Nail gun shock injuries

dswan388

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum but had a few questions for everyone regarding nail guns and shock related injuries.

I'm a student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and for one of my grad classes we are applying axiomatic design to manufacturing tools and processes to improve them (don't worry, I don't know what axiomatic design is either :-P) . Our group decided to look into nail guns and the possibility of creating some kind of shock absorbing system to help eliminate shock related injury.

I have very little experience with nail guns (especially over long periods of time) and wanted to ask a more experienced group about these particular injuries. Would you say there is a high risk in frequent nail gun users to develop repetitive strain injury or shock injury due to the constant impact of the nail gun? What sort of injuries have you had yourself? Do you feel tingling in your arm after a day’s worth of nailing? Any information you can provide would be extremely helpful to our project. I appreciate and anxiously await your replies.

-Dan

Marvin Gardens

I have never seen RSI (repetitive stress injuries) with nail guns. I have used one for many years. In fact I don't remember how to drive a nail with a hammer.

The biggest injuries are from accidental firing of the gun and a nail flying somewhere. As a retired paramedic I used to see lots of these.

Most people don't use them enough to cause RSI. You have to understand that people that work in the building trades are not complainers. If they have an injury they just deal with it. If they get some sort of RSI they adjust how they are doing things so that it doesn't continue.

Back when I used a hammer all day long I used to get tennis elbow. I just learned to use my other hand and am quite ambidextrous. My tennis elbow went away and then I reverted back to my other hand.

The shock of a nail gun is not all that bad unless you hit a knot. Then there is some recoil that can be a bit unpleasant.

Most RSI injuries are tendonitis like tennis elbow, or sore knees, and strained backs. I think that nail guns actually reduce RSI injuries.

I can see carpal tunnel syndrome happening if the operator hangs on too tight. When I was falling timber we called it white knuckle syndrome. Grabbing on too hard would reduce blood flow and hands would turn white.

Then again I have always been careful because of my medical background and see a problem before it develops and deals with it, so maybe I am not the person to be talking to.

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Termite

Moved this to the safety subforum since it is safety-related.

I've never had or seen any repetitive stress injury from a nail gun, and I've used them quite a bit.

I have had issues with using impact guns and impact drivers for a long time. They make my hands tingle and it won't go away for weeks after driving a few dozen screws or bolts. Probably vibration-related.

Marvin Gardens

Yea, carpal tunnel. Don't let it get to that point anymore now. Do you understand?

I know I'm not your mother but this is serious and can lay you up for months and could even end your building career.

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bjbatlanta

I left a reply at the "tool" post and "jogr" left a reply after mine that this is may get a better response at Contractor Talk, as it's geared toward pro's rather than DIY'ers. Makes sense. Best of luck with your survey "dsawn388".

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gabrieljosh

Repetitive stress injuries can come from many causes. Other factors should also be considered as contributing to stress in all cases. Being overweight or pregnant or having high stress levels in general can certainly take a toll on certain joints. Once you have been diagnosed with repetitive stress injury, all of these factors must be taken into consideration before the most effective course of treatment can be prescribed by your doctor.