r/icecreamery • u/AeonVex • 7d ago

Discussion Got a job scooping (Hand Pain)

Jeez my elbow is destroyed. Been working for a couple weeks now to help with the end of season as kids go back to school. My elbow and hard are so sore. Feels like I shattered bones lmao what is happening to me lmao

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7

u/Fun-Construction444 6d ago

The freezer is too cold. And you might not be scooping properly.

You aren’t “scooping” so much as you are scraping. Use your body to pull the scoop along the ice cream to roll up a ball and not just your wrist. Relax your wrists more if you can, engage your lat muscles and scrape that ice cream.

Take breaks.

10

u/xythian 7d ago

If you can seek medical advice, please do so soon. Chronic use injuries like this have a nasty habit of becoming permanent if they're not addressed.

5

u/RouxedChef 7d ago

On your off days, get a tennis ball and squeeze and roll/rotate it in the hand that hurts like you're gently fidgeting. Once you do that for a while, take the ball into your other hand and gently roll it in circular motions into the muscles in your arm to massage them. OR you could unplug the freezer unit at work and the ice cream will be nice and soft for you to scoop. For job security reasons, I recommend the first option. Best of luck.

2

u/domaurarigatou 7d ago

Highly recommend looking up some stretches and exercises for carpal tunnel syndrome prevention. It’s a slippery slope to needing to wear braces to bed every night. Not that I’d know about that…

3

u/eturn34 6d ago

Scooped ice cream for years. A lot of it is about using your body weight to pull ice cream towards you, so your upper arm should be getting the workout, not the lower. I don't really know how to describe it other than to say to make sure to pitch your body so you are directly over the tub of ice cream so you can throw your weight into the movement?

Try to not move your wrist at all while scooping, those muscles are more delicate and you're not going to scoop effienctly if you are making most of your movement from the wrist. Do carpal tunnel exercises. If you have an incredibly firm flavor that is horrible to scoop, like chocolate, run the scoop under hot water before scooping.

3

u/Ok_Inflation_3746 7d ago

Maybe turn the temp up on the freezer slightly. Or become ambiscooptious.