Hi, my name is Lauren I'm 18 and I have arthritis. I guess the first step is admitting it lol. Well I love baking and cake decorating but I have difficulties with pain in my joints when i spend long hours decorating. I would love to own my bakery one day and even go to Culinary school, but I'm afraid I might not be able to stick with it due to my troubles. If any of you also have arthritis I would love to hear from you and see how you deal with the pain or if you have any little tips or secrets to help minimize it during those long hours!
Thanks!
Hi, Lauren. I've just started decorating and I have arthritis too.
You can do a search for threads about Carpel Tunnel. It seems alot of decorators here have that, and there are suggestions to help manage the hand pain.
Mostly I just make sure to take breaks, use thinner icing than I probably should and have a machine or one of my adoring eaters...er, family do some of the difficult mixing work.
Good luck and welcome.
Hi Lauren!! I've had arthitis since I was 18 too! I'm MUCH MUCH older than that now! LOLL I also have carpal tunnel syndrome. Here's what I do:
Frequent breaks; put my hands in super warm water when they begin to get stiff; keep my hands and arms WARM in winter (even when I'm NOT decorating) it decreases any pain I have and actually helps me NOT have pain; I try to do clenching and stretching while my hands are in the warm water and that seems to help.
Now, here is my FAVORITE thing! You can buy parafin warmers like at Macy's or Parks Belk for like $30.00. I use citrus parafin and dip my hands in it let it dry and do 2 more layers over that! Wrap in plastic bags for 30 minutes! Peel off, put back in the warmer for next time! OMG!!! Talk about relaxing and it REALLY HELPS my pitiful lil' ole' hands! LOLL
WELCOME and GOOD LUCK!!
Beth in KY
I do but it is my knees not hands.... I ended up getting a knee replacement this summer one thing I have found that is helping all my joints if Fresh pineapple frozen pinapple will work but not canned the heat kills the enzyme
I also go to the healthfood store and buy the enzyme in pill form bromaline but I prefer the fresh pineapple one large serving a day make a difference in inflamation for me......
It is worth trying as a serving of pineapple can't hurt you.
HI ive kind of got similar problems to yours except mine is back problems sitting down leaning over or standing up ageravates it, so when im decorating a cake i really suffer from it, can anyone surgest anything to help. im only 22 and feel like a 70 y old lol. Oh mines not arthuritus though I suffer from bilactual spondilytis ( inflamation of the spine) oh and bad spelling. 
I started feeling the effects in the last year or so in my hands. My other hobbies are crocheting and cross-stitching, so my hands really get a workout! Lots of breaks. And I lotion mine up a lot .... it helps with drying skin and it's a mini-massage as I rub it in.
Oh yeah .... and I live on aspirin! real, old-fashion ASPIRIN!
I started feeling the effects in the last year or so in my hands. My other hobbies are crocheting and cross-stitching, so my hands really get a workout! Lots of breaks. And I lotion mine up a lot .... it helps with drying skin and it's a mini-massage as I rub it in.
Oh yeah .... and I live on aspirin! real, old-fashion ASPIRIN!
Okay, the retired nurse in me MUST SPEAK!!! I, too, think real old fashioned Aspirin is the BEST antiinflammatory around. BUT, PLEASE take the aspirin that is coated to protect your esophagus AND your stomach!!
Sorry, periodically "Nancy" comes out and I just can't keep her quiet!!
Beth in KY
Hiya hun,
I personally don't have arthritis, but the lady who taught me to decorate cakes does have severe RA (she has to have iv's every three months) and takes steroids for the pain. One of her tricks when she is decorating is to take just enough of the bag in her hand to have a little bit of frosting (bout the size of an egg). It makes it so that she doesn't have to squeeze a lot and it helps with control. She taught us to do that too, and believe me it sure has saved us from having too many troubles with carpal tunnel or tennis elbow.
Me! I have arthritis and carpal tunnel in both hands... results of working at a PC too long for too many years, genetic arthritic issues, and a calcium deficiency....
I agree with Bethola, warmth, frequent breaks, and two really really good hand/wrist supports are the best thing. Aqua therapy is great too!
Keep chugging along, I don't let this stop me I just keep trying... oh and the tramadol doesn't hurt either....
I just did tootsie roll roses over the weekend. I did 6. Monday morning I could hardly move my hands. Especially my thumbs. I did alot of whining 
and alot of lotion and massaging and I am still hurting. But if you love it you got to take the good with the bad!!! And listen to the others. I just learned about the coated ASA. Didn't know it would effect the esophagus!!!!
Lu
I have had aggressive rheumatoid arthritis and Lupus since I was 17 (I'm 29 now.). What joints do you have problems with? My entire body is affected, so I can give you a few overall tips
1. Definitely work in small increments - I usually work for about an hour then take a half-hour break (longer or shorter depending on how I feel.)
2. Sit down to work whenever possible. This will help tremendously. If you can't sit, make sure you are working on a surface that is high enough that you won't have to bend over to work. (This will help your back and shoulders tremendously.)
3. As mentioned before, you will probably need to make your icing slightly thinner than everyone else. This might make it a bit more difficult to do specific decorations (like the rose), but it can be done. You can PM me if you ever need specific decoration help.
4. Get wrist supports - you will be so grateful you did! Hobby Lobby sells a set that work great, and they only cost about $12. With their 40% off coupon, they would only be $7 and worth every penny. You will have to get used to decorating with them though.
That's all I can think of at the moment. If you have any questions or want to talk, you can PM me anytime! Good luck!
Beth, I'll pick up the coated aspirin on my next refill trip! Thanks!
This sounds silly, but when the arthr. first kicked in, I could feel it in my right hand ring finger. My sister bought me a copper ring to wear on that finger, saying the copper would keep the pain at bay. I thought she was full of it, but it was her money she spent, not mine, so what the heck, I put the ring on.
Oh my gosh IT WORKED!!!! She told me it's the green oxydation coloring on my skin caused by the copper ring that does it. When I took the ring off and showered, the green disappeared. For whatever reason, I didn't put the ring back on and the pain came back in that finger. I found the ring, put it back on, and the pain went away.
I'd love to have a copper necklace for the arthr. in my neck, but I'm just not brave enough to walk around with a green oxydation ring around my neck! 
I also have had hand problems. I am sure I have Carpal tunnel. I worked in a sewing factory for 10 years. and they fired me when I started having problems and they had paid for about 4 surgeries for other workers and when I complained I wound up getting fired. And My grandma was in a wheel chair because of arthritis from my birth to her death( which was atleast 25 years) But with her crippled hand she still knitted and crochet. She took breaks. It was always on her lap and when she felt upto it she would do some and put it down when she would hurt. I really wanted to learn to do cakes and I knew it would probably hurt me. And it is but I am dealing with it. I can really tell when I do to much the pain is severe and I want to cry. And I always wake from pain at night. 
But I am a chicken when it comes to surgery not to mention the cost. So I know it is in my future. Just not yet 
So Big THING TAKE ALOT OF BREAKS 
I also have severe carpal tunnel syndrome at 28 and I often soak my hands and wrists in a parafin bath. It feels awsome for hours after that. I also take anti inflamatories and I wear doctor prescribed wrist braces at night. All of that put together really minimizes my pain. If I am spending a lot of time decorating I often find it hard to keep a steady hand because of the pain so I will have to take breaks.
I've been decorating 17 now. I had the beginnings of carpol tunnel and pain from the arthritis. Five years ago I went scratch and starting making a new buttercream called swiss meringue buttercream. It's light and wonderful on the hands. Some weekends I can make up to 7 wedding cakes with no trouble at all. I don't have the pain anymore. I gave the shortening buttercream (carpol tunnel in a container). That stuff if so heavy and hard to pipe with. Try a new icing a see if there's a difference. Andrea
i used to have severe carpal tunnel...i was even considering surgery.
(i don't have it anymore)...
but
when i did ....i found that wearing magnetic bracelets helped ALOT....i don't know why it did...but you could really tell a difference!...the pain was so bad it used to wake me up at night.
I have arthritis in my shoulder and neck. I agree about the frequent breaks.
I mainly have difficulties when rolling out fondant for larger cakes. I just don't have the umph I used to have. Hot showers, and making your icing thinner will help. I used to make mmf but gave that up as it was just to hard mixing by hand. Use the ready made now as it is much easier on my shoulder and arm.
Hello. I had a problem with carpel tunnel. I use Head On on my wrists and it feels so good. I also wear my wrist brace, and do warm up stretches for my hands and wrists. I only do the same motions (such as flat icing or borders) for 30 minutes at a time, then I switch to some other movement for my wrists.
I am beginning to think I have early signs...The other week my hnads were so sore...my left hand 2 fingers were painfully sore at the joints and fell asleep alot and my right wrist feels like I have twisted it and the fingers tips also fall asleep especially at night ....I'm sure it is arthritis!!!
i have tendonitis in my wrists. i actaully had to sell my standard car because i couldn't drive it anymore 
i do my cakes little by little and give myself lots of extra time to get them done.
I was diagnosed with RA 4 years ago but have had it longer than that. It started in my feet, could barely walk, 2 years of meds that really didnt work that well, then 2 years ago started Humira. I self inject 1x a week and it has been a God Send. Its in my hands now.
I NEVER do a cake all at once, that would be suicide. Bake one day, make frosting the next, fondant the next, embellishments the next, when doing the final deco, I deco for about 1/2 hour, take a 1/2 hour break. LOTS of breaks but it works, lets me do what I love w/o hurting for weeks afterward. The 200 minicakes I made, couldn't grasp for almost 3 weeks after that, stupid stupid. I won't even do those anymore.
Indydebi.....I saw your post and I've gotta try the copper ring trick! I was tired of wining around about pain in my right hand index finger, so asked the Dr. about it....ole' arthur it was! I didn't know you could get it in just one finger! It kills me every night....and especially in the morning, but once I start using it, it gets better, but I can never bend it all the way down....I hate that! I'll have to try the copper ring since it's in one finger!
I was wondering if any one has tried using something like Wilton's dessert decorator pro, one of those cylinder like things for decorating. Like everyone else I have arthritis in my hand and wrist (and of course it is the hand I use for everything) and was wondering if using something like that it would ease some of the pain or would it be harder to decorate with.
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