Question for the welders. After 3 weeks of burnin wire on a 120 volt machine, on light gauge steel sheets and tubing, hands are killin me. Right doesn't want to close, pain in all 4 second knuckles, and base knuckles. Hands are swollen to the wrists, although not as bad on the left. Over 20 years ago, after air arcing on loader buckets for several hours, would notice some pain and stiffness in the stinger hand. But I was runnin over 400 amps, and some strange things happen up there anyway, and didn't think anything of it. And before anyone says to relax my grip, I been burnin rod well over half a century, and am about as relaxed welding as sleeping. I do either hand, any stinger, so it's not a grip thing. Bad enough last 2 days been going lefty, and the pain and stiffness went left also. So, my question to you is, have any of you seen this, and do you think amp flow, or the magnetic field? And Doctors say it is not arthritis...
Not uncommon for welders to get carpal tunnel especially if doing lots of MIG root passes on pipe or vessels. You're mostly using 1 hand slowly twisting your wrist side to side. I think you're wrong about it not being a grip thing. Not necessarily too tight of grip but just repetitively using the same muscles the same way over long periods of time. People who are bedridden have to get up and exercise regularly and if you go on a long drive or plane ride, you need to get up stretch so you're not stiff and sore. You're wearing leather gloves so don't think current has anything to do with it. Just an occupational hazard.
I've run about everything there is, too, I have noticed small MIG guns give me the same effect but not quite to this level. A 300 amp stick stinger... not a problem. But I don't have to hold that trigger.
My bet is arthritis, diagnosis I think is based mainly on age. I'm 70 and on lots of ibuprofen which I call my "happy pills."
Wait till the ends of your fingers tingle and burn all the time. Maybe you get the pain in your neck and it runs into your shoulder instead. Most call it repetitive motion damage. Small squirt guns don't make puddles real fast so you are barely moving along and trying to hold a puddle together. You move like crazy with an air arc or a big gun.