Vacuum Cleaner Allegedly Caused Carpel Tunnel Syndrome.
I needed a new vacuum cleaner that would run on battery power. I was getting really annoyed having to plug in my AC vacuum cleaner because it wasted a lot of time for these reasons:
- The AC cord was way too short for my liking. I had to take time to unplug, find the next outlet and replug.
- The AC vacuum cleaner was large and heavy which increased time using it because it had to be carried up and down stairs.
- This large vacuum cleaner failed to move quickly into different directions.
A battery powered vacuum cleaner is way faster to use for these reasons:
- You just pick it up from it’s charge station and use it.
- It is lighter weight.
- It maneuvers way easier and can be turned in new directions way more easily than the larger AC powered units. But this feature turned out to cause my carpel tunnel syndrome.
- I found that using my AC motor vacuum cleaner raised the temperature one degree in the house due to the hot exhaust from the motor. The battery powered vacuum runs cooler.
The principle disadvantage of a battery powered vacuum cleaner is it runs out of power after a while. I have dedicated the use for this device for early morning quick vacuuming jobs that I have found to occur every morning such as:
- Vacuuming the cat poop tray particles that I find have found collecting outside the cat poop bin.
- Vacuum particles on the floor in areas used by family members such as kitchen floor, passage ways, etc.
I just love my vacuum cleaner’s headlights that illuminate every dust and dirt particle on the floor. The longer you use this vacuum cleaner with the headlights, you begin to remember areas of the floors that need vacuuming every day. I have even noticed a few areas of the floor that show small dust balls that seem to grow after a few days that I fail to vacuum that particular location.
After four months of casual research, I decided upon buying a TINECO PURE ONE S15/PET. (see image to the right). This model offers you a few configurations. I just loved the option of dropping the vacuum cleaner into a floor stand. Once the unit is put into the floor stand, it will self charge the battery if plugged into an AC wall power source.
I am guessing that my carpel tunnel syndrome did not develop for at least three or four months of using this vacuum cleaner. I attribute this injury to the following features of using this type vacuum cleaner:
- The main vacuum components such as motor, battery, control head, and the container for the items sucked up you are holding in one of your hands. The floor ac vacuum cleaner has all the heavy components rolling on the floor. So with this new type vacuum cleaner, you are holding most of the machine weight in your hand.
- This type of vacuum cleaner gives the user a way better and easier ability to turn the floor suction part. It is my opinion that twisting one’s wrist back and forth really is a significant factor for creating carpel tunnel syndrome.
I have Kaiser Medical and I am currently being treated for this injury.
Now that I believe that my new vacuum cleaner has caused my carpel tunnel syndrome, I still am using the unit but with my left hand. This probably sounds rather stupid but, I just love this Tineco vacuum cleaner.
NOTE. There are a few battery operated vacuum cleaners that work similar. Here is a partial list:
- Dyson
- Shark
- Moosoo
Supporting evidence:
- The Movement Profile of Habitual Vacuuming as a Cyclic Movement—A Pilot Study
- crutch-like lofstrand vacuum cleaner designed to reduce wrist injuries
Negative points to consider using this vacuum cleaner:
We have two cats and a large cat poop tray which is their bathroom. The tray is filled with a white colored small sand like particles that we have to use a special tool to scoop out the cat poop at least once a day. The cats walk into the poop tray to do their stuff and thus their fir coats pick up some of the white sand. The cats step out of the tray and this results in some of this white sand being deposited on our floor. There is not a lot of white sand. It is just scattered here and there. This vacuum cleaner can properly pick up this sand. The vacuum suction is not powerful enough, it seems, to deposit the sand into the main storage container. The sand just sits within the head of the cleaner. If I lift the vacuum cleaner head off the floor or hit the head of the cleaner on some object, the sand spills out on the floor. Summary: This vacuum cleaner is good for vacuuming rugs and fabric furniture. It is unacceptable cleaning floors with any small particles.
Posted: 7-29-2023
Updated 7-14-2024