Wood Working,Metal Working, ETC and Climbing - hand pain?

I'm sure there are others here with related or similar/unrelated hobbies or professions, that suffer from issues with the hands (especially when getting older.)

I'm finding that the tedious movements while hand sanding my latest project, either ergonomically or otherwise, when done in a large volume...leads to almost debilitating issues that keep me from climbing.  The pain from one keeps me from doing the other, and so on.  Gripping small rasps or rifflers is often the worst.  It comes and goes.

I do a lot of this by hand, not many power tools to use and usually they're not appropriate.  I don't want to ease up on either activity, but I know I can't continue down the same path.

Anyone here do a lot by hand?  Good tips for preventative measures or recovery tips?  I appreciate the help in advance.  I'm getting pretty discouraged as it only seems to get worse over time.

Brett , I’m a professional cabinetmaker, 65 years old and I know what you feel. I’ve been woodworking and climbing for 45 years.
Spend a whole day chopping mortises and doing intensive shop work really works your hands and forearms. Really the only thing I’ve found is to limit that type of work to a few hours at a time. Do something else for a while that requires different movement. Get an anti fatigue mat to stand on too. It helps. Sit sometimes instead of hunched over a bench. Take days off to rest. Then go climbing and don’t work for a while. Don’t try and get it all done in a day. It’s interesting that when I was in my 30’s and 40’s I had terrible elbow pain. Now that I’m older I don’t. No explanation maybe I was just working things too fast and I know I wasn’t able to do the quality of work I do now. Quality over quantity.
Pm me if you want to talk more.

I get wrist pain and numbness in my hand after a lot of woodworking. I would also get a lot of numbness in my hand when sleeping. I tried a couple of different things like using a rubber band to work on opposition muscles and that didn't help much. I finally gave in and started to wear a wrist brace while sleeping. It has made a large improvement. I have also started using the brace if I know I am going to be doing a lot of sanding or any other task that I know will agitate my wrist.

Good luck finding something that works for you.

Thank you both for the great responses, I have considered the fatigue mat for just general comfort in the shop, but worried about dust cleanup being a bigger hassle.  I'm probably over thinking it.  The wrist brace did not cross my mind, but it's funny you bring up the opposition muscles.  I often get the sharpest pains when doing something that requires me to open my hand, or apply pressure in that opening style of motion.  I've used the metolius ball with the rubber band expanding exercise, hoping to combat that or strengthen my hands in a way that would help.  Good food for thought on all of this, thanks a lot.

Don't hesitate the anti fatigue mat. You can get some good ones from Uline for a decent price. Pick it up and sweep. No problem.

I have also found that climbing and construction only mix to a limited extent. On the one hand, I find that a heavy tool belt and hucking lumber around keep me in good shape for hauling lots of gear and walking up steep hills. On the other hand, a day of intense climbing after a week of manual labor with no rest in between often leads to minor injury for me.

As for hand and arm stuff specifically, i used to do a lot of hand sawing and driving screws with a drill, and I had terrible pain in my dominant outer forearm which was a bummer for climbing. I use an impact driver now, and have less reasons to use my hand saws, so it’s gone away

I try very hard to avoid gobies as well, because any cuts or scabs on my hands immediately get torn up when I work. Hand jammies have helped immensely. 

I am a little farther out on the auto immune spectrum than average but not far enough to be clinical.  I get the issues mentioned and others mostly from swelling.  While not my first choice of management routines, I have found that cutting way down on inflammation triggers: alcohol, sugar, sitting for long periods, sleeping more than seven hours allows me more climbing and project time

totally sucks not to drink a beer at the end of the day but it’s a trade off. And it seems safer than hitting the vitamin A (Advil, Aleve ) which is what the doc suggested

on the positive side, I find my head space is better for climbing when my inflammation signs are not showing.  Wake up without stiffness in my joints, I am probably going to have less anxiety making a move above a piece. 

none of this mattered when I was younger. 

It’s a drag getting old

Great thread! I've been playing jazz guitar for 30+ years, and in the last few years have also been making speaker cabinets for electric guitars. This past winter I also decided to focus on hard (for me) bouldering as well. Combine that all with entering my 40s and having a proclivity to arthritis, and my fingers, hands, and forearms are basically always hammered and aching. Maybe if I stop posting on mp I'll get a tiny bit of a rest.

Yeah when I was young and in pain ibuprofen was a constant. It destroyed my stomach and now I‘m allergic to all NSAIDS.Don’t go that route. Rest more. And yeah I used to think I was strong from framing and it would make me better at climbing. All I was strong for was framing really. Best thing about construction is you get to see a finished project, it pays well, and you get to take time off to go climbing when the job is done. Not a bad life you just have to pace yourself.

I'm an 40 yo arborist (tree guy) started when I was 18. I play saxophone and climb too. I'm almost always in some kind of pain with hands, ankles, neck, and back. Good diet no alcohol sleep and drinking tons of water seems to help. Some days are better than others. I live by the listen to your body adage. If it hurts do something else. I stay away from NSAIDs unless the pain is super bad.
The wrist braces help for sleeping on your hands and causing numbness. Mostly because they're uncomfortable to sleep on so you consciously put your arm in a better position.