Medics please!!
Discussion
I have noticed I have been getting pain in my hands while working with screwdrivers etc.
I have been busy today in the garden and was swinging an axe with meaning and I could only swing it 5 times before I needed a rest. My hands were killing me.
When I finished, I had to straighten my fingers with the other hand. I had no control of the digits.
This was about 4 hours ago. I still heve only say 40 % of use with my hand. It moves fine but I have no strength in the fingers.
Any ideas?
Cheers
I have been busy today in the garden and was swinging an axe with meaning and I could only swing it 5 times before I needed a rest. My hands were killing me.
When I finished, I had to straighten my fingers with the other hand. I had no control of the digits.
This was about 4 hours ago. I still heve only say 40 % of use with my hand. It moves fine but I have no strength in the fingers.
Any ideas?
Cheers
I had something very similar at work. As have loads of my colleagues. I think it's to do with repetitive strain injuries. very common apparently even though i hurts like hell. I have heard on the radio of a woman journalist that wrote a lot with a pen ( obviously ) and refused to give in to it. The result was that she nearly lost the use of her hand permanantly. these things take a LOT longer to heal than to apear.
I have no information on the carpol thingy apart from my neighbour had the op to correct it. She now has a 4 inch scare down her wrist ( or is it hand?, can't remember ) and has to slowly regain the use of her hand.
It probably isn't as serious as that and small things like gripping less with the use of gloves or a tea towell over the screwdriver etc may help.
Good idea to see the doc though.
Ps, i got to the stage where i thought i was going to have to give up my job because of it. Untill i changed my posture and started wearing driving gloves to lessen my grip.
Hope it gets better.
I have no information on the carpol thingy apart from my neighbour had the op to correct it. She now has a 4 inch scare down her wrist ( or is it hand?, can't remember ) and has to slowly regain the use of her hand.
It probably isn't as serious as that and small things like gripping less with the use of gloves or a tea towell over the screwdriver etc may help.
Good idea to see the doc though.
Ps, i got to the stage where i thought i was going to have to give up my job because of it. Untill i changed my posture and started wearing driving gloves to lessen my grip.
Hope it gets better.
Carpal tunnel is curable with an op. Basically, you have three bones in your wrist which make a tunnel through which your nerves, tendons, etc, pass. This can get restricted in size by various problems. RSI can cause (or at least exacerbate) this problem. This causes pressure on the tendons, etc and causes the symptoms. They enlarge the opening and things return to normal.
Not to worry you but my brother was diagnosed with this problem. After blood tests , it was diagnosed as too much growth hormone in his blood caused by a benign tumour on his pituatry gland. He now has hormone treatment to balance things out after an op to remove the growth. ALl his fleshy bits grew due to the hormone overload but not bone. This caused the pressure on his tendons.
Get it checked out as it will cause permament nerve damage if not treated.
Not to worry you but my brother was diagnosed with this problem. After blood tests , it was diagnosed as too much growth hormone in his blood caused by a benign tumour on his pituatry gland. He now has hormone treatment to balance things out after an op to remove the growth. ALl his fleshy bits grew due to the hormone overload but not bone. This caused the pressure on his tendons.
Get it checked out as it will cause permament nerve damage if not treated.
Certainly median nerve compression (carpel tunnel syndrome) is a a possibility, but given your history of recent repetetive use of the arm with screw driver etc; this may well be due to ulnar nerve compression causing weakness of the grip due to loss of power in the small muscles (intrinsics) of the hand.
I would hold off on the surgery for now and simply give your arm a rest from any repetetive action (ooh-er) for a couple of weeks and I expect it will settle down. Also recommend some anti inflammatory tabs if there is discomfort as long as you have no contraindications.
I would hold off on the surgery for now and simply give your arm a rest from any repetetive action (ooh-er) for a couple of weeks and I expect it will settle down. Also recommend some anti inflammatory tabs if there is discomfort as long as you have no contraindications.
Agree with pullingpower - very difficult to diagnose exactly what's going on from a distance, but when all else fails, time usually sorts out the things that need attention from those that don't! If you're getting numbness, tingling or weakness in your hands that doesn't settle in a few days with rest and anti-inflammatories, then off to your GP with you. If it gets worse despite rest, then definately off to your GP. Surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome (if that's what it is) is very routine (and usually done under local anaesthetic at my hospital), so nothing to be worried about.
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