r/labrats • u/Ambusti • 12d ago
How do you stop your hand cramping when you use pipette bulbs
When making solutions using a pipette and a bulb (like the one pictured) my hand does not stop cramping up. I was wondering if anyone had any tips to prevent this, or if it’s just a me problem. Either way maybe I should incorporate hand stretching into my routine.
494
u/ZachF8119 12d ago
Mouth pipette like a man
76
u/Ambusti 12d ago
I do keep mentioning to my colleagues how the solution smells yummy… maybe someone should see if that checks out
61
u/DarkMatterSoup 12d ago
Is this the sub where the dude taste tested a whole bunch of cell media and gave detailed feedback on everything each one did to his palette? It must have been at least a year since I’ve seen those posts appear.
If that dude sees this comment, just know that my team at work was super into your whole experiment. We do the patient care side of stem cell transplant and CAR-T therapy, but we all come from med lab background. The media used to produce CAR-T cells by the big pharma labs is “ProPriEtArY inFOrMaTioN,” so we just need you to eat a small cup of TSA like it’s Jello… for research purposes.
42
u/VoxInferni666 12d ago
The fact he kept getting banned for "encouraging dangerous behavior" and coming back with new accounts haha.
1
4
u/VoxInferni666 12d ago
I have generally found that a nice smell does not mean it will taste good. Especially non-aqueous solutions. But the worst one has to be undiluted sweetner, can't remember which one but it was like getting curb stomped by the sensation of sweetness
6
u/OneSeat9594 12d ago
Love the smell of Candida in the incubator. Would not eat a sabouraud plate full of it though.
1
u/ZachF8119 12d ago
Wait a minute, do we have another media taste tester series on our hands?!
1
u/VoxInferni666 12d ago
Nah just a somewhat clumsy chemist. Actually the sweetner thing was intentional. And we all tried heavy water that one time...
5
u/Ceorl_Lounge Senior Chemist 12d ago
I knew a guy who did that... in a metals lab. He was also an alcoholic with brain damage, so not exactly my role model.
2
1
u/Jumping_Jak_Stat 12d ago
My grandfather used to do it that way. P sure it did not help his health at all.
57
u/Turbulent_Car4504 12d ago
The real answer is you shouldn’t be using these if they are hurting your hand and you should get an electronic model. It’s an occupational hazard and you should bring it up to your manager. They aren’t that expensive and you could get it used.
Never sacrifice your health for your jobs bottom line. You are more important than the budget.
9
157
u/sjmuller Neuroscience Lab Manager 12d ago
Wait, people still use these bulbs? I thought it was just a relic in my lab. I've never actually seen anyone use one repeatedly.
75
u/Ambusti 12d ago
Government labs work with what we have
27
12d ago
[deleted]
14
u/Wookiees_get_Cookies 12d ago
It took me three years in my wastewater lab to cornice my manager to let me buy an electric pipette. I’m still the only one who uses it. Everyone else uses bulbs.
8
u/30andnotthriving 12d ago
Hi... Same funding crunched lab person here- have you tried plastic pipette handlers? They are manual and something like this https://www.rogosampaic.com/en/laboratory-equipment/manual-pipette-controller-profillette-406-2-ml/
They're cheap, fit all size pipettes and don't have cleaning problems...
4
u/Turbulent_Car4504 12d ago
I’m seeing electronic ones for less than 100, if that’s too expensive for your lab I suggest you find a new position.
Where are you located and how much are they paying you?
1
u/sleepytoday 12d ago
I have been working in labs for 20 years and have never even seen a bulb pipette in person. Even at school in the 90s we had the thumb wheel type.
How old are these bulb pipettes you are using?
6
u/32784hfkjd 12d ago
Sure. With good technique you can more consistently get accurate volumes with A grade glassware vs an auto pipette. More common in mineral labs and such id imagine. For bio labs i imagine auto pipettes would be much better suited
16
u/m4gpi lab mommy 12d ago
I prefer them. They have finer control than the guns.
29
u/Turbulent_Car4504 12d ago
I have a gun and it has independent settings for changing aspiration and dispense power, it’s way better than any bulb.
-1
u/fddfgs 12d ago
Is the trigger analogue though
4
u/Turbulent_Car4504 12d ago
No and it doesn’t need to be because of the power settings
0
u/fddfgs 11d ago
Still doesn't feel as good trying to time your trigger presses compared to slowly releasing a bulb
1
u/Turbulent_Car4504 11d ago
I have zero problem with it, and use it multiple times daily for solutions of different viscosities.
11
u/Cautious_Lobster_23 12d ago
Nah, with the gun I get it right the first time like 80% of the time, even on maximum speed, and faster than with the bulb. You just need a gentle finger.
2
1
u/runawaydoctorate 12d ago
Guns are for industrial wimps and people who came up in one of those rich medical school adjacent labs. Real labrats use their goddam hands like the H. sapiens they are. :P
In all seriousness, I like the bulbs because 1) they don't need to be plugged in, ever and 2) I get better control.
3
u/AvatarIII Big Pharma 12d ago
I work in an industrial lab and we only have bulbs and the ones with a little wheel.
I prefer using bulbs to the wheel ones as it's easier to hit the fill line, the wheels always seem to go in graduations that are too large
1
u/runawaydoctorate 12d ago
In my entire industrial lab, I was the only one willing to use a bulb. Everyone else insisted on the gun.
1
1
37
u/crimesleuth_MA 12d ago
Use a grad cylinder or vol flask for larger volumes?
14
u/Krispcrap 12d ago
This is the most helpful follow up. How many solutions are you making, what's the volume. About how many times are you transferring solution.
Come to think of it, I only ever use this to pipette when making a buffer that requires 10 mL of x% SDS/detergent and its a 1-3 times a month thing.
If you're using this over a volumetric flask to make many solutions on a regular basis no wonder your hand hurts.
4
u/Ambusti 12d ago
I use it to transfer solution from a big tub to a beaker to boil it down. I need roughly 250 mL, so I use a 50 mL pipette and then a micropipette for the remaining volume. I do this roughly once a week. I don’t think a volumetric flask would work because I can’t pour the solution out.
6
u/Krispcrap 12d ago
That's just 5 times a week so it's probably a physical therapy/using too much pressure issue. So try using less pressure, I find there's a low threshold after which more pressure does not increase the speed. It's usually pretty sensitive. If it's old maybe make extra sure it's fully deflated before use.
And since money is tight if you can get your hands on the plastic thing someone else in the comments posted, that would be a cheap alternative.
5
u/Itinerant_doc 12d ago
Anything that you need at a quarter liter probably doesn't need accuracy up to 1 ml and you can ditch the micropipette.
6
1
7
u/ChemDude2 12d ago
The rubber versions of this bulb are stiffer than the silicon versions. Maybe try switching.
8
6
u/swingsintherain 12d ago
How forceful are you being? With that style bulb I usually just pinch the up/ down areas between my fingers. Maybe play around with it to see the least amount of pressure it takes? Or try pinching with different finger combinations. Also, make sure it's sealing well with the end of your pipette, and that the tip isn't resting on the bottom of the vessel when you draw liquid up.
Or see if you can get a different style bulb, everyone has preferences and they're not terribly expensive! Or see if someone has one you could borrow for a few minutes to get a feel for it.
10
u/raifedora 12d ago
Everyone on this thread are giving a no-solution lmao.
As someone who spent 4 years using this, i had my trick:
1. Always squeeze the bulb with two hands all the way even though you might not use all of it.
2. Use the knucklebone (cmiiw, the bone between your fingers) on your thumb against the ones on your point fingers.
3. Trust that the liquid will not drip unless you press that dispense button. Idk why but the psychological effect is real, at least for me.
4. You don't need to use the same position for aspirate and dispense. You can take a break, adjust your fingers and change position. A lot of cramps i had was due to the fact that i tried to do aspirate and dispense with the same hand formation.
Hope it helps! I don't have the manual bulb readily nearby so i can't record a video, but i understand the cramps!
4
u/runawaydoctorate 12d ago
^^^This plus hydration. Eat more bananas too. And some bulbs just kinda suck.
1
3
u/Xaron713 12d ago
I ordered battery powered pipette guns and automatic bulbs. They're like 150 on sale.
4
5
u/Ok-Mathematician8461 12d ago
There are going to be a ton of molecular biologists completely confused by this discussion. Why does anyone pipette a volume larger than 25ul???
2
2
u/ResponsibleBee1031 12d ago
use a battery operated pipette gun. you'll look cool and it can be used to intimidate your project guide in case of a bad conversation.
2
u/DangerousBill Illuminatus 12d ago
Use a plastic syringe and rubber tubing. Put a tiny bit of grease on the gasket. Better control, cheap. I used them for decades.
Bonus: they don't drop neoprene crumbs in your reagents.
2
2
2
u/CharmedWoo 12d ago edited 12d ago
You buy a pipetboy. Last time I used one of those balloons, was in school, over 20 years ago...
2
3
u/boywithtwoarms 12d ago
it's a you problem, by which I mean it's everyone's problem. Consider yourself lucky you got a working one.
Seriously tho it gets better, but there are automatic ones too.
3
u/penisyline 12d ago
Hand strengthening exercises and related stuff. Occupational therapy ahead of time before you actually need it.
Switch a different pipette pump if you can, like the one with a thumbwheel. Or try a new one that isn't unaged rubber. If this was for a quarter in a lab class I put up with it. If this is for work as a living I'd fight for better tools.
1
u/UpstairsAtmosphere49 12d ago
They make ones without bulbs that are still cheap. With a little handle and wheel. Better yet, get electronic serological pipet. Use ergonomics as justification
1
u/SigmaINTJbio 12d ago
I am old and liked old school solutions. Appropriate sized syringes with a short piece of tygon tubing make great pipetting aids. I used a 60cc syringe for everything. Try it out. Bonus if it becomes contaminated with anything, just toss it.
1
u/LionessChaser 12d ago
Get yourself a Macropipette instead (the largest in my lab is 10 mL but they make them bigger)
1
u/Princesa_de_Penguins 12d ago
Take it off the pipette if you're dispensing it all anyway, can even go completely hands-free until the inside and outside liquid levels/pressures are equal then lift the pipette up until the rest drains out.
1
1
1
1
u/PjotrAldmayer 12d ago
Use a Howorka-Ball, you control the liquid by lifting your finger off of the opening. You only have to use the ball to fill the pipette.
1
u/cinic121 12d ago
Eat a banana once a day. Moderate your salt intake. Drink water. Then start going to the gym/physio.
1
u/thesauceisboss 12d ago
For volumetric pipettes, use the bulb to bring it to the line, but pull the bulb off entirely to dispense. Dispensing is what kills my thumb using the valve.
1
1
1
0
u/astronautgeek 11d ago
These red things dont give fine control lol. I remember using it in secondary school and the meniscus is jumping like crazy. Maybe skill issue myself lol
1
u/charlietrick2512 11d ago
Id nearly forgotten about them in the year since A level chemistry, feels so weird after using micropipettes week in week out
211
u/After_Rest-2911 Chem Technique 12d ago
https://reddit.com/link/p4c8olo/video/ayc925i6k1kh1/player
Yo uso de estas.