Medical Issues with being a Cameraman

[Brad Grimmett]

I used to have severe lower back problems caused by years of playing football and lacrosse and pounding the heck out of my body. I had developed a slight curve in my back and it sometimes took me 20 minutes just to get my feet from the bed to the floor. But since I started operating steadicam I haven't had one instance that rivals any problems I had before, and it's been about 9 years. I'm of the belief that steadicam has strengthened my whole body and is the only reason I no longer have back problems. So I'm really glad I started doing steadicam! Of course, now I have tendinitis in both my feet (I don't really blame this on steadicam), but the pain is nowhere near as bad as my back was.

[David Rakoczy]

How bad were your eyes then? Mine are -10.5 and -11 (don't know what the equates to on the 20/20 scale.) right now, don't know how much worse they'll get (i'm only 19).

 

They used 30.0D or +4.0 in each eye .. then Lasiked ontop of that.

[monday sunnlinn]

my personal experience has taught me the following:

 

the importance of proper footware can not be overstated. i spent more on a pair of nike running shoes than i had spent combined in 10 years for footwear, and it was the best thing in the world for my back. i do a lot of corporate/convention video, standing on concrete all day...

 

a consistent exercise routine that is complete and symmetrical is also important for your body integrity. i bought a used bowflex on craigslist after 10 years of free weights and incomplete apartment complex fitness centers. and after about 2 months the pain in my upper back and neck went away, because i strengthened them to match the rest of my body. if one muscle group is over developed relative to the connected muscle groups, you can really screw yourself up...

 

also, don't just work out your upper body. start with your legs and go from largest muscle group to smallest. this way as your energy get's used up throughout the course of the workout you can still maximize the burn to each muscle group. remember that your body's musculature is an interconnected mesh of counterbalances. Strengthening your legs crosstrains your back. a strong stomach acts as a support column for any weight on your spine.

 

if you are worried about time, you can do a full body workout on the bowflex in about 35-40 minutes. the key is to do 1 set of 8-12 reps -slowly- so that you completely exhaust your target muscles in one set.

if you move continuously through the routine, you get a good cardio workout as well because your heart rate never drops. also realize that the amount of resistance on the rods changes once the ambient temperature in the room is above 75 degress F for a day or more. the resistance drops by about 15% as it get's above that temperature.

 

another thing that is overlooked is eating every 2 or three hours. and i don't mean a latte and a cigarette. if you eat a little food every few hours your insulin won't spike and you won't crash(if you do this consistently, you'll also burn fat). make sure there is a little bit of protein, like a handful of almonds or something like that. if you don't crash, you won't slouch, so you'll maintain better control of your body positioning under a load. your mind will be sharper too.

 

if you've had a bad yoga experience, you probably had a bad instructor, proper yoga taught by a qualified -attentive- pro is the greatest thing you can do for mind/body health. an instructors job is to correct your postures precisely and be aware of the limitations of your body.

 

i also do alot of postpro/CGI and the best thing i did for my body was:

 

1. taught myself not to slouch to either side of the chair.

2. keep my feet flat on the ground.

3.buy an office depot knock off of one of these $1500 fully adjustable mesh chairs

4.buy a trackball mouse (takes a few weeks to get used to, but if you have a 3 monitor desktop, being able to zip the pointer around with the flick of a finger is a real wrist-saver)

 

i think this thread is awesome because as has been stated before, this is an area of our industry that doesn't get enough of the spotlight. no show is worth killing yourself over, no matter what jackie chan might say...

[John Sprung]

... Placing an item 18 inches from my eye is now like placing it under a microscope! ....

David, how do your eyes focus now? Can you go from that 18" to infinity? The original lens in the human eye focus by having muscles around the outside pull it into different shapes to change the focal length.

 

In my case, as happens to everybody as we get older, the lens gets less flexible, so the muscles can't squeeze it as far. That results in the close focus limit moving ever farther away. Eventually, our arms aren't long enough to hold a book, and we need glasses. I can't stand bifocals, so I'm always changing between +1.5 diopter walking around glasses and +3.0 diopter reading glasses. I stack them both up for +4.5 diopters for extreme magnification.

 

 

Thanks --

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[John Sprung]

Mine are -10.5 and -11 (don't know what the equates to on the 20/20 scale.)

I think they may be two different things. The plus or minus numbers are probably diopters, the power of the lens you need in your glasses. The 20/15 or 20/300 or whatever are eye chart test results. They mean that you can recognize text at 20 feet that the average person can read at 15 or 300 or whatever.

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[John Sprung]

Of course word spread that this was caused by sitting in front of TV monitors for 10-12 hours a day for 20 years. Excessive exposure to radiation.

 

Of course the company fearing a barrage of lawsuits quickly dismissed the idea.

And the company was right in this case. There's no dangerous radiation from CRT displays. They just shoot electrons at a phosphor that turns them into photons. If there really were a problem with CRT's, we'd be seeing high levels of cancer all over post production and in a lot of other businesses where people spend a lot of time on computers.

 

The big mistake is to assume that an unusual number of anything -- cancer cases or whatever -- has to have a cause and someone to blame. Random and uniform are two different things.

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[David Rakoczy]

David, how do your eyes focus now? Can you go from that 18" to infinity? The original lens in the human eye focus by having muscles around the outside pull it into different shapes to change the focal length.

 

In my case, as happens to everybody as we get older, the lens gets less flexible, so the muscles can't squeeze it as far. That results in the close focus limit moving ever farther away. Eventually, our arms aren't long enough to hold a book, and we need glasses. I can't stand bifocals, so I'm always changing between +1.5 diopter walking around glasses and +3.0 diopter reading glasses. I stack them both up for +4.5 diopters for extreme magnification.

 

 

Thanks --

 

 

 

-- J.S.

 

 

You are absolutely correct John. The amazing thing is that these New Generation Lens Implants actually Flex as human Lenses would. With the older generation Lenses you had to pick.. do you want Close Up or Distant Vision? .. or they would place one of each so one eye sae close and the other far and let the 'brain' work out the differences and lean towards one or the other depending on what you were focussing on. My lenses 'flex' and so I have 20/20 all the way.. 18" and onwards.. even at 6"... but at 18" is where the REALLY give you awesome close up magnification! I would go through the painless Procedure again this afternoon if I had to... it was WELL worth it!

 

You can check the Acrysof RESTORE and REZOOM Lenses out at www.EmeraldEye.com

Edited July 14, 2008 by David Rakoczy

[John Sprung]

Thanks, David --

 

When the financial dust settles from our real estate mess, I'll have to find a local doctor for this.

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[Serge Teulon]

The answer to my back problem is Osteopathy (you have to find a good one!) and Pilates. The former straightens your back structure and the latter strengthens your core.

[Dan Salzmann]

Can anyone recommend a serious excercise DVD that you feel is applicable to camera personnel?

I don't have time to get to a gym but could devote a half hour at least 4x a week.

[Brian Dzyak]

I managed to pull a muscle in my right arm at the gym some weeks ago. So, to help that heal, I began to compensate with my left arm whenever I needed to rest the camera. This new way of holding the camera at rest finally showed itself to be a bad idea. About two weeks ago, I woke up after a particularly busy couple of weeks of holding the camera and putting cases in my truck and my left elbow was screaming in pain.

 

The doctor says I have "tennis elbow" which means that there are tears in that ligament or muscle.

 

Just more things that they don't tell you in filmschool... that they should.

[Dan Salzmann]

I managed to pull a muscle in my right arm at the gym some weeks ago. So, to help that heal, I began to compensate with my left arm whenever I needed to rest the camera. This new way of holding the camera at rest finally showed itself to be a bad idea. About two weeks ago, I woke up after a particularly busy couple of weeks of holding the camera and putting cases in my truck and my left elbow was screaming in pain.

 

The doctor says I have "tennis elbow" which means that there are tears in that ligament or muscle.

 

Just more things that they don't tell you in filmschool... that they should.

 

 

I repeat my request for suggestions of an excercise DVD that is applicable to film personnel.