lololololol!!!! I don't know if you saw my post on your last thread yesterday but I'm doing my first machine quilted quilt too! I was sailin along and all of a sudden somebody stuck a knife in the back of my neck/shoulder! Holy COW!!!
Bon
:)

Unless your spine is very straight and upright, as if your head were being pulled up to the ceiling by a string, it is only a matter of time before you start to ache. Also, if you tend to raise your shoulders when you bring your hands forward to move the quilt around, you will strain those areas. Raise and lower your shoulders. Are they at their lowest point while you quilt?

If I don't consciously lower my shoulders from time to time, they tend to creep back up when I'm hand sewing on the couch. Then I get what I call a "trapezius headache," which is a muscle tension headache from strain in the trapezius muscle, which runs from the back of the neck down to the shoulder blades. My guess is you have this exact problem, but I could be wrong.

Perhaps the only way to figure out what is happening is to practice, practice, practice. Try quilting a small (20" or less) sandwich of muslin and scrap batting. Are you leaning over in order to quilt just a small piece? How can you get yourself back into alignment? It will be different with each person and each setup (table + chair).

I have heard that you want your forearms to be parallel to the floor. Not always easy to manage. You might need to get a new chair, or boost your table. Or boost yourself in your chair.

Some suggestions:
1) Bring the sewing machine closer to the edge of the table. Only about one inch between the edge and the front edge of the sewing machine. You won't have to lean forward to get your head over the area being quilted.
2) Of course, once you bring the machine closer, you'll have to support the part of the quilt that is next to your left elbow. Can you bring in a small table? I admit, I only have a chair back, but it is better than nothing.
3) Can you sit a bit taller in your chair? I have a circular exercise disk, made of squishy plastic. It is like a disk shaped balloon. It boosts me up taller on my chair. Sitting upon it, I am looming over my work, not hunched over it.
4) Good lighting means you won't have to be closer to see better. That makes a huge difference for me, since my sewing room doesn't get much natural light.

I sincerely hope some of these ideas get you on the track to figuring out what might be bothering you. Quilting is supposed to be fun--not hurt! I hope you can find a way to make it all more comfortable. Oh and...

5) Remember to schedule breaks for stretching. Even if you have to set a timer. This also gives your eyes a break.

I 'look down my nose' when doing any repetitive work of this nature. I also watch TV while sewing which requires me changing my focus point & moving my neck/head.

There's the 'Yes - No - Maybe so' movement. Saw it on Simply Quilts and someone here on the forum posted it.
Yes - move head up & down
No - move head from side-to-side
Maybe so - shrug shoulders

Anything you do should be broken up by different body moves.

At my log cabin day long quilting class on of the ladies tilted her machine, she had a wedge like thing she put on the back of her machine and it tilted forward looked kind of funny but she said it relieved that problem.. It really didn't tilt a whole lot maybe and inch or so... Haven't tried it but could be worth a try. grace

I've had similar problems but maybe not as severe. It's really important to take frequent rest breaks and exercise your neck and shoulders. Ibuprofen helps too.

I always use the "Yes - No - Maybe So" technique, and it really helps. I also use a contour heated rice bag on my shoulders, and if my back is bothering me, I have a heat/massager pad.

One of the biggest helps for the shoulder/arm/wrist ache is to wear gloves. But they are a nuisance IMO. So I have several circles cut out of the non-slip shelf liner (which I also use for opening jars), and I just lay them on the quilt and use them to help move the quilt around.

Now THAT'S an interesting suggestion, Wanda. I don't like using gloves, myself, though the thin latex disposables are just bearable. I think I'll try that shelf liner or jar opener.

As for the pain, I would try to have a schedule and do "opposite" exercises to stretch the affected parts, maybe for a few minutes every half hour, or until I feel relief. I once had to stand on a ladder sand the molding near the ceiling in a new house all day, so I exercised 5 minutes out of every hour and got off with no aches and pains at all. Of course, I was about 30 years younger then, too! lol

Craftee, I solved that problem by raising my chair up a few inches. I'm short and found that I had to raise my arms up too high when sewing, which made me hunch my shoulders. By raising my chair I can keep my arms down and at a 90 deg angle, and that really helps a lot! My DH built me a little box to put the foot pedal on, and I put my left foot on the chair leg.

Grace, the ladies in my guild use 2 small rubber door stops to tilt their machines like you said. Mine is pretty new, so it's built that way.

Check out this website - they have lots of ergonomic sewing aids and some good information!

Donna

Here is a link that might be useful: Ergonomic Advantage

Yoga! If I am not faithful with my yoga, EVERYTHING hurts. Got to keep those muscles strong which support the spine and neck.

Marti in Mexico

Well Marti beat me to the answer yoga is really good for you if not grab a tylenol and heating pad.
Gillian

That's why i send my quilts out to someone with one of those quilting machines.I quilted one King size quilt on my home machine and i thought my shoulder and back would never go back to the way they were.That's when i swore off quilting them myself.JMO
Kathi

I'm thinking that the wedgies won't work right because I have an ext. table that fits around my machine. And my machine is as close to the edge as possible with the ext. table.

MaryLiz, I think I get those Trapezius headaches too. Most of my headaches are tension related & there was certainly some quilt tension going on last night! wish I had a built in tension regulator like my machine. :)

Where do you get the exercise disks? Is it like a donut?

I'll have to try some type of chair adjustment. Right now I'm using a folding chair because...that's what I have. Might need to get a cushy rolly chair eventually.

My eyesight has been changing...not good with reading...so probably need to FINALLY get some reading glasses. 8)

Taking a break is also a good idea. I tend to push thru until I'm done. I did take a few breaks & visited this forum to post my questions as I was going on...LOL! But most of ya'll go to bed before me since I'm on Pacific time.

My other problem is lighting. The extra light I have is a halogen desk lamp. It's great, but I don't want to turn it on while I'm working on this big bulky project for fear of setting it a flame! Have no where safe to put it at the moment. I could probably get DH to build a little lamp shelf when I finally get settled.