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Wrist/Finger/Arm Pain
Xaquin
Right behind you!Registered User regular
Right behind you!Registered User regular
As I'm typing this out I have a constant pain in each finger and thumb my wrist and my elbow as well as my arms (shoulder feels fine)
it only ever happens in my right arm (the hand I use my mouse with)
I have my arm resting alternatly on my arm rest and a small table with an old tee shirt folded and laying on top of it for padding.
It's driving me fucking nuts! this happens maybe 3 times a week and it's annoying as hell. I have my wrist wrapped up in one of those ace bandages but it does nothing.
My only guess is the pain is due to too much computer work (though I use the comp a LOT less then I used to) maybe 50-55 hours a week (used to be more like 80-85 a week).
I hear murmurings of Carpal Tunnel syndrome, only I don't have a stabbing pain .... just one constant annoying pain.
If anyone has thoughts, ideas, or miracle cures I'd be most appreciative
it only ever happens in my right arm (the hand I use my mouse with)
I have my arm resting alternatly on my arm rest and a small table with an old tee shirt folded and laying on top of it for padding.
It's driving me fucking nuts! this happens maybe 3 times a week and it's annoying as hell. I have my wrist wrapped up in one of those ace bandages but it does nothing.
My only guess is the pain is due to too much computer work (though I use the comp a LOT less then I used to) maybe 50-55 hours a week (used to be more like 80-85 a week).
I hear murmurings of Carpal Tunnel syndrome, only I don't have a stabbing pain .... just one constant annoying pain.
If anyone has thoughts, ideas, or miracle cures I'd be most appreciative
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I know it sounds weird, but you could have a pinched nerve in your lower neck that could be a contributing factor.
pretty much just my right arm .... this has been happening for a while .... It'll feel like crap today and tomorrow it will feel just fine. If not tomorrow probably the next day.
Anything I can off-load to my left hand makes things much much better. I'm right handed and it took maybe 30 minutes to get using the mouse with my left hand down pat. I still game with the right, but for everything else it's left handed.
Give it a try and see if things improve.
ah well .... I was kind of hoping for some kind of miracle salv or ointment or something
thanks all
Mousing left-handed is an easy way to fix it, and would let you quickly determine if it's related to mousing. I've had occasional finger and wrist pain and now use only trackballs at home and at work. I don't game on my computers and don't draw anything so trackballs are pretty much fine and definitely help my wrists and fingers out. But yeah, if you use a computer every day and there's no way for you to take a break for a week or so, I would suggest switching to mousing left-handed for a while to see if it causes it to go away. If it does, you know what causes the discomfort.
A repetitive stress injury of some kind is ringing a lot of bells (Szechuanosaurus was right on in asking you about numbness, but I can't ask you those kinds of questions, as they could make me liable). I can't say for sure that this is what is happening to you - there are other possibilities - but it is a horse in a roomful of zebras in terms of rarity.
The combination of pain and numbness together tend to suggest some kind of injury to or compression of a nerve; an occasional tingling feeling would also be consistent with that. The pain doesn't necessarily have to be a sharp pain.
The issue is that where you're getting the most sensation (your pinky) makes it more likely that the injury is to your ulnar nerve. This is a nerve that controls sensation and muscle movements along the medial aspect of your forearm and hand (medial in this case means: Hold your arm out in front of you, with the palm up. If you split your arm in half lengthwise, the medial area is the half of your arm closer to your middle). If you think specifically about where your pains are, they should primarily cluster in this medial area if you have ulnar nerve damage. If the pains are on the other half, the outside or lateral half, that's the median nerve. If the pains are all on the back of your hand and forearm, that's probably the radial nerve.
Median nerve damage can come from carpal tunnel syndrome, which is often linked to large amounts of computer use. Radial nerve damage can occur alone, but it's rarer.
Ulnar nerve damage cannot be carpal tunnel syndrome, because the ulnar nerve doesn't pass through the carpal tunnel. However, it's common for the ulnar nerve to be compressed near the elbow, which would be consistent as you would feel discomfort below the elbow, at the forearm and hand, but not particularly in your upper arm. Bending the elbow near ninety degrees (such as in most mouse usage and keyboard typing) could be putting pressure on the nerve and exacerbating the issue.
Nerve injuries are painful and irritating, but treatment is surgical and basically only becomes necessary when you decide it is. The surgery is a relatively simple outpatient procedure with little risk. The problem is that health insurance will usually not cover it unless you can establish a history of the problem and a need to treat.
I recommend you visit your primary care physician to make a diagnosis for you, get some quick physical testing for sensation and muscle strength, to discuss the appropriate means of resting the arm, and to begin your history of a problem so you can get coverage if it gets worse.
I moved my mouse about 12" forward and got an ice pack and already feel about a million times better then I did earlier
Thanks ;-)
I hope resting it improves the situation. If resting it stops working for you (as in, you can't get relief no matter what you do), you should get that primary care visit as early as you can, just in case you need coverage for the next step. Also, be wary of other, new pains caused by the new position you're using to type and mouse with. Good luck.
The pain is real, no doubt, and likely could be traced down to some issue with nerves in the area. But why are those nerves acting up? Since the pain doesn't seem to be an emergency, no harm in evaluating whether it is linked with high stress periods in your life. If it is, believe that your mind can play tricks like that on you, and no shit, you can get rid of it without any physical changes or medication. I've done it myself, for sudden and inexplicable pain in my mid-back, a 'fart bubble' that caused me to miss a rugby game and a day of work, and more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tension_Myositis_Syndrome
I could wear an elbow pad/brace thing but I just choose to take frequent breaks, rely less on my right hand, and stretch now and then.
Yes, really. You've just described a somatoform disorder, a psychological defense mechanism of the 'neurotic' classification. You may have qualms with the connotations of this term, but it is, in fact, its true medical name. It's actually much more common for a person to experience a spontaneous pain than a somatoform disorder, and it's also common for them to resolve spontaneously or be eliminated via pain control techniques. The OP pain, in all likelihood, had a cause - an accumulation of small tissue damages over time, causing irritation.
Once again, there's no diagnosis that we can make for anyone over an internet forum, but when discussing the likelihood of certain pathologies it's important to separate what is likely from what is not. A cubital tunnel syndrome is likely because of correlating symptoms - pain, and numbness. It is also likely because of the area of distribution of the symptoms - forearm, and pinky and ring fingers. it is also likely because the pain was actually relieved with a change in position, which is rare for somatoform.
Somatoform disorders are 'real' in that they are real experiences, but they are not 'real' in that they follow real pathologies. The more closely a disorder resembles an actual pathology, the less likely that it is somatoform, because most people simply don't know enough medical science to produce an accurate symptomology. Pain is common, but numbness certainly isn't. Localization is common, but rarely does it follow a specific dermatome (skin distribution for a given nerve).
If you're willing to share, I'm interested in hearing more about the syndrome indicated in the wiki. When did you go see Dr. Sarno, and how did he diagnose you?
The doctors I've been to tell me take these pills and rest which really does nothing but makes it worse in my opinion.
Pretty harsh reply man. I'm cool with it though, I just offered the suggestion to try to help. I'll PM you a summary of my history to avoid cluttering up the thread.
I disagree with your claim that TMS is a somatoform disorder. It differs in that the symptoms do make medical sense. In the case of the OP, as you suggested he may have an accumulation of small tissue damage over time. Or as a neurological defensive reaction, his mind may be restricting the flow of nutrients to a nerve or nerves in the area. In both cases, the nerve is agitated and I see no reason not to think it could cause numbness and pain following the same pattern.
To the OP - your body is fully capable of taking care of itself. Unless you have done something traumatic to warrent the pain, try to resist falling into the trap of thinking you are fragile and need to be careful about how you sit at a frigging computer. Really though, you have nothing to lose by thinking about when you experience this problem, even if you do it while following the advice of others or seeking the opinion of your family doctor.