I wear compression gloves when I draw. They fit snugly and help stabilize my thumb. My hands feel much better!

Worthy topic - thanks, Courtney.

My 2 cents:

Set up great ventilation, and work outside whenever possible.

Follow Monona Rossel's advice about art material safety ("The Artist's Complete Health and Safety Guide")

Stay well hydrated at all times, and breathe like a singer or wind instrumentalist.

Fingerless gloves can be a great help and comfort for those with cold hands.

Don't overgrip your brushes/tools because loads at the digit tips transfer tenfold to the wrists - one pound of pinch pressure on the thumb pad registers as 10 pounds at the vulnerable basal joint where the thumb joins th wirst bones.

Use a tiltable/rotating easel to avoid awkward postions - bring the work to the hand - and this includes sculpting in the round with an adjustable height sculpture stand.

Take your vitamins - and get blood tested for vitamins D, B6, B12 and C if necessary - the prevalence of potentially disabling vitamin D deficiency is rising.

Take breaks.

Avoid sustained head-forward, limbs-forward, palms-down positions as much as possible - posture matters greatly.

Use voice recognition software for as much of your computing as possible.

Cultivate ambidexterity.

Best regards to all artists!

- Bob Markison

www.markisonmd.com

Use foam or rubber grips for pens/pencils/brush from the office supply stores (or even foam pipe insulation from the hardware store) to make the diameter of the pencil/pen/brush larger.  The more open you can keep your hand for long periods of time the less pain you will have later.  Here is an example:

www.officedepot.com/.../Charles-Leonard-Soft-Cushion-Foam-Pencil

To minimize tension in your hand:  Stop drawing first, then gently drop your hand down and flutter wrist and fingers from low to high and then across your body.  Pretend you have wings.  Lastly, turn on music and "play" each finger to one beat at a time up and down in sequence a few times. Following the beat exactly retunes the nerves and your fine control of the individual fingers. Go back to your brush or pen.

I have had two hand surgeries to remove arthritic bones caused by the genetic disease and aggravated by the  many  hours of drawing, painting and framing.

The most useful tool to help aggravate a stressed hand is to use a "fat " tool.

Use a thick pencil or pen whenever possible.  Since most drawing utensils are rather thin then adding a rubber or plastic tubing or commercially available pen/pencil triangles that add depth to the tool is very helpful.  Instead of the pressure being against the thumb and index fingers joints only, the pressure is more widely spread throughout the hand when the tool is fatter.  This works also for potato and veggie peeler, cutting knives, paint brushes, etc.

Now I can work for several hours with little recourse.

Joanne Gervais

ps.  if my descriptions are not clear enough, I can send photos of these adapters in use.