macho" enough. PPE was for panzies who couldn't take the pain. Now, I know what the pain is like.
I'm not posting this to ***** or whine. It's my own fault that's lead to this, no one else's. I'm just hoping to pass on a bit of wisdom, learned the hard way, to help others not have to deal with these things as they get older.
