Consult a certified athletic trainer if you can. They are focused on getting your function to where you want it to be without pain. I have the incredible benefit of have an athletic training facility at my work place and they have really helped my wrist, knee and ankle issues when they came up.
I'm always amazed at what talking to a physical therapist, especially someone sports-biased, can do. The crux is it's someone who can understand how your situation and your activities relate to your issues, and knows what you need to do to loosen things, strengthen things, etc in order to put things right.
I'm also picking up some other stuff from this thread. I've been having a recent spate of doing stupid stuff to my arms in my sleep resulting in waking up numbed way more often than usual, and I had no idea how common that was.
Check out Rolfing, it is a very specific type of deep body work.
My wife has it done periodically to help the blood flow to her hands.
If you spend a lot of time at your desk, proper ergonomics are a must.
Make sure your arm angles are good to keep wrist problems at bay.
Honsch said:
I agree. Lots of people do not put enough effort into creating a comfortable and functional work environment. I still see people working from home on a laptop > 1 year into the pandemic.
That said, that graphic is awful.
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:I had same symptoms, including hands curling up at night. Carpal tunnel release surgery got me fixed right up.
+1!
Also, take turmeric, glucosamine, and I once was able to get joint relief gummies that really helped.
Stretch to try from my mtn, bike days: Put all 5 fingertips together in pairs-right index to left index, right bird to left bird, etc- and push fingers backward. Not too much force, but not lightly, either. Hold. Release. Repeat.
These also helped me cope for 20+ years, but if I could go back in time, I'd have done carpal tunnel release way earlier.
Also relevant to me, my wrist pain goes in spurts. Definitely going to consider a vertical mouse, or 3 since I hop between multiple computers for work.
I was also recommended gloves for a cheap tens unit, but I haven't tried it yet. I got a cheap tens unit which is nice for back pain, etc. Cheap Tens Unit
The gloves would be something like this, I can't remember the exact ones. (TENS UNIT GLOVES)
ProDarwin said:I agree. Lots of people do not put enough effort into creating a comfortable and functional work environment. I still see people working from home on a laptop > 1 year into the pandemic.
That said, that graphic is awful.
The numbers are terrible but the shown posture and arm angle is correct.
Although I agree on the internet advice being worth exactly what you paid for it, my experiences with modern medicine, show me that they are not wort anywhere near what you have to pay for that advice, sadly.
Now the right Physical Therapists can make all the difference in the world.
Sounds like you are thinking in the right directions to me, with a few good thoughts added here.
My wife had huge problems with her wrists, lots of weakness and pain. She had nerve conduction tests done and assumed carpal tunnel.
And then it stopped, right when she cut gluten out of her diet. Apparently she was allergic enough to cause joint problems.
Not saying it is that, but food for thought
Exact same issue. Design engineer as well, so lots of computer/hands on stuff. I don't wrench on cars nearly as much as you, but struggling with household things. My fingers are the biggest issue right now, but wrist pain is pretty common. I get wrist pain using the mouse, which you didn't mention so I doubt the ergonomic mouse will help you as much. I bought a 20$ anker ergonomic mouse that works well. After using it a year I figured maybe a normal mouse would be okay. 100$ later I bought a sweet logitech mx mouse. I can't use it.
I've been doing physio every four weeks just to keep my arms and wrists alive.
Deep massage, IMS (needles), and electro shock thingie. I can barely tie my shoes after the session, but if I miss a month, I'm generally screwed.
I can't swing a hammer much at all, and I can't dig a hole in rocky soil - the jarring crash of a spade on rocks kills me.
Also had my right arm crushed in a hydraulic press many years ago, lost 25% of the strength and feeling, and have constant tendon issues in there too. Probably doesn't help. And Familial Tremors have started. Wheeee.
Also - I find long hours at the computer/mouse kill my arms too.
Physio. Voltaren. Change what you're doing.
Honsch said:The numbers are terrible but the shown posture and arm angle is correct.
Yeah, the dimensions on it are beyond useless.
Lots of good advice here.
Also, I have noticed that wrist and joint pain can be an indicator of dehydration, at least for me. I realize the original question goes way beyond this, but dehydration can produce surprising effects, and it is easy to become dehydrated working in the garage (or running in an autocross or track day). As we age, we become more susceptible to this, from what I have read. When I have a flare-up of pain in my wrists or ankle, I make myself drink more water or "thirst quencher" like Gatorade, and often see a quick improvement.
Just noticed.
Bunch of dorks who spend way too much time online complaining about wrist issues... some dots could be connected. Just saying.
barefootskater (Shaun) said:Just noticed.
Bunch of dorks who spend way too much time online complaining about wrist issues... some dots could be connected. Just saying.
That's MegaDork to you, thank you very much.
Bringing this back from the dead, only because I'm now chasing this further with my Dr.. And because I already posted above.
Over the past two years, I've has a noticeable reduction hand strength, and a "muted" or "numbed" sense of feeling in my hands, plus ridiculous tingling in the hands on occasion.
The Dr. issued some blood tests and x-rays to rule out other contributory issues, and I'm in the queue to see a specialist.
But it's midnight here, and I've been doing Allan Block in the back yard recently, and I am in a ferocious amount of pain. 12am was elligible for my next dose of Robaxacet....
You looking at your spine too? Sounds like a possible nerve issue. How are your neck/shoulders?
I'm 3-4 months in to some arm issues that I suspect are a pretty bad case of tennis elbow. Hurts to grip and do off axis pulling force with the arm. Despite best efforts to rest and heal I keep having to strain it with parenting my kids. Especially a feisty 40lb 3 yo.
It exhibits like a tendon issue. I need to spend some more time doing physio stuff for it. I have an elbow brace I wear some, but minimal help. CBD not an option due to work substance rules.
I probably do need to pay more attention to how I sleep on it.
Any thoughts?
Since this thread was first up I have had some wrist issues as well as a bit of grip strength problems.
Turns out it's tennis elbow and a brace takes away 90 percent of the problems when they happen.
Odd, but not mentioned yet
Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:Both hands equally? Numbness? Check your neck! I have a severely messed up neck from the military and have nerve damage that goes down both arms. I have a traction machine at home that gives a lot of relief.
100%! I had issues for many years not knowing my neck was compromised. One day it broke, which I didn't know at first. The next week was the worst pain I've ever felt and it just kept ramping up. My right arm gradually became mostly paralyzed and then my left. The pain leveled off and seemed to go away. This was the nerves shutting off. After that, I saw a PA that insisted that it was nothing more than carpal tunnel. I'll skip over the details of next three infuriating and wasted months. Run-around, cortisone shots, EMT. Finally, I got to see an actual real doctor, a neurosurgeon, and he correctly diagnosed the problem on the first visit. A few weeks later, he bolted my spine back together. Spinal stenosis can cause what you're describing and is pretty common. In a case of "while we're at it", I got that fixed too.
After reading the update, I'd immediately request an MRI. It's not invasive and can show the condition of the c5, 6, and 7 vertebrae, the levels that serve the hands and arms. An X-Ray won't show compressed nerves and/or bulging discs. The longer the nerve is compromised, the more permanent the damage is. I probably got 90% of my strength back, but my arms basically constantly feel fatigued. I'm about 1 year post-op, so that's probably as good as it'll get. Seriously, have your spine evaluated by a specialist ASAP.
In reply to Antihero :
What brace are you using? Mine doesn't help as much as you describe.
I see Physio every four weeks. He says I have Tennis Elbow Golfer's Elbow, and some other kind of elbow going on, all largely from heavy impact and hammers. I've been doing physio for fifteen years now.
My Physio guy says for bilateral issues in my arms, he'd expect to see my neck a complete mess, but he's not seeing that. He was able to view the x-rays that were recently taken, and said there was nothing unusual in there.
I am meeting with my Dr. to go over the results of the x-ray on Thursday.
I would not be surprised if there are nerve issues in my neck - I had a pretty significant neck injury when I was around 9 that messed me up for y-e-a-r-s.
I've been wearing Carpal-Tunnel braces on my wrists at night for about a month, but lately they just hurt to wear.
In reply to SkinnyG :
X rays don't tend to show nerve issues, usually that takes an MRI. I've had a bunch for my lower back issues. You may also need a nerve study where they stick needles in you and take electrical readings. Those are fun. (Not really). Had that on my leg where I do have some nerve damage.
In reply to Apexcarver :
This is the one I use
I'll jump back in too.
I was referred to occupational therapy last year for my wrist issues. After some exercises, electronic treatment of some sort, and other investigations, a set of Xrays showed Dorsal intercalated segment instability (DISI) and osteoarthritis. Apparently DISI is typically caused by an acute trauma, but can also be from perpetual overuse. Basically the ligaments aren't tying things together properly anymore, leading to carpal misalignment and arthritic damage.
I threw away all the braces I tried for sleeping, and am wearing compression sleeves on both wrists basically 24/7. I still do some of the OT exercises from time to time if I notice soreness after heavy use, but the pain is mostly alleviated by the support of compression on the joints and I only rarely hit the ibuprofen bottle for my wrists anymore.
The only one-and-done solution I have been offered is fusing the carpals together, and I cannot accommodate that loss in range of motion at this point.
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