Hey! O&M here. I highly recommend that you receive proper training when you’re able. I know this quarantine is not making things easy.

My recommendations over the internet without knowing much about you is that you should review the proper grip of the cane. You want your hand near your bellybutton height and about 12 inches away from your body.

Leaving your cane on the ground is a technique that we call constant contact. Maybe google that and see if you can pick up any pointers.

Very possible a rolling tip may be more useful but you should receive some feedback from your current tip.

Feel free to switch hands when you’re using your cane.

Also, you want to be moving the cane with your wrist (like you’re wiping salt off of a table/ wrist flexion and extension). Most newbies try to swing their cane with their whole arm. You want your elbow at your side. I have my students hold a small book between their elbow and their body when starting out to get used to keeping their elbow at their side.

As for the branches I recommend looking Into the upper protective technique (another google search!) and maybe wearing a hat with a brim.

Obviously I’m just a redditor so take the above advice as what it is, a guy on the internet telling you what to do, but hopefully some of this helps. Good luck out there!

Numb hand can be due to gripping it incorrectly or too tightly. The same as people who grip too tightly on bicycle handlebars get a numb hand also. Having proper mobility training is best as you may pick up bad habits that are hard to unlearn.

Any chance somewhere near you does mobility or training with a white cane?

I recall when my mom used one, she was taught various different things with it to help her in circumstances that I wouldn’t have thought of.

Lots of good suggestions but you should know, there is a limit to how long you can do it for before it starts to cramp you up and that is normal. You can extend that limit by exercising and practising but there will always be a limit. I can physically walk for a lot longer than I can cane travel, my hand gets tired before my legs do, and I have been a cane traveller for a long time.

Don't use your wrist, use your fingers. Palm at 45 degrees or closer to the vertical, then you can swing by just tightening your fingers. I bet other people have mentioned it but if you use your wrist you end up with your whole forearm getting sore, whereas if you use your fingers to move it then only part of your forearm will get sore. Eventually your muscles will improve. Also keep your elbow close to your body so you don't have to support the whole weight of the thing on your arm at an awkward angle.

Finally get a carbon cane. They are light which will extend the amount of time you can keep doing it. I don't like rolling tips precisely because they are heavier than pencil tips. Lightness is everything. I once handled a cane that had the coloured wrap on it and I could tell it was heavier than the one without, and that's a bit of sticky backed plastic stuff. Half an ounce counts.

I was taught to keep my wrist up rather than down, like shaking hands, and that definitely helped. I generally use two point touch with the rigid UFO tip NFB cane. I only raise it maybe 4 inches off the ground at the top of the arc, and that's considering the width of the arc and the speed that I tap at. Any higher and its annoying.

Constant contact will absolutely give you a numb hand/arm from the vibrations, but a proper cane with a more rolling-oriented tip, ie roller ball or marshmallow, will work better for not shaking your arm off.

Even with those, I do tap and drag, like 2 point tap but I tap left, drag right, then tap left. Or vice versa, obviously.

Definitely get in contact with your local state agency for the blind and see what they can do for you. Even if it's just instruction by webcam and them mailing you a better cane or something, that's better than nothing.