Originally Posted by diannemc
Is it just me or does every sewer deal with it...Right between my shoulder blades... :cry: I can't sit at the machine for long..I have to spend days on heating pad...I use to sew heirloom children clothes for a store several years ago..I would sew day and night.. That is when it started...My last job was sitting at a computer eight hours a day...What is good for a back ache!!! When I stretch and exercise it gets worst..Now that I am home all day and can sew all day I can't! Help!
BTDT. Here's what I found.
The pain between the shoulder blades is from incorrect chair/work height relationships. I do better when my chair is as high as it can go and still get my knees under the sewing cabinet.
I do not get the pain between the shoulder blades at all if I sew standing up. In fact, that is how I do all of my machine quilting. I place the sewing machine on my cutting table, which is the correct height for me -- about 3-1/4 inches below my belly button. It's important to stand on a soft, resilient surface to prevent other foot and back problems so, if you have a hard surface, get a mat. My sewing machine pedal cord is just long enough to sit on the floor. Before I quilt my next quilt, I am going to build this inexpensive sewing machine table to go around my machine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g14govA4pIM
I, personally, will never machine quilt sitting down again. Standing up, I can quilt much longer without fatigue and I never get the shoulder blade problem.
An MRI of my back showed a lot of degenerative problems, so my doctor sent me to a clinic that specializes in neck and back pain. There they told me *never* to use heat on my back -- only cold packs. They said that cold packs reduce the inflammation. They also put me through some strenuous incremental exercises on special machines that target the muscles associated with the back and spine. I went through that program several years ago and have never had back pain since. This is after suffering off and on with minor, moderate and severe back pain for almost 30 years. They strengthened the right muscles for me.
If stretching and exercise make the pain worse, it means you are either not doing the correct exercises or not doing the exercises correctly. Correct stretching and strengthening of the right muscles will make a lot of common back pain problems go away. However, I could never have achieved this on my own. Aside from being somewhat exercise-phobic, I just do not have a good sense of where body parts are in time and space. It is very easy for people like me to do an exercise incorrectly -- even stretching.
Meanwhile, though, try sewing at the machine standing up. I think you will be amazed at how much easier it is on the back.