Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

[mdgom]

Just wondering if anyone has ever experienced carpal tunnel syndrome? I think I'm experiencing early signs of it and was wondering if anyone cares to describe your own experiences. What kind of signs/symptoms did you have that warned you it might be carpal tunnel? What did you do to relieve/treat it? How long before you were back to normal?

[Janey]

I had CTS in my right wrist a few years back. My fingers would be numb and tingly... mostly my middle and ring fingers, but also my pinky. I would wake up in the middle of the night with shooting pain up my arm. It was hard to write. I would drop dishes/couldn't hold onto things very well. My hand felt very weak. I would 'shake it' to get it going again. When I woke up in the morning, my hand was like a little claw... my fingers wouldn't straighten on my own. also... my hand 'squeaked.' I could feel things sort of creaking inside. It was weird.

Mine was bad enough that I had surgery to correct the problem. There are two kinds of CTS surgery, an 'open' kind and a 'closed' kind. My father had CTS in both hands (CTS is partly genetic... the tube in your hand is built a certain way, and if that way is thick enough, you could be prone to CTS) and had surgery before they developed the closed type surgery. His recovery time was much longer than mine was. If somewhere down the road you discover you require surgery, find a doctor who does the closed type. Recovery is something like 2-3 weeks depending on what kind of job you have. My scar is very minimal.

Also, I switched from a mouse to one of these (http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=011). After a period of getting used to the new unit, I like it much better than the mouse!

Good luck, mdgom! I hope that helped.

[houseblend]

I had some early signs of it as well about this time last year. I bought some roller blade wrist guards to help ensure I kept my wrists straight (especially while typing) and set my computer (a laptop) at a better position on my desk. The wrist guards helped tremendously, although it took a couple of weeks. Surgery is a great option if it becomes more serious, but since you are in the early stages, you may be able to stop or even reverse it. Good luck!

[Jazz]

I would suggest being checked by a doctor or physical therapist -- you want to look for an occupational health clinic. If you are in early stages, chances are good that you can reverse any damage.

FWIW, I never had CTS, but did develop pretty bad tendonitis from the scrolly wheel on my mouse. It was easily fixed by switching to mouse with a track ball, similar to the one MrsHill posted, and stretching. If you're googling, look for repetitive stress injury (RSI), which encompasses CTS and tendonitis, as well as other similar injuries.

[attorneymom]

Bumping this up, because I think I might be developing CTS. I've switched to an ergonomic keyboard (which has helped tremendously in the past), and I'm wearing a wrist brace. Yesterday, I iced my wrist, and that seemed to help too.

Anyone else with this issue? Any suggestions? Frankly, I'm trying to avoid going to the doctor; I'd like to do everything I can on my own first.

[diam124]

My grandmother had it years ago (from knitting) and she had the surgery. I think it completely solved the problem for her.

[bookworm]

If you don't have a wrist rest (the gel-filled kind) with your mousepad, get one--that is what makes the biggest difference for me.

[attorneymom]

diam124 my mom had the surgery too, and it helped her. I just remember that it was painful for her (although the pain of the surgery cured the pain of the CTS).

bookworm, I do have a wrist pad, although I'm not sure it's gel-filled. For a while today, I rested my wrist on an ice pack when I was using my mouse, and that felt good.

I hate to be whiny about this, but dang! It hurts!

[Yolanda]

I had CT while pregnant and it was horrible. I would wake up in the middle of the night crying in pain-it was that bad. I bought the wrist guards and drank a ton more water and it helped. Luckly once I had DS, it went away.

I hope you find relief soon!

[Scooter]

I had it with both wrists from typing at a horrible job, at an uncomfortable workstation, and ended up on disability. I was able to recover without getting the surgery, although I did do months of physical therapy and then 2 mos of acupuncture to get rid of the residual pain (which worked GREAT!).

I would recommend looking into an ergo mouse, too (I found that it relaxed my wrist a lot) and if you're on the computer much at work, get HR to send an ergo specialist in to fit your workstation to you. You should have good posture when you sit and your monitor should be up at head height--you shouldn't have to bend your head down to look at the screen. A lot of it has to do with blood flow and your nerves, so good posture is actually very important.

You can also do some stretches, like extending your arms to your sides and, while holding them straight out, slowly moving them back behind you. All the time keep your palms facing forward and with your fingers stretched all the way out. If you feel a tingling in your palms, that just shows you're stretching the nerve that runs down your arm and you know you're doing it right. That's a great stretch.

Also, focus on keeping your wrists neutral at all times. Not bent. When carrying heavy items, like grocery bags, don't do it with your hands--bend your elbows and hang the bags over your forearms, for example. Make sure that any time you are lifting any object that your wrists are straight and neutral. If you end up bending your wrists (has to happen sometimes), don't move your fingers until your wrists are neutral again.

And the #1 thing--give your wrists lots of rest in a neutral position to help the inflammation go down. (Taking ibuprofen consistently can help keep with that as well.) I actually found that wrist braces made mine worse because I ended up pushing against it when I moved, so it just made my wrists work harder. At PT I had a splint made to immobilize my hands and that was huge in my healing.

Good luck, hope all that helps! :)