Carpal Tunnel! Yay!

Krikee

So I've decided I have a slight case of carpal tunnel that has developed in the past year to year in a half. I *think* it's very mild (occasionally get the numbness in the hands) but I would like to know more about getting it fixed. I found this site: Gov't Website on CT. Anybody have theirs treated? How long was recovery? How was the cost?

I always thought I had pretty good form for the good ol' KB&M. Anyone know where some pictures are of "proper" form (it's slightly worse in my mouse hand)?

brandotheninjamaster

A lady at my work just had hers treated. She was out for about 5 weeks.

mastman

I had carpal tunnel about a year ago. My right hand had tingling sensations and was very weak compared to my left. About 99% sure it stemmed from my horrible desk arrangement at home where my mouse hand sat almost even with my shoulder. I went to my regular doctor, she gave me a 5 days dose of steroids (for the anti-inflammatory effect) and it died down. Also she said that I have to remedy said mentioned desk arrangement immediately or it would never go away.

I'm still ok now.


edit:
- cost was $5 for the copay for the drugs, don't know your health insurance arrangement
- partial recovery was almost immediate upon taking the drugs, but I'd say my hand was back to full strength after about a month

Krikee

5 weeks? I'm guessing that was for surgery. Hopefully the steroid approach will work, 5 days isn't nearly as bad as I expected. Hopefully I'm eligible for the steroid approach (seems they only like using that early in it's development). Thanks for the help!

brandotheninjamaster

yea that was for surgery, and for both hands. I doubt that if its that early on they would wanna go that route.

PirateJon

self fixed mine with an ergonomic keyboard form MS and a trackball.

YMMV.

Dark Moon

I had begun noticing CT-like symptoms while working a data entry job last year. I spoke with my doctor about it, but his only advice was to "stop typing so much." I didn't like him very much. Anyways, I noticed that most of the pain was in the hand I mouse with, and switched to mousing with the other hand for the duration of the job. The pain went away almost immediately and, though it was difficult at first, I became about as dexterous with my left hand as with my right in about a week. I also began using my laptop far more, which allowed me to use the trackpad (which I found to be far less stressful on my right wrist as mousing with a traditional mouse). Now, a year later, when I do have to use a regular mouse I can use my right hand again, but tend to switch around which hand I use just to ensure even "wear" on both wrists. If you don't like/don't want to use a trackpad, I imagine a trackball mouse would be similarly less stressful.