Hairdressing is one of the highest-risk occupations for hand and wrist problems there is, and the reason is the combination rather than any single task:
- thousands of scissor repetitions,
- the arms held up and away from the body,
- a wet working environment, and
- chemicals that damage the skin you grip with
Careers end over this. Usually slowly, usually through something that was treatable two years earlier.
What each task does
- Scissors. Thumb-driven, thousands of repetitions a day, with the thumb doing the same small arc. Main driver of thumb base pain and De Quervain’s
- Clippers. Vibration plus sustained grip. Vibration is its own risk — see hand-arm vibration syndrome
- Blow-drying. Sustained grip on a heavy tool with the arm elevated, for long stretches. Loads the elbow tendons and the shoulder
- Washing and coloring. Wrists bent, repeated squeezing, hands wet for hours
- Chemicals and constant wetting. Cracked, sore skin means you grip harder for the same control, all day
What turns up
- Pain at the base of the thumb, worst cutting and turning keys: thumb base arthritis, which arrives earlier in this trade than almost any other
- Thumb-side wrist pain: De Quervain’s tenosynovitis
- Night numbness in the thumb, index and middle fingers: carpal tunnel syndrome
- Outer elbow pain from blow-drying and gripping: tennis elbow
- Fingers going white in the cold, in long-term clipper users: vibration white finger, which is an occupational injury with a legal dimension
- Catching or locking at the base of a finger: trigger finger
Cheap scissors are the most expensive tool in the salon. You pay for them in thumb joints.
The changes worth the money
- Offset or crane-handle scissors. They let the thumb work in a more neutral position and reduce the elevation of the elbow and shoulder. The single best equipment change available, and worth trying before any of the rest
- Rotating thumb scissors, which reduce the thumb’s arc further
- Correctly sized, sharp scissors. Blunt blades need more force through the same joint. Servicing them is treatment, not maintenance
- Lighter dryers, and holding them closer to the body rather than at arm’s length
- Anti-vibration gloves for clipper work, and limiting continuous clipper time
- Barrier cream and thorough drying. Protecting skin protects grip
Scheduling, which matters as much as the tools
- Alternate cutting-heavy clients with color or consultation work rather than stacking six cuts in a row
- Sixty seconds of hands-open, arms-down between clients
- Full finger and wrist range at the start and end of the day
- Do not do all the clipper work in one block
Get it assessed rather than worked around if
- Numbness has become constant, or wakes you nightly
- Thumb pain is changing which techniques you choose
- A finger catches or locks
- Fingers go white and numb in the cold, then red and painful
- Grip strength has dropped noticeably over months
Thumb base arthritis, caught early, is well managed with joint protection and a splint — and the management is far more effective before the joint has deformed.
Thumb base arthritis exercises and joint protection covers what that looks like in practice, most of which is compatible with a full salon day.
You have maybe thirty years of scissor repetitions in that thumb. Spend them deliberately.
Every article on this site is written using the Closing Window Method: name the window your condition runs on, find where you are in it, and act while it’s still open.