What's Happening?

I was reading Kar Ma's lastest thread in this board, and it reminded me of something that's been happening to me lately, so I thought I'd ask and see what you guys think...

Okay, now I've been playing with puppets for six years, I've been an actual (amateur) puppeteer for half that period, after all these years, puppetry would seem to be a breeze for me, but something's been happening to me lately: whenever I'm performing a puppet, after about a few minutes or so, the hand I use to work the puppet's mouth will suddenly start to stiffen and becomes very numb and I have to reposition it for a minute or two to get relief (like if I have the puppet's mouth closed and this happens I have to open my hand to get relief and vice versa).

Does anybody know what this is and/or why this is happening, and how can I treat it?

Hey D'Snowth
My girlfriend who is a Occupational Therapist wants to know the following:
A) Are you getting a tingling feeling in your fingers (pins and needles) ? If so what fingers?
B) Have you ever had a shoulder injury or shoulder pain in the past?
C) Have you ever had Carpaltunnel Syndrome before?
The condition you describe could be a number of things, depending on the source; it could be related to your shoulder, or wrist. It would be a good idea to check with a doctor. If you have large pecs you can also be pinching a nerve that runs up your arm. There are number of different things, you'll have to more specific sorry.

1. No.
2. No.
3. And no.

Maybe it could be the "big pecs" thing, but then again I seriously need to drop weight anyway.

Tom's girlfriend would be much more knowledgable about this kind of thing than I am, but I've had similar problems in the past (I was told it was carpal tunnel or something similar) and found that doing calisthenics helped a lot.

Do you warm up before doing puppetry? Not everyone does that, but it's very, very important.

I don't like the thought of having carpal tunnel syndrome... but if I had that, wouldn't it also effect other everyday tasks like using the computer for extended periods of time?

Well anyway, calisthenics sounds like a pretty good idea (and very M*A*S*Hy), so maybe that might me as well... but what kind of warm ups can you do before donning a puppet?

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=24343&highlight=exercises

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=13806&highlight=exercises

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=7057&page=2&highlight=exercises

Here's some previous threads about the subject. Hope they help!

*Smacks head* I cannot believe I forgot about those! I specifically printed those out a couple of winter ago and inserted them into my little "Puppeteering Handbook"!

Also, if you search PuppetryLab and I believe Puppet U they have posted about warm-up exercises in the past (sorry I don't recall the specifics). I was introduced to the Brain Gym programs by another puppeteer several years ago and use them a lot to help warm up muscles and improve hand-eye coordination. I find that almost any exercise designed to increase flexibility and/or muscle endurance helps with puppetry a lot.

If you're having problems probably the best thing to do though is speak with an occupational therapist. I severely injured several discs in my back (which is really scary and painful) doing puppetry on stage about ten years ago and recovered amazingly well thanks to the help of an occupational therapist.

Whoa,.... My injury was not as bad as Buck's, but about 2 months ago I pulled a muscle in my neck while puppeteering and went to the emegency room (several hours after though) and I had to wear a brace for a week and take pain pills twice a day. The injury made me nauseus and dizzy and it was hard to walk in a strait line. But once I was able to take the brace off I got an hour long massage, I told the masseuse what I had done and where it specifically hurt and she got it out and it felt/feels good as new...

Also when I did Audrey II in Little Shop I did my own 10 minute yoga routine and other stretches specifically for my back and legs and then did the 20 minute warm-up with the cast, and that helped a lot and got me though the shows without pain.

Audrey II is brutal if the puppet isn't constructed properly.

Tell me about it!