Any advice on treating carpal tunnel syndrome?

[kyogres]

I've started to become addicted to Fire Emblem 6. I use it as my reward for doing productive things. It's amazing how much I've accomplished since I started using FE6 as an incentive. In the past I've tried motivating myself through internal pep talks ("you should do ____ because think of the long term benefits"), logic ("I know it's overwhelming,

Comments

[hooves]

I have chronic tendinitis and arthritis in both arms. if you have a lot of actual PAIN you might have tendinitis and not carpal tunnel. CTS is almost entirely NUMBNESS not pain.

Either way I wear the carpal tunnel braces at night when I sleep. It takes getting used to but it DOES help.

[kyogres]

Oh, I just assumed it was CTS since my dad said he used to have CTS and he always described it as pain. I guess it's possible that he was misdiagnosed or something.

But yes, it's always actual pain, not numbness. It feels like a shooting pain on the inside of my wrists. If it was numbness, I wouldn't really care.

Thanks for the advice. Is the brace something I should use while I'm doing activities that can cause pain (like playing FE/typing) or do I only need to wear it at night?

[hooves]

Yeah, I thought I had CTS from doing factory work because I just thought wrist pain = CTS. But nope, tendinitis.

I wear my braces only at night b/c they can restrict movement so much on your wrists that it'll hurt more to try and force them to move while in the braces. At night is best cause it'll help blood flow while you sleep, ESPECIALLY if you curl your wrists up when you sleep.

And yeah I get shooting/burning in my wrists/hands/up into my elbows.

[kyogres]

Something like this is what you're referring to on the brace, right?

Come to think of it, I believe I do curl my wrists when I sleep. I tend to curl up in a ball because it's the only comfortable position.

Yes, that's exactly what mine feels like! Though it doesn't always go up to my elbows.

[raphiael]

I don't have CTS, but I do have bad circulation in my hands due to illness funtimes that causes really bad pain. I've been doing these exercises every morning, and they help a lot.

It helps also to stop and shake out your wrists, or use a wrist brace, at least for me. But again I'm not sure how different my pain is to carpal tunnel, so sorry if it's not helpful.

[kyogres]

Thanks for the link!

Do you use the brace only while you're doing activities that cause pain, or do you wear it at other times too?

[raphiael]

Only when it hurts, or if I notice weakness/lower mobility in my hands. Sometimes that's all day, sometimes I have stretches where it's not at all.

[hooves]

General weakness can be tendinitis as well. I've lost almost all strength in my arms over the last 5 or so years. :/

[yaoi_queen]

My CTS got so bad, I had to have surgery to cut the main nerve going into my right hand. :/ There is nothing that cures CTS, sadly, but there are ways to relieve it. Making sure your wrists and fingers are properly exercised and limber, for one. The surgery did help a lot, though I still have moments of pain/numbness on the top of my hand, between the ligaments and bones. It's also hard for me to grip something for an extended period of time before the pain becomes unbearable.

Unfortunately, it's something we have to live with. :/ It's simply a matter of taking care of yourself to minimize flare-ups. I got mine from work, but I hear a ton of people get CTS from playing video games and typing. It's repetitive hand/finger movements that cause it.

Good luck. When you feel a flare-up, stop whatever is causing it right away. Rest your hand and take some pain meds. Ice/hot packs may also help with the pain.

[kyogres]

My hands never go numb. I just get pain. I'm beginning to wonder if this is CTS after all or something else.

Someone else linked me to some hand exercises, which I'm going to try.

The weird thing with mine is that console or handheld video games normally don't bother me, unless I play for hours on end. PC games make the pain flare up really fast though.

Tbh, I'm hesitant to take pain meds. Aside from the fact that I don't like using meds to treat symptoms, it seems counter-intuitive to take pain meds when the flare ups happen. How will I know when the flare is over if the meds are blocking the pain?

[yaoi_queen]

It's better to relieve most of the pain than have to deal with it. My pain was so bad, my doctor injected cortisone into my wrist. Flare ups will happen whether you're on meds or not, so I say to live with as little pain as possible. I live with bad pain every single day with little to no relief. There's nothing I can really do about it, except take pain meds and herbal supplements when it gets bad. Have a doctor look at you, though. They'll know what the best course of action is.

[kyogres]

Ouch, that sucks that you have pain every day. Thankfully mine is intermittent. Some weeks will be bad, and some weeks won't.

I still don't think pain meds are a good solution for me, however. Especially since I already take them for 2-3 days a month when I have cramps, which is something I should not be doing.

I have a really low pain tolerance. I'm worried that I'll become dependent on pain meds if I take them for heartburn and cramps and CTS and every little thing.

[pheonixxfoxx]

I'm not 100% certain if I have carpal tunnel. Though, I do get pain and numbness in my right hand a lot. My primary doctor told me to sleep with a wrist brace on at night. Not one of the super cheap ones either. The one I have has a metal support built in and it does help me some.

Using ice on your wrist can help too, or so I have heard. I just found this article about using ice and heat therapy for carpal tunnel:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2088362_use-ice-heat-carpal-tunnel.html

In recent years, I have started to get pain in my right elbow too. The pain shots between my elbow and wrist. I'm not sure what the deal is there?! When I see my primary care doctor later this year, I will bring it up to him.

[antoj]

for the elbow/wrist thing, that sounds similar to what I deal with. mine is from ulnar nerve damage (the nerve that runs along the underside of your elbow) and it happened when i smashed my elbow ridiculously hard in my car like 2-3 years ago.

I'd still recommend bringing it up to a doctor if it doesn't go away, but i just thought i'd mention it. :b

[pheonixxfoxx]

I have often wondered if I have nerve damage? The pain has been going on for at least a year now, if not longer. The doctor knows about my wrist pain, but not the elbow. Thanks for mentioning it though...;)

[kyogres]

Thank you!

I have used ice therapy to successfully treat back pain, though I hated every second of it because I am always cold. XD

[antoj]

I don't have many real tips, other than try to pay attention to how you're sleeping at night.

I don't have CTS, but I have nerve damage in my other arm that causes my hand to go numb a lot, and it flairs up if I accidentally sleep on that arm or lift heavy things. :\

Other than that, since youre playing on a computer emulator (I'm assuming?) have you considered investing in a game controller for the computer? Most emulators let you program custom keys and are joypad compatible. If holding a controller helps, I'd look into that, personally.

[kyogres]

Yeah, I was not aware that how I slept would affect this. When I do sleep on my arm, it always hurts when I wake up.

That's an idea. I hadn't thought of that. I believe it is joystick compatible. I'm not sure what kind of controllers are out there.... but since it's a GBA game, I'm guessing an SNES controller would work.

[antoj]

Any controller would work as long as you can plug it into your computer! In fact, I believe you could probably make your PS3 controller work on your computer if you plug it in with the USB cord.

Even if its a GBA game you'd just end up programming less buttons.

[kyogres]

Yeah, I was just thinking of a controller that would have similar buttons to a GBA, since that's what I'm used to.

Connecting the PS3 controller is a great idea! I just hope I can find the USB cord...