Is diaboling dangerous? (overuse injuries)

[w35ku]

Is diaboloing dangerous? I diabolo maybe 30min - 1 hour of a day
and some others do maybe 3 hours of a week, so is it dangerous to do it much ?

[Vojtas]

Yep, it is very dangerous, especially for your face.. =)

[barnesy]

It's like any physical activity.  If you overdo it, it's possible to injure yourself.  If something starts to hurt, pay attention to it - maybe you need to ease up or stop for a while.   But if everything seems OK, I wouldn't worry about it.

I've been doing a few hours every day for the last few weeks, and don't seem to be having problems, if that counts for anything.

[Sean]

Overuse injuries are not uncommon with diaboloists/jugglers.

Personally, I have had many issues with wrist overuse injuries related to the diabolo in the past. Surprisingly, the solution for me was in the equipment I used. Different sticks have different elastic properties and are of different lengths. For me, I discovered the following:

Henrys carbon/fiberglass sticks + Circus diabolos = severe wrist pain
Henrys carbon/fiberglass sticks + Finesse diabolos = mild wrist pain
Henrys aluminum sticks + Finesse diabolos = maybe occasional soreness, not a problem
Henrys aluminum sticks + Circus diabolos = no pain

In short, I believe the carbon sticks give me more trouble because of their greater length (greater torque/moment arm on the wrist by the diabolos) and aluminum sticks force me to adapt a less agressive style of diaboloing. I could hypothesize as to reasons for this all day, but the bottom line is that I stay away from my carbon and fiberglass sticks. Of course, your results may vary.

Other than experimenting with equipment, general overuse prevention and treatment strategies should apply, as barnesy mentioned. Essentially: don't overdo it at any one time - build up the amount of time spent diaboloing slowly, as hard as that might be.

[barnesy]

Henrys aluminum sticks + Circus diabolos = no pain

Ah, I should be fine then!

That does remind me that the change from wood to Henrys alu (which seems to be good, even if I've lost a few tricks on the way) did cause me to get some forearm pains.  I guess that was just because of the slight shift in weight balance, etc.  I paid attention to the warnings, and now seem to have no problems.

[Dax]

henry's alu sticks + henry's circus + face = lots of pain!

[w35ku]

Henrys aluminum sticks + Circus diabolos = no pain

Ah, I should be fine then!

Hehe, I got Henrys aluminium and the diabolo i often diabolate with is a circus, and i dont have any kind of pain... Thanks guys !

[Rusty]

Be careful when your arms/wrists start to hurt. I have not been able to juggle since christmas. It is horrible, I have three new finesse G2 just waiting to be used.

Rusty, Norway

[JGherkin]

I disagree with Carbon sticks causing pain, Im absolutely fine, just my muscles get kanckered quite a bit and I presume thatd be the same with any equipment, ok lighter diabs like finesse would ease that up but still Love my carbons!

[Sean]

I'm not saying carbon sticks cause pain for everyone. Obviously plenty of people are just fine with them. I'm saying that they cause me problems (and I believe Arjan too). I suffered for about 8 months before I realized that. Now, if I pick them up for even an hour or so I start to develop pain. Some people are more succeptible to these things, some people won't develop problems no matter what they do.

Some people may find that carbon sticks are the best solution for them and that aluminum sticks hurt. Different pieces of equipment have different physical properties to them and over a long span of time their use can affect people's bodies in different ways.

The point I was trying to make was that if someone is having problems part of the solution may involve experimenting with different equipment.

[ronnie2tone]

Although my wrists and arms are fine, diabolo'ing has given me a really sore back.

Coming home from the BJC I had all my camping gear, juggling stuff, clothes etc in a big holdall. Carrying it up 3 flights of stairs to my flat one-handed has resulted in a visit to the physio.

Does this count??

[Alex]

The most painful thing that has ever happened to me was when the diabolo rolled up, while I was Chinese Whipping.  Me throwing full wrist action forward, and the diabolo pulling hard backwards, is quite painful.  I couldn't diabolo for weeks.

[Martijn]

Besides the scars and stuff, I only hurt my wrist in a period when I played the drums (yes, an other hobby of mine ) way too much. I was playing with a little band, and I overused my wrists. When I touched a diabolo, I couldn't diabolo for more than 5 minutes That was a hard periode for me..

Blisters are also a very bad thing if you diabolo.

[diabololi]

I believe I had come wrist pain specifically from continuously speedwrapping circuses. It seemed to go away after a few days though.

[Arjan]

I always have some spot where I have pain. In the wrist or thumb or palm of my hand whatever. Pain is part of my practicing. It`s not a very strong pain (not always) so I just continue practicing. But doing 3 high (attempting) all day long is bad for your shoulders and arms.

Sometimes I have a little break or fallback, but normally I would train a minimum of 2 hours a day, if I have the chance (weatherwise).

[Chiok]

I got some terrible callouses and pressure points from using wooden sticks quite aggressively.  I'd practise 1+2 for a few hours on a saturday and my hands would kinda warm tingle for the rest of the day due to the pressure of holding onto the sticks while chinese whipping.
The aluminiums I use now have nice padded handle, so no problem there.  Though can get a bit of neck and back ache from looking down so much at my 2d.  Plus I imagine your back can cane a bit from doing an s-fan for how long (Sean & A Man's Chew)?

Warming up is important, as it is when doing anything outside the sedatory or passive actions like running for a bus.  Start easy as everyone has said (but if you've already ran for the bus, you'll probably be warmed up already.)

Chiok

[Jack_12325]

The worst ive had is at Glasto 2004 i got a blister right where my right hand holds the diabolo stick! It was so annoying, I was using Carbon fibre's and a circus.

Ive got a finesse now and i find them less painful on the wrist.

[w35ku]

Henry Circus got a weigth of 300 gram and
Babache Finesse got a weigth of 240 gram.

Why do Finesse more wrist-pain if circus weigth more ?

[dougall]

Aside from equipment, which seems to have a marked effect for some people, i've found that concentrating on smoothing out my style (e.g. so there's no jerking action in either arm when continuously backwrapping two) has led to less tension building up in my wrists/ shoulders / back without any loss of speed/tricks. (Infact i believe this benefits speed since the energy is being successfully transfered to the diablo rather than getting stuck in tensions inside me   )

[Spooned]

After diaboloing nearly solidly for about 2 days (look out for footage coming soon) i got a pain in my first finger on left hand. I am left handed and hold my alu stick quite high for control whilst doing 2, i've had it before but that was the very first few times i was playing diabolo and my left was constantly moving and the stick bashing against my finger. Anyone got any ideas?