What a Pain

I can no longer pretend that it isn’t happening.  It’s just an issue that I’m going to have to deal with.  To continue to ignore it is only going to make the problem worse, perhaps with long-term effects.

 

I’m talking about my wrist pain.

 

I first noticed it in my right hand about a year ago during a sailboat race.  I would feel a pain in my wrist whenever I planted my hand while scampering around the boat, or while handling a line when hoisting or trimming a sail.  It seemd that my range of motion was limited in the right hand and it was painful if I put pressure on it from certain angles.  I could do a pushup on my knuckles without any difficulty (without any abnormal difficulty, anyway), but a pushup on the palms of my hands was impossible.

 

I didn’t think anything of it at first.  I would only notice it during the races or any other strenuous activity.  It would seem to come and go, some times worse than others.  I gradually realized that the pain was related to how much typing I had been doing lately.

 

That realization got my attention and my immediate concern was carpal tunnel syndrome.  I did a little research on the web, but my symptoms didn’t sound like what I was reading about carpal tunnel.  I wasn’t having any tingling or numbness.  I wasn’t having problems in my forearms or palms – just my wrists.

 

That led me to think that it was tendonitis, commonly called tennis elbow.  The best part about tendonitis (if there are any good parts) is that it will go away if you stop aggravating it.  Mine has gone away during a period where I took some vacation time and was experiencing a slow work schedule, but it came roaring back the next time I did any heavy typing.

 

I’ve tried a few adjustments to my typing habits.  I’ve tried to keep my elbows as close together as possible to reduce the angle of my hands to my forearms while I’m typing, I’ve tried using one of those ergonomic split keyboards, and I’ve tried using a trackball instead of my normal mouse.  None of it seemed to help. 

 

The pain has slowly progressed.  It is now in both wrists and at times can be so painful that I’ve begun to involuntarily drop whatever I’m holding whenever a certain combination of movements and forces catches me by surprise.  Driving, doing the dishes, getting dressed, soaping up in the shower, etc., all normal everyday things, involve some degree of discomfort.  Typing, strangely, does not hurt while I’m doing it, but everything is worse afterwards.

 

So on the way home tonight I stopped by the drugstore and bought some wrist supports.  There were several (6-7?) to choose from, which I found surprising, but I selected a pair of the Futuro Deluxe Wrist Stablilizers (http://tinyurl.com/45rzk) which claim to be specifically designed for carpal tunnel symptoms.  I still don’t think that’s what my problem is, but if they’re made for people who have typing problems they’ll probably fit the bill.

 

I can see that they’re going to take some getting used to.  I’m not a big fan of polyester, so they are a little uncomfortable, but I’m sure I can get used to them.  Typing is a bit challenging, but that is a good thing.  It probably means that the supports are preventing me from doing whatever normal typing motions caused the problem.  Hopefully, they’ll help me learn better typing habits.

 

My plan is to wear them all the time until the chronic pain goes away.  I expect that to take 2-3 weeks.  Then I’ll continue to wear them for any typing.  Hopefully, I’ll eventually be able to scale that back to only wearing them during heavy typing or maybe not at all.

 

I should probably also see an orthopedic doctor and get a real diagnosis.  I’ll start working on that, but it means navigating the healthcare system, which I despise.  I don’t even have a Primary Care Physician.  It kills me that I spend $700/month for a service that I don’t even use, but that may be the subject of a future post.

 

Either way, this problem has to be resolved.  I can’t continue doing my job if I’m going to be having this kind of pain, and I don’t have any backup plans.  I’m a little young to be disabled, but I’m certainly beginning to feel that way.