Carpal Tunnel Sucks!!!!

[dongreyface]

So I was sitting on the back porch today enjoying a mid day smoke when my carpal tunnel started acting up. And it was bad, I couldn't hold the pipe for more than what seemed to be 30 seconds in each hand before they went numb. But according to the doctors I'm not bad enough off to warrent surgery so I just have to deal with it. And it always seems to get worse this time of year. Does anybody else have to deal with this?

 

[pipeinhand]

Wife has had 3 operations and now has trigger finger. I know what you are talking about. She drops stuff all the time and then grabs her arm. That sucks man.

 

[markw4mms]

Yeah, I had it myself. The surgery took care of it, but I don't think my grip is as good as it was before.

 

[pstlpkr]

Been there brother...

Had the surgery, and 5 trigger fingers.

 

[ace57]

I have it in both hands. I had surgery on one hand and it's no better, will not do it again.

 

[nikko]

I'm only 23 and have some variant of it, all the years of being a keeper in soccer, diving and landing on my wrist mixed with snapping a football for a few years did not help. Both my wrist are constantly swollen and my hands fall asleep very easily. No fun.

 

[grouchy]

so, just how bad does it have to get? who makes that call? doctor or insurance company?

damn glad i got the VA. leaves nothing to chance.

best wishes and speedy healing.

my ex had it and surgery and physical therapy.

hang in there, you'll make it.

for what its worth, always had sorness and pain with elbows and fore arms due to surveying.

doc told me to ice it. well i did with arm almost up to arm pits with a big bag of ice with water in a cooler and believe me, it felt good. many times would watch a two hour movie before drying off. after a couple minutes you won't notice the cold. enjoy a few good movies too.

 

[matchstickman]

I dont have carpal tunnel, but I do get the worst dry hands in human history whenever it gets cold outside. All of my knuckles crack and split and start bleeding, my palms look like alligator skin, and it hurts to hold the pipe sometimes, so while I may not know about carpal tunnel, I know the feeling of shitty hands. Hope you can manage to get through it somehow. I think the whole "insurance deciding whether or not it is severe enough" is total bullshit.

 

[chopz]

as a classically trained guitarist with about 40 years of experience i can say with confidence that i'll never have a bad case of carpal tunnel syndrome. it's all a question of understanding how the body functions best. with all due respect, if that's you in the photo then having the guitar slung so low might have something to do with it.
when the elbow bends in, the wrist should not bend out; rather, both should form a graceful arc. i think you'd do better to have your headstock at eye level or close to it, as well.
when sitting at the keyboard, the wrists should ideally be closer to the ground than the elbows, and the keyboard should be low enough that the wrists can bend down slightly while having an angle something at least slightly greater than 90º at the elbow.
try this: sit without the computer or guitar in front of you, and close your eyes. put your hands where your body says they should be. feel that it's comfortable and natural, with posture erect, back of the head as if pressed up toward the sky. then open your eyes and make it a goal to make the guitar or keyboard land where your hands want it to be, not making the arms contort to where the guitar wants them.
i know everybody hates a know-it-all smartass, and i apologize.

 

[chopz]

oops double post. sorry.

 

[buster]

Try and avoid surgery if you can. I had carpel tunnel and got it under control naturally. It took a long time and some life style changes. Ice helps, wearing the wrist brace even when sleeping. I'm going to guess you suffer from acid reflux as well from time to time? If so your system is to acidic and you need to try and get it back to the alkaline side. Do some checking into diet and alkaline/acidic remedy. When I did this approach it sucked because I had to avoid all the foods I LOVED. Only for a while, you can go back to them when you get it under control.
Avoid acidic foods, tomato sauce was the big one for me. Egg plant, potatoes. Wow I am remembering how much this sucked all of a sudden!

Avoid dairy, I had a Dr. tell me this recently also because I suffer from arthritis.

Avoid alcohol, coffee, switch to green tea for a while if you need caffeine.
Ease back on eating meat. I went veggie for a while and that was against my nature let me tell you! If you can commit to it try going veggie for a month?
Take calcium, magnesium,potassium.

Eat lots of greens! Think dinner salads, spinach salads.

Look into alfalfa tablets. I took these also and I think they are very safe.
http://www.nutritional-supplements-health-guide.com/alfalfa-supplements.html
I know it sounds like crazy hippy stuff but it is worth a try to avoid going under the knife.
Hope you feel better soon.

 

[hobie1dog]

when sitting at the keyboard, the wrists should ideally be closer to the ground than the elbows, and the keyboard should be low enough that the wrists can bend down slightly while having an angle something at least slightly greater than 90º at the elbow.
try this: sit without the computer or guitar in front of you, and close your eyes. put your hands where your body says they should be. feel that it's comfortable and natural, with posture erect, back of the head as if pressed up toward the sky. then open your eyes and make it a goal to make the guitar or keyboard land where your hands want it to be, not making the arms contort to where the guitar wants them.

That's why I love the Microsoft "natural" keyboard, instead of having your hands all squeezed together in an unnatural position...a flat keyboard is not a natural hand position.

 

[maduroman]

just be thankfull it is carpal tunnel and not something else like R/A...

 

[marmal4de]

Tell me about it, just got back from the doctor, woooo cortisone shots.

 

[cortezattic]

My mother often chastised me with a warning that one day I'd go blind, IYKWIM. :lol:

I kinda knew it was just an old wives' tale, but I didn't realize I really would develop carpal tunnel syndrome. :rofl:

 

[hobie1dog]

You can always switch hands, or teach the wife how to do it for you :nana:

 

[markw4mms]

You can always switch hands, or teach the wife how to do it for you

:rofl:

 

[lordnoble]

You can always switch hands, or teach the wife how to do it for you

:rofl: :clap:
LMAO!
-JAson

 

[dongreyface]

You can always switch hands, or teach the wife how to do it for you

Now there's a thought.
Chopz, yes that is me in the picture, but that isn't how I normally hold the guitar, I was trying to make the woman laugh so it was kinda slung to my side and I dipped the headstock down. I do normally play with my wrist fairly straight. And most of the time I'm sitting down in the classical position anyway. I know it just comes from years of abuse. I was a drummer in high school, I used to type on the computer constantly, I play a decent amount of video games, and I work on cars. So there is plenty of reasons for it to happen.
And as for who decided it wasn't bad enough, that was the doctors decision, hadn't even gone to the insurance yet. Of course that was about 4 years ago, so I'm sure it's gotten worse since then. Oh well, I've dealt with it in the past, I can deal with it in the future. I'm just glad to know I'm not the only one that goes through it on here(not that I really believe me to be).