OT: tendonitis, carpal tunnel--I'm leaving you...

[Compact Diss]

On November 18th I go see a doctor to find out why my wrist kills me.

 

I know why(this site!!!), I have avoided it as long as I can.

 

My wife has tendontitis, she has gone through physical therapy, different mouses and so on...she is getting better but more than a year in the works.

 

Right now my entire right hand is numb and tingling. I know I'm screwed. It won't be long before they say "stay off the computer" I'm just worried about my job-this may hurt me in the long run.

 

My guitar playing has not been affected. I actually think it helps because I use different muscles when I play than when I am moving a mouse around. I know that the bottom line will be get off the net!...

 

It's crazy because a good friend does IT and is on the computer all the time, yet has no problems...

I don't know...

 

I'll let you know the results...

 

Anyone else hiding pain and having trouble hanging out here all the time? If it wasn't for my wife I would probably ignore this pain for a lot longer, I'm just trying to be pro-active with it-although the pain has been there for more than six months..well I'm going!

[Juan Caca]

im in the same situation... some sh%& like carpal-tunnel-sindrome..... and still here!!!

[Bejeeber]

I had some serious wrist pain that was threatening a staff composer job I had which required a lot of guitar recording. Apparently it was tendonitis, not carpal tunnel.

 

Anyway accupuncture absolutely cured it very quickly, and I was right back in the trenches meeting crazy deadlines.

 

I'd be careful about going to an M.D. for this sorta thing (actually, personally I wouldn't be caught dead going to an M.D. for this sort of thing), because M.D.s are excellent of course for critical conditions like broken arms, but are generally clueless and hopeless when it comes to chronic conditions.

 

They might even try to give you cortisone, which is a joke - an evil toxic joke. Beware of drug treatments for chronic pain.

[BiC]

Between my job and regular surfing, I'm behind a PC about 10 hours a day.

 

Yeah, I experience tingling and wrist pain from time to time. But I'm hoping once I move, my new position won't have me sitting behind a PC as much.

 

Peace

[Dave da Dude]

Being pro-active is the best course of action

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

As soon as I started having wrist pain (back in the 80s) from working at the computer, I changed my approach to the keyboard.

 

I'm still a 2 or 4 fingered typist, who can't spell for shet (see!) but I have not had any wrist pain in 14 years. Look at how the classical pianists do it.

 

It is often not the net, nor the computer or the keyboard, but the way that we hold our hands, wrists, and forearms that causes the problems. You may already be aware of all of this, sorry if I am rehashing old info. But it sure helped me a great deal.

 

I had similar problems with the guitar. Being an old style guitar slinger, my strap was down to my knees, the headstock was angled towards the floor, and my wrist was bent almost double to play. Started to have problems. Got a shorter strap, angled the headstock more towards the heavens than the earth, and the pain went away.

 

Just my experiences...

 

Bill

[A String]

I'm very careful to be ergonomically correct with my mouse and keyboard. I do however suffer terribly in my left wrist and arm. It started years ago when I began playing bass in the band I was in, (I suppose I was used to the guitar and the bass was more strain.) Now, I can't play my guitar for more then a half an hour before my hand is numb and there are shooting pains up my arm.

 

I heard of an operation where they use a stent similar to the ones used in heart patients to keep veins open. Apparently they put one around the nerves inside of the Carpal tunnel and it keeps the muscles from pressing on them. Supposed to work like a charm. Something I will possibly look into if I can every drag myself to a doctor...

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

Originally posted by A String Of Lights:

... It started years ago when I began playing bass ... Now, I can't play my guitar for more then a half an hour before my hand is numb and there are shooting pains up my arm.

 

...

Again, I suggest examining the approach.

 

Springsteens drummer had to relearn to play the drums in a less stressful fashion or give them up, for very similar reasons. Often the answer is in changing how we are doing what we do rather than letting someone cut us open and rebuild us.

 

Of course, it is 'harder' to relearn, and dump old, bad habits.

 

Bill

[A String]

Originally posted by bpark@prorec.com:

Originally posted by A String Of Lights:

... It started years ago when I began playing bass ... Now, I can't play my guitar for more then a half an hour before my hand is numb and there are shooting pains up my arm.

 

...

Again, I suggest examining the approach.

 

Springsteens drummer had to relearn to play the drums in a less stressful fashion or give them up, for very similar reasons. Often the answer is in changing how we are doing what we do rather than letting someone cut us open and rebuild us.

 

Of course, it is 'harder' to relearn, and dump old, bad habits.

 

Bill

I don't think my problem is "habit" related. Having been a guitar and bass teacher, I am very familiar with proper technique and practice what I preach. I belive my problem stems from playing so much.

 

I wasn't a part time player and from 1987 to 2001 I was playing my guitar (or bass) anywhere from five to ten hours a day (and even longer in the case of my studio days).

 

All that playing adds up. The muscles in my wrist are so strong that they feel like they are made of rock...Impress the ladies? Sure. Doesn't help much with the seering pain though.

[Billster]

Originally posted by A String Of Lights:

The muscles in my wrist are so strong that they feel like they are made of rock...

Flexibility and relaxation are big factors in this problem. If you tense up your muscles too much, it transfers stress to the tendons and nerves. I feel it more in my pick hand sometimes - the left hand NEVER feels bad.

 

As for computer use, the ergonomics are a major factor. Keep square to the monitor, and keep your forearms level. Don't hunch your shoulders! I get occasional pain, and find I'm slouching, and just concentrate on posture, and the pain goes away.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Yeah, as mentioned here by others, your sitting posture, positioning of your back, shoulders, arms, wrists, and hands can have a tremendous impact on these things, both negative and positive. Find out what you're doing wrong, and what to do right; I've been through this with jobs (sitting at a machine/workbench, etc.) as well as the computer/'net/games.

[NMcGuitar]

Being ergonmonically responsible will certainly help a lot.

When it comes to using the mouse, one of the things I do is switch hands pretty regularly, that way neither one has to get too fatigued, stressed or strained. I'm pretty sure this helps; it always seems to be when your body (or individual parts of it) is tired that you're most likely to cause it injury.

[pauldil]

This is a problem for me as well. I'm in IT, and am in front of computers all day long. I have 3 keyboards at my desk, so ergonomics are not always possible for all 3. I use a right-handed mouse, but it's my left wrist that hurts. However, I also lift weights regularly and also play raquetball (again right-handed), both of which put additional strain on my wrists. Lately, it sometimes really hurts my left hand to play guitar, especially any type of chords that require stretching. I guess on the bright side, the faces I make when playing in unbearable pain make it seem like I'm really getting into the music!

 

Paul

[Juan Caca]

i found this in microsoft site:

 

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/hcg/hcg_view.mspx

[Vortex]

For Carpel Tunnel try 100mg of a B Complex vitamins three times a day. It takes about a month to see the results, but it works for me!

I am not a doctor so use your own discretion. I did a Google search back in June this year when a couple of my fingers started going numb. The Vit B treatment seemed like the easiest and least invasive traetment. I have continued taking the Vitamin B complex and it has eliminated the finger numbness completely. I don't even think about it now.

 

Anyway, check out the Vit B as an option...

[Bbach1]

My back hurts and sometimes I have a headache, but I keep coming back.

[Bbach1]

Drat, the double post ghost.

[Compact Diss]

!!

 

I just typed out a long reply!! I hit spell check and the page closes!!

 

I read all your response, I'll take the time later to reply--

 

and what happened to the "search" bar on top of the page???

[Compact Diss]

Bejeeber accupuncture is something I would definitely look into, I believe it works.

 

I didn't make myself clear. I am going to begin physical therapy. My wife went through this, she had the cortisone shot(caused her more pain) the physical therapy is what helped her.

 

A string that sucks, you should get help!

 

Billster I understand about the ergonomics. The desk I have here is too high, I've known this for a while but I'm too cheap to want to buy a new one...but...I know it's time.

 

Dave I'll check into the Glucosomine/Chondrotin--aprrecite the kind words.

 

Thanks guys!

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

Yeah, I won't let them do cortazone on me anymore.

Screw that.

 

About the high desk... my mom had some similar discomfort. I bought her a Herman Miller Areon chair to replace the torture device that she was sitting in, and when I explained her problem to my step dad, he took the drawer out of her desk and built a replacement insert... a slide out keyboard holder. Dropped the level three or four inches and helped her out a bunch.

 

I put a keyboard drawer on my studio desk, too. Love it.

 

Iron wrists indicates, to me at least, improper technique. should not take that much force to play your instrument. (That was the same thing Max Weinberg was doing... playing a lot harder than he needed to play, and damaging himself.)

 

I have a different problem. The tendons and connective tissue is too loose in my left wrist from all the playing. I can do heavy wrist curls with my right hand, but my left.... it clicks and pops from bones sliding around (feels very awkward, too...)at under 50 pounds. Been that way for 25 years.

 

Good luck with the rehab. It's a good thing to do.

 

Bill

[mdlestat]

I don't know if you have one of these already, but I know it made a COLOSSAL difference with my hands and wrists. It takes no time to adapt from a regular keyboard, and made a big difference in the way my joints felt.

 

I LOVE THIS THING!!!!

 

And as Bill said above, your hands should never be arched up/back at all whilst typing--they should be straight along your forearm at the greatest, and curled downward ideally. (height of keyboard positioned just hi-lo enough to acheive this positioning of the wrists. Too high= no circulation, too low=hyper-extension of wrist tendons.

 

Best luck in reversing this annoying and potentially debilitating condition

[jzgtrguy]

Hey,

 

I have struggled with soft tissue issues for a long time. Often it is not tendonitis or enflamation of the tendon but tendonosis or deterioration of the tendon, in other words it is a stagnation problem caused by poor blood circulation in connective tissues. check out Active Relase Therapy. I read about it in the Berklee Alumni mag a year or two ago. here are some URL's to check out;

http://www.activerelease.com/

http://www.activereleasetechnique.com/

http://www.chiropractic-sports.com/reference/ART.htm

This technique is gaining wide spread acceptance and is even being recommended by Orthopedic surgeons. It has a very high success rate.

 

Good luck ,

 

Jeff

[howiemarsh]

I had a similar problem, I was told that the sheath around the tendon was damaged. When it repairs itself, it grip the tendon too tight, which results in the pain. I had to stop playing, I also lost my job. It took around 3 years for me to get back to gigging again. I now work 4 myself and cannot play the way i used to. Basically, I had to learn proper technique so I'm probably a better musician for it! And I like working for myself!

 

Howie

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

Hey, have you considered Drangon Naturally Speaking?

 

Bill

[Tedster]

Some carpal tunnel, but more seriously, bouts of trigger-finger. It's a condition somewhat related.

[BiC]

I awoke this morning with classic signs of CTS.

 

As I extend my right arm, I have tingling sensations in my thumb, index, and middle finger.

 

Of course, I have been online ALL weekend preparing to purchase a home. That may have aggravated it a bit. So, I may be "out of pocket" for a while. I certainly do not want to do any permanent damage.

 

Anyhow, I did come across this:

 

web page

 

God Bless