A twinge in my wrist made me rethink how I cut stems

I was trimming roses for a big order and felt this weird pain in my wrist. It kept bothering me for days, so I looked up some hand exercises online. Turns out, I was holding the shears all wrong and putting strain on my joints. Now I make sure to keep my wrist straight and take breaks to stretch my fingers. For example, after every bouquet, I do a quick shake-out and flex my hands. It sounds small, but it's saved me from a lot of discomfort during long shifts. Maybe other florists have had similar issues with repetitive motions.

3 comments

3 Comments

lane.angela2mo ago

Oh, I know exactly what you mean. That ache can creep right up your arm if you're not careful. Switching to a looser grip and making myself take those little stretch breaks made a world of difference for me too.

mary_kelly2mo ago

Yeah, used to think white-knuckling my chef's knife meant better control, totally wrong. Lane.angela is right about that creeping ache, mine would hit the elbow after a long prep shift. Finally tried that looser grip thing and those dumb wrist circles every twenty minutes. Now the blade feels lighter and my arm doesn't hate me by the end of the day.

sage_schmidt61mo ago

Man, I was the same way. I used to squeeze the life out of my pen during long invoices, thinking it made my writing neater. My whole forearm would be a tight, sore mess by the end. Letting my fingers relax a bit felt wrong at first, like I had less control, but the pain just stopped. Now my hand doesn't cramp up halfway through a page.