Hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder problems--you got em?
 

I sure do.

After 30 years of near-constant typing I have: numbness in both hands, particularly when it's cold; carpal tunnel syndrome; a ganglion cyst on my wrist that comes and goes, a pinched nerve in my elbow, and, most recent, and very annoying-- a trigger finger!

Nothing to do for it really--ibuprofen when needed; braces help. But still--talk about lifestyle consequences!

:(

I had a huge ganglion cyst on my wrist for several years. Then I broke my watch band and the cyst went away in a month.

My doctor told me, quite seriously, to bang a heavy book on it to make it go away. It comes and goes, really.

The trigger finger, now ---- it's my middle finger on the left hand. It "catches" -- making it not want to extend completely. Boo!

HA! I'm betting a lot of men here have these problems. :jagoff:

Right shoulder. Can't do overhead press or inclined bench press. Or scratch the back of my left shoulder.:sniff:

Well, if you women were a little more accommodating...

Left shoulder.
I WILL treat myself to a therapy cane one of these days.

This is incredible. I wonder what the connection was.

Tennis elbow on the right side. Trying out one of these.

why only men? girls do it, too. In fact, when I was 15 I had surgery for a trigger finger on my right hand. No one ever mentioned it, but looking back, I have a suspicion. Overuse injury, indeed. Very embarrassing!

thank the FSM for mechanical aids!

Could be a coincidence, but that's what happened. It was an old Speidel twist-o-flex I'd moved from watch to watch for years. I liked it because it didn't pull the hair on my wrist, and it was pretty tight so my watch didn't move while I was working. Maybe too tight. :confused:

I had a massive, painful ganglion on my left wrist when I was in 7th-8th grade--even had a doctor put me on arthritis drugs for it for awhile, but they never did a bit of good. Finally someone made the connection for me that it was from playing the viola. I made a concerted* effort to relax my arm while playing, and it went away.


*get it?!

Don't you ever sleep?

Holy moly! 30 years!

:biggrinba

I think I'm developing Kindle elbow.

My joints are too flexible and I regularly screw them up, especially my shoulders. Right noe I'm in physical therapy for my knee -I have a torn meniscus and other issues, this afternoon i get to see the knee doctor to see whether surgery is necessary.

Left shoulder has had bursitis intermittently ever since I decided that the rowing machine was a good idea. It wasn't. It turns out rowers get shoulder bursitis! Ironically, I've lifted weights on-and-off for years but never had shoulder problems (I don't do any "behind the neck" movements).

Left wrist sometimes get strained and/or sprained in a way that makes the conventional "curling" position very painful. Recently my right wrist developed this same problem. I noticed this after mowing the lawn. Things that do not hurt at all: lifting (pulling, pressing, or hammer-grip curling) very heavy weights, playing the drums (I did have wrist pain within the first six months of playing drums, after which I learned correct technique and have not had any wrist problems for YEARS). Things that instantly cause a SHARP PAIN: trying to close the overhead door on the back of my van, trying to open a window, pushing against a steering wheel with the pinky side of my hand.

Summary

Things that injure me: rowing a boat, mowing the lawn.

Things that are perfectly safe: lifting weights, playing drums.

Okay, show-off. We already made a thread about your superior brain. Quit hot-dogging!

Nice try, now get out there and mow the damn lawn. :haha:

my left shoulder has been hinky for a while. it gets better and worse. it's not bad right now..... I think it has to do with the location of my printer. i have to reach back and up a lot to load forms.

R.I.C.E.

Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.

Continue to work around little nagging injuries, avoiding movements that aggravate them.

Went to get a wrist splint to immobilize my wrist during activities like driving. Looked at many of them before I found one (an Ace) that had a splint on BOTH SIDES and not just the "carpal tunnel" position.

I have problems with both of my wrists before I even started typing as much as I do. It is getting worse, but I just take it in stride. My legs are even worse (hips, knees, ankles) because of being double jointed and never tightening up the ligaments. I figure when my arms mess up, it is just my body trying to even itself out.

I have a "small tear of the radial insertion of the triangular fibrocartilage complex" that is, some of the connective tissue that connects the forearm bones to the wrist bones. This is from an MRI report. Haven't been back to the Ortho doctor to discuss. Might require surgery, possibly just immobilization and steroids (from what I am reading). Also need x-rays to evaluate for "ulnar variance" that is, the two bones of the forearm are not the ideal length in relation to each other.

Have you called to get the orders for the X-Ray yet?

I've tried. Never could get someone to answer the phone. Also, radiology had already called them before for this. I expected they would've already been here, but they weren't. I will have to keep trying to get them to answer the phone, and then probably argue with a series of people to convince them that the doctor did, in fact, want plain films to evaluate ulnar variance, as we had discussed this at the time.

Make sure you aren't trying during lunch... I'm sure you know that. You might also try leaving a message...

Don't you guys live near each other?

HLJ is the best

ever.

Arthritis. Knees, hips, hands, jaw, and neck.

And today I'm constipated, too.

Razzy, you're not supposed to tell everybody!

But thanks.

I can't seem to get the inflammation out of my pointer knuckle er... *google* 2nd metacarpal of my dominant hand. I think it is fencing and concrete work.

Right now, this is the quote below the tip mug:

Suppose he's masturbating! I'm liable to wind up on the ceiling!
- Woody Allen, _Everything you Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask_

Very near... like share the same bed... but he has been working late... and was still at work during this discussion yesterday.... I was hopping he'd put it in his reminders for in the morning... it does no good to tell him once he gets home...

both my elbows are sore as hell all the time now. Makes lifting things pretty painful.

:(

The left side of my arm was sore for a little bit after doing skull crushers. That numb type of sore. Nothing ongoing.

my right arm tennis elbow (or whatever it is) is so goddamn sore all the time! Very painful. Seems to be worse in the morning.

Since I'm sure constant clicky-clicky doesn't help, I am attempting to cut down on my 'Net reading (and going back to books); applying ice, taking ibuprofin. I also bought a transdermal cream and a forearm brace (recommended on Amazon) and will see if that helps.

:(

Both of my shoulders have been in serious pain for a few years. I am often grouchy because of it.

grouchy= bad. bursitis?

Mouse with your other hand and see if there is an improvement. When i had a painful elbow, though, I found it wasn't the mousing but the driving position. Do you drive with your elbows held symmetriclly? or is the right one geting a stress that the left isn't? I started making sure to rest my right elbow more while driving and the pain went. It wasn't a huge pain, though, but can't hurt to check....

Torn rotator cuffs or glenolabral injury. PT didn't help, so I am going to see a new doc.

Last year my dominant arm would drop out of its socket if I relaxed it. My rampant construction has been slowed way down.

Found this and I vote YES for each symptom:

Could it be your sleeping position? Is your arm crossed over your chest, or above your head, in a way that leaves your forearm ever-so-slightly twisted and thus pulling on the ligaments all night long?

it's possible.

foot3--that sounds really unpleasant!

wore my brace in bed last night--seems a little less sore this morning, so I'll have to keep trying that. I didn't think it would work, since those braces are for my wrists.

Will also have to buy new braces this year (I mostly wear them in the winter), since those big ugly things are about 20 years old now, and are wearing through to the metal underneath.

My right shoulder aches - I've always thought it was an impending heart attack.

oh, well. whatever. Death comes to us all.

cough! quick!

;)

OK, I have about at my journey's end with this chronic pain. It is about 3 weeks until I see my doc again about my shoulders and now hips. I am taking a hydrocodone that I have stashed away from when I chopped my fingertip off. I really hate taking painkillers but this shit is fucking distracting.

Gah, that makes it tough, and dangerous, to do anything... constantly distracted. Good thing you've got a kid that can be bribed, to do it for you.;)

I need to lose weight; and eat better. I'm sure that would help. Omega 3s, and -- a friend suggested tumeric capsules.

I bought a little brace-y thingy called Band-It for the elbow pain. It works by compression, but not tight--did seem to help, as well as arnica cream. The elbow pain is better (though not gone).

Chronic pain sucks. hope yours gets better!

Going to the ortho next Thursday for the shoulder pain I've had since shovelling snow last winter.

MRI showed buritis, arthritis, tendon damage, and a cyst in my right shoulder. Now we play the "do physical therapy, and if that doesn't work we'll talk about surgery" game.

I'd be fine if it wasn't for Perry Winkle ;)

Finally got to the ortho doc. He took some films of the shoulders and noted slight degeneration in the scapula and acromion in one shoulder. Did some motion tests. Then gave me a shot of steroid and anesthetic. IT was fucking awesome. The first time I've been pain free in years! I was giddy, I could move my arm, I laughed I cried, it was better than CATS!

Now it's fistfuls of Ibuprofin for three weeks until I go again and we'll see if once the inflammation has gone down if it improves or we do MRI.

Even though the pain has returned somewhat, I am still stoked.

Good news, foots. Pain free is wonderful, as I remember.

IT's been nearly 20 hours and the shoulder still feels good. IT still makes a hell of a racket when I move it, but I can move it. Fucking steroids rule. Don't listen to that crap from Floyd Landis.

But aren't steroids a pay me now, or pay me more later deal?

Don't rain on my parade. I think you are confusing steroids and replacing timing belts on interference motors.

Oh right, I'm sorry... I was thinking of transmission fluid.