Carpal Tunnel?

[INDYFIGHTER]

I'm 32 years old and for the last three years I've worked about 60 hours a week, six days a week. I also work out as often as I can. The last few years I've noticed my elbow was sore sometimes after a lot of activity but I ignored it. Starting this summer it started to hurt after only riding my bike for a few hours. I think I fractured my hand hitting someone over a year ago and may have reinjured the same hand a few weeks ago.

Saturday though I woke up and thought my hand was asleep. I threw it over the side of the bed to let the blood drain back into my hand. Later when i got up I soon realized I had a much more serious problem. I had no control over my thumb or index finger on my right hand and the tingleing feeling wasn't going away. I didn't have the strenght to grip the zipper on my pants to zip them up. I couldn't pick up a full bottle of beer without almost dropping it that night at work at the bar. Sunday it was no better and Monday morning it still wasn't better so I left work and went to the hospital prompt care. They said I probably had Carpal Tunnel, put me in a wrist splint and gave me perscription for a anti-inflamitory pill to take twice a day. They said to try not to use it for a week and if it contiued I'd need to see a specialist.

I've got an apointment with a sports medicine center next week but I was wondering if anyone else had delt with this and had any advise.

 

[INDYFIGHTER]

Well I must say this is the most demoralizing injury I've ever suffered. My hand has always fallen asleep in the night but I always attributed it to pore cerculation and thought it was normal. Saturday I woke up and couldn't right or type, which is my bread and butter. I struggle to do the most simplist tasks like tieing my shoes and zipping my pants. I'm scared to death I'll never regain control over my right hand at all.
I have a appointment with a specialist tomorrow and I'm looking forward to learning more.

If you think you could be at risk of carpal tunnel all I can say is don't let it go unchecked.

 

[Ceicei]

I've had friends who got CT. Splints and painkillers didn't really help. They recovered after they had surgery on their wrists to release the pressure on the CT. The recovery time, however, was hell, but once they recovered, they're able to use their hands and flex their wrists better than before.

Check with your specialist first for possible options. Good luck.

- Ceicei

 

[INDYFIGHTER]

Thank you! I'm going to a sports medicine clinic today. You're the first person who's said the surgery works. I'm hoping I feel a lot better about this this afternoon. Worst part is I'm supposed to be taking my motorcycle on a 3k mile, ten day ride.

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

Carpal tunnel can sometimes be treated well with massage.
I was taught a massage for it and a stretch for it.
the Median nerve could be the cause of your Carpal tunnel.
IMO I would first try massage and physical theraphy before sugery.
I have worked with people who had Carpal tunnel and we do alot of wrist and finger exercises as well as massaging the area with good results.
good luck and good health.

 

[phlaw]

I had the most painful CT experience a few years back and my chiropracter took care of it with one treatment. It has not bothered me sense...

 

[INDYFIGHTER]

I had the most painful CT experience a few years back and my chiropracter took care of it with one treatment. It has not bothered me sense...

I don't have any pain, just numbness and it's like I just don't have any control over my index finger and thumb. I haven't been able to bend my thumb at the joint even a little for over a week. I can bend it with help from the other hand and there's no pain it just won't bend on it's own. I'm going Monday for a EMG nerve test on my right arm. The anti-inflamitory pills I've taken the last ten days are almost gone and there's been no change at all.

 

[Ceicei]

Sorry there's been no improvement. Hope the EMG test may bring out some helpful results. Check on all other possible options first before surgery though. What you're describing isn't very good--it does sound like classical CT that my friends had... I hope things work out better for you really soon.

- Ceicei

 

[tshadowchaser]

The numbness sounds to me like there is a pinched nerve some where. It may be part of the carpal tunnel it may not. I think your doctor should most likely do another exam with the emphises on nerve damage rather than other thingsd.
Not being able to hold a bottle and not haveing feeling in the hand indicates way more than simple carpal tunnel

 

[INDYFIGHTER]

The numbness sounds to me like there is a pinched nerve some where. It may be part of the carpal tunnel it may not. I think your doctor should most likely do another exam with the emphises on nerve damage rather than other thingsd.
Not being able to hold a bottle and not haveing feeling in the hand indicates way more than simple carpal tunnel

I got that feeling from my doctor as well. Supposed to get nerve test done on the entire arm and then go back to see him. He asked about shoulder and neck pain alot.

 

[jim777]

How is this going for you? I've had hand pain for a while now myself, and can now no longer even hold a pen. I was thinking of getting one of those bowling gloves that hold your wrist straight and just wearing it to bed at night (I always wake up with my wrists all bent as far as they can go). But I can't ride my motorcycle without intense pain and my guitars are gathering dust...it's a concern!

I hope you've seen some improvement!

jim

 

[Bumblebee]

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a Cumulative Trauma Disorder, which means that it's an injury that happens over time. The most common cases of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is when you type. If you don't take breaks every few hours, you're very prone to getting it and it's extremely painful. I remember I couldn't even buckle my seatbelt with the wrist I got it in. Where I work, safety's a big issue especially things such as ergonomics, we bring in experts to make sure that everything is as safe and comfortable as possible. A few things I remembered was to take these frequent breaks, they don't have to be 15 minute breaks or even 5. I spend 2 at the most and I haven't had any problems. Shake your joints out, stretch them. If you feel numbness or any discomfort at all while peforming any tasks, that would be a red flag telling you to take a break on what you're doing. If you have the mentality, "Oh, I don't have time to take a break." Think about what if you get injured, will you have time then?" Be smart, don't get injured if you can avoid it.

 

[setboy]

Get a book called "Body Reflexology: Healing at Your Fingertips"

Find a good massage therapist. One with Cranial-Sacral Therapy should really help.
massaging my shoulders and neck really helped me (you need to get all around the shoulder blade)
Working on your posture will help too.

The Reflexology book has some really good stuff in it.


If you want more info, let me know


Raphael

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

Setboy can you please explain how Cranial sacral helps Carpal tunnel?
Is it the "Still points" from what I have experience both watching and having it done by someone who studied with the founder of Cranial sacral
I could not find any improvement or anything related to the Medial nerve or anything working towards the wrist. However working on the Medial nerve and other similar wrist massages and stretches I have found to work well for Carpal tunnel and so have other's.
I am still unsure about the info about shoulders and neck related to Carpal tunnel since the word Carpal tunnel refers to Carpal bones of the wrist.

-sources Massage theraphist guide to pathology and clinical work in massage

 

[baron]

Re:Carpal Tunnel
years ago when i had those symptons i used massage, stretching exercises for the wrist, shoulder, and arm and also had accupuntcure done. used to go about three times a week and it really helped, but one day the doctor hit a nerve while inserting the needle and that was very painful, also my last visit. but i still keep up the massage and stretching and everything became better. now because of my accident and using crutches i damaged the nerves. now my baby finger and the one next to it is always numb. used to have constant pain in the shoulder, elbow, and wrist but numbness and burning feeling in my hand. i have known people who had surgery and they were better for a while, but they continued their bad habits of repetive motion as in typing and not taking breaks as Bumblebee pointed out in her post. good luck

 

[jim777]

Well, I got a bowling glove and it does help a bit, but not tons. I've put my guitars back in their cases (all 11) and resigned myself to giving up the motorcycles for the rest of the year (and I hate riding the bus). But, I type all day and my commute is 100 miles each way, so I can't lean on my wrists for 90 minutes and then type all day and expect improvement. We'll see how it goes I guess.

I'd like to know how Indyfighter is getting along, though.

jim

 

[setboy]

I will try and put this into words that make sense

From what I undertsand Cranial sacral works with our neck and spine. All of our nerves come out of our spine and shoot down into the hands.
If your head and neck are not where they should be, it can do things like "Carpal tunnel", "Cupital Tunnel" and "weakness in the hand" (posture plays a big part into getting it in the first place)
The nerves coming out of your neck can get "stuck" any where from your neck, to your shoulders, to your elbow, to your wrist.
I don't know if the shoulder and neck stuff worked for me because of some kind of "trigger points" or what. What I do know is I'm not the only one who has had this work for them.


And if you have something like this, it's not going to hurt to try.

Raphael

Setboy can you please explain how Cranial sacral helps Carpal tunnel?
Is it the "Still points" from what I have experience both watching and having it done by someone who studied with the founder of Cranial sacral
I could not find any improvement or anything related to the Medial nerve or anything working towards the wrist. However working on the Medial nerve and other similar wrist massages and stretches I have found to work well for Carpal tunnel and so have other's.
I am still unsure about the info about shoulders and neck related to Carpal tunnel since the word Carpal tunnel refers to Carpal bones of the wrist.

-sources Massage theraphist guide to pathology and clinical work in massage

 

[INDYFIGHTER]

I'd like to know how Indyfighter is getting along, though.

jim

I'm doing much better. My elbow still gets sore like it did before but slowly over the coarse of 7 or 8 weeks my hand came back 100%. I'm debating on weather I should go back to the doctor at all. I quit because when it came back I was really busy trying to get caught up at work and couldn't afford to miss anymore days. But now things have slowed and I'm afraid if I don't get it figured out now it might come back again. Plus I'm close to meeting my deductable so I think I should go before the years over.

If you had told me when this happened that it would go away over two months and I'd be fine I wouldn't have believed you. I really believed I had some nerve damage that was going to require surgery or something. It just slowly loosened up and the feeling came back and with some work, stretching, gripping, etc, it came back on it's own.

 

[jim777]

Actually, I'm doing much better myself as well. I wear that bowling glove when I sleep, and when I'm on the bus, and almost all my pain is gone from my wrist. I even have a guitar or two out of their cases and can play the piano for a while as well. It's quite a relief; I couldn't even hold a pen for a while there! It's not 100%, but close enough to have removed all my panic.

 

[kaizasosei]

basicaly, i think you should get that checked out. i wouldn't exclude the possibility of some sort of toxin entering your system.
maybe nutritional. like the effects of taking too much iron in the form of supplements. after all, you said that your arm first felt like it fell asleep. that means that the circulatory system might well be involved.
in the extreme case, one may even lose conciousness or have a collapse of bloodcirculation. similar poisoning can occur from alchohol or more likely when alchohol is mixed with other chemicals. it seems to me that one is more prone to suffering these bad effects when relaxing or entering the sleeping state. if indeed some of this is the case to any degree, then i would try find a way of sweating the toxins out or neutralizing them with healthy substances/flushing them out.

- like mentioned, extreme stress may cause such symptoms as well.




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