Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Wompa1

Hi Guys,

First off sorry if this is the wrong place for this. Mens Health brought me to The Gentlemens Club so I wasn't sure where to post this.

I have had wrists pains for about a year now. They seem to be getting worse. I have gone to a doctor who was very unhelpful. He said it probably is Carpal Tunnell and smirked and said I should try doing stretches. The stretches he advised and which are also online flare it up even more.

I've seen online in the cases it's caused by repeatetive strain which mine definately would be I should perform my activities in a different manner to stretch in a different way but this also causes a greater deal of pain.

If I try to give my girlfriend a shoulder rub it flares up, if I try to carry bags of grocerys by the handles it flares up. It hurts like hell most nights and pretty much every morning. Does anybody have any other suggestions or past experience of this?

kangaroo

I wear wrist splints at night.
They're like fingerless gloves with a metal bar in them to keep your wrist straight.

I went to physio with pains and they were telling me to stretch but it didn't help, just made it worse. That was before I was diagnosed with ME - controlling my ME helps other symptoms.

Physios and orthopaedic specialists (not necessarily surgeons) can have knowledge and various techniques to offer.
Lots of info on the internet of course.

I reckon you may have to have a period of rest at some stage.

cltt97

I get this on and off, but I have two underlying things going on - firstly a slight curve in the spine in the neck area and if things are a bit out, I get it quite bad, secondly - I'm hypothyroid, and this is a very common occurrence in hypothyroidism. But either way, mostly it's due to prolonged bad posture. There are two books I can recommend - Kate Montgomery - End your carpanal tunnel pain and Pete Egoscue Painfree at your PC. Both have excercises that are beneficial. You may have to get your girlfriend to do a bit of rubbing for you, especially for the Montgomery program... You could also try something like Alexander Technique. Very often the way we hold our heads put a lot of strain on the neck, which can lead to all sorts of problems including the above. Good luck, I know it's a horrible pain. You probably need to stay away from the PC for a while to let things settle down.

Wompa1

cltt97 wrote: »

I get this on and off, but I have two underlying things going on - firstly a slight curve in the spine in the neck area and if things are a bit out, I get it quite bad, secondly - I'm hypothyroid, and this is a very common occurrence in hypothyroidism. But either way, mostly it's due to prolonged bad posture. There are two books I can recommend - Kate Montgomery - End your carpanal tunnel pain and Pete Egoscue Painfree at your PC. Both have excercises that are beneficial. You may have to get your girlfriend to do a bit of rubbing for you, especially for the Montgomery program... You could also try something like Alexander Technique. Very often the way we hold our heads put a lot of strain on the neck, which can lead to all sorts of problems including the above. Good luck, I know it's a horrible pain. You probably need to stay away from the PC for a while to let things settle down.

How long do you think a while should be? I have time to take off work but it would have to be realistic for me to get it off. I was thinking of getting a back support for my chair because I'd reckon how I sit dictates where my hands are on the keyboard. So maybe it would at least change the way I'm using my hands. My girlfriend sometimes rubs up and down my arms and down my hands and pulls on my fingers. It's great when I'm in pain. So much relief.

Thanks everyone for the advise. I'll try a few things. Will look into getting the splints, will get the back support and may look into getting away from the computer for a while.