Forums33
Topics44,195
Posts519,911
Members14,168
|
Most Online3,221 Oct 6th, 2025
|
|
Administrator/owner:
John (Dragonslayer)
Administrator:
Melinda (mig)
WebAdmin:
Timo (Timo)
Administrator:
Brad (wolverinefan)
Moderators:
· Tim (Dotyisle)
· Chelsea (Kiwi)
· Megan (Megan)
· Wendy (WendyR)
· John (Cheerful)
· Chris (fyrfytr187)
|
|
If you want to use this QR code (Quick Response code) just save the image and paste it where you want. You can even print it and use it that way. Coffee cups, T-Shirts etc would all be good for the QR code.
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 25
Member
|
OP
Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 25 |
I've recently had a lot of right wrist pain. Not sure if it's tendonitis, I don't type a lot recently, although I did it for many years at my last job but that was 2 years ago that I left there. Does anyone one else have this problem. It gets worse as the day goes to the point where I'm unable to bend my wrist, type, etc. I've decided to make an appointment tomorrow, but was just wondering if anyone else has wrist difficulties.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,117
Major_AS_Kicker
|
Major_AS_Kicker
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,117 |
Sounds like you may have some carpal tunnel issues. Do you drop things more than you have before?
Brent
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 21,346 Likes: 2
Very_Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
|
Very_Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 21,346 Likes: 2 |
tons. this is how it all started for me. i had a lot of mistreatment and a lot of correct treatment, so i'll share. i want to share the full story so you are careful not to let the doctors do to you what they did to me. don't let them put you in a brace if it bothers you even a little bit...maybe bracing works for some, but it was the brace (someone on this site said that for AS, move it or fuse it) that did me in. ice and heat and stopping repetitive activities of all kinds are key for me. my muscle relaxants, hot baths/showers/dishes help keep it so i can type like this. and when i flare, i don't type or turn pages of papers or chop / peel veggies or anything repetitive more than absolutely essential.
in 1998, i felt a little pain at the back of my left wrist when i pressed down to pack something down (the opposite place that one would have carpal tunnel.
my GP said, oh, "you have tendinitis" and put me in a wrist brace. i worked all day in that brace for one day (lots of pipetting in a lab) and by the end of the day, my thumb tendon (dq) was killing me...i immediately took it out of that brace and thought "i can't believe what just happened". (at this point i knew nothing of how to treat it...i remember rubbing sports cream on it, trying not to use it...it was already in one day inflamed and scarred to the point that i couldn't move it without ripping the scar tissue. this was the week i was moving, didn't have insurance for the first month in the new place...didn't see another doc for a month...tried to deal with it myself...it was awful.
then i went to a hand orthopaedist. he said, "oh, you were in the wrong kind of brace. all you need is a thumb brace. that will fix you right up. and take naproxen....i tried the naproxen but one on a full stomach hurt the stomach, so i stopped the drugs. i called to say that the brace was making it worse, not better. and he had his assistant tell me that it was important to keep that brace on for the month....1st and last time i was a "good patient" listening to the doc instead of my gut.
by the end of that month the dq tendon was completely scarred over so i couldn't even twitch the thumb without great pain and reinflammation. also the tendon that moves the index finger (on the palm side) was red (inflamed) and the tendon on the palm of the thumb was too. when i went to the doc, he said, "never seen that before. must be something really wrong with you." even though he was irresponsible enough to destroy my hand, he was smart enough to send me for PT...of course i take part of the blame for trusting him.
she was wonderful. she had me do contrast baths (1-2 min hot water, 1-2 min cold water, repeat back and forth for 20 min)...she had me do weights (little washers and bolts), they were quite amusing, but effective. when my hand started getting better, she sent me to a different hand orthopaedist who gave me a cortisone shot which was essential in the healing process...then as the weights increased, the tendon started getting a little worse, so she told me to stop the weights, continue the contrast baths and keep using my hands for normal activities.
also, during this time, i had to overuse my right hand so i developed the same tendinitis in my right thumb/wrist....i didn't let anyone brace it, i did the contrast baths, and i was able to only have moderate tendinitis.
once i went on muscle relaxants for my back, all of my tendinitises in my whole body got better.
since then i've been managing both dq tendons pretty well. if i didn't do a lot of typing (mostly for my job, but lately on this site) and paper pushing for my job, i would probably have little or any tendinitis.
since then, in the summer of 2006, i was pouring hot water from a spaghetti pot into the sink and felt something "give" on the outer side of my left wrist. I figured "its just tendinits and i know how to treat that now" well, over 6 months it got worse and worse to the point of needing a cortisone shot and then PT. the PT made me realize it was rotating my arm in the position that lets you type was injuring it...weekly ultrasound and ionophoresis for about 6 months and typing only with my right hand and contrast baths and wearing wrist bands for support when i type, drive, peel and chop veggies and fruits, get dressed, etc (so not a brace to immobilize, but the terry wrist bands that one might use to play tennis) have made it so that about a year after the cortisone shots i can type about as much as i want. i went to hand surgeon who said he thought from my description that it was a torn disc or ligament or maybe bone impaction. he did an MRI which showed "nothing significant" except for some strange arthritis in places where people don't get arthritis, but since it was slooooowly getting better with PT, he washed his hands of me.
at the end of the day, my dq tendons are a little "itchy", the first sign of inflammation for me, but i will go home, take a bath, take my muscle relaxants and they will be ok in the morning.
my problem now is a very stiff in the morning finger. it's not too painful after my morning shower, so i keep using it, which probably means it will need PT as well. it was really bad all day every day for about a month but then starting getting a little better. can't tell you what i did to it, woke up one morning, and couldn't bend it. the same hand surgeon said that i didn't really need that finger and if he were to cut it off i'd be fine, so don't worry about it. he thinks its a torn ligament.
from what i read in a book about a doctor who was a patient with a bad bad wrist problem (the book is "how doctors think") who got 4 different diagnoses before it was determined that he had torn ligaments that couldn't be seen in a regular mri, needed a special type of mri, that my left wrist problem was probably a torn ligament (since that's my specialty). there are so many little ligaments connecting all those little bones, its amazing more people don't damage their wrists.
just be careful not to let a little problem turn into the kinds of big problems i've had. if you can do NSAIDS, do it. contrast baths (ice/heat) have no side effects and are very effective. if it gets to the point that a slight twitch sets it off (or maybe even before), and it seems to be at a point of no return, cortisone can be miraculous. and most importantly, i believe, trust your instincts and don't let anybody make it worse.
sue
sue
Spondyloarthropathy, HLAB27 negative Humira (still methylprednisone for flares, just not as often. Aleve if needed, rarely.) LDN/zanaflex/flector patches over SI/ice vits C, D. probiotics. hyaluronic acid. CoQ, Mg, Ca, K. chiro walk, bike no dairy (casein sensitivity), limited eggs, limited yeast (bread)
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 25
Member
|
OP
Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 25 |
I do drop things more than ever before .I thought that it may be carpal tunnel, but I haven't done any significant typing since my last job about 2 years ago. Just a little on the computer at home. I don't know all parts that can be affected by carpal tunnel. The problems I have mainly affect the inside of my wrist running down from my thumb. Rick
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 25
Member
|
OP
Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 25 |
I responded to your post last night but don't see it, sorry. I currently take mobic and flexiril for the AS. I'll try heat/cold. I was reading after I had posted about carpal tunnel and I have many of the symptoms, numbness in hand and arm, pain sometimes up my forearm. I'll go to the clinic and see what the Dr says. I'll take your advice about going with my instincts though.I've learned that after 5 years of problems with AS before Dx. I appreciate the information. Rick
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,117
Major_AS_Kicker
|
Major_AS_Kicker
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,117 |
I don't like the braces either unless you have no other choice but to wear one. Braces tend to make you sweat and not let air get to the area. Not being able to move and sweating causes the muscles to get weaker in the area where you wear the brace. I found out the hard way after wearing a back brace for about six months, my muscles lost their tone and it took me a while to get them back to where they were before wearing the brace. Now after years of DDD and AS I'm not able to bend or move the way I used to but am still afraid to wear a brace in fear it could make things worse.
Brent
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 2,001
Major_AS_Kicker
|
Major_AS_Kicker
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 2,001 |
Yes, I've had wrist problems and I'm not sure exactly what caused them. The pain is centered right in the middle of the underside of my wrist and when it was bad the pain radiated into my palm. For me, the most difficult manuevers are anything which involves grasping with the hand, like a doorknob, opening a jar or carrying a box with my hands instead of my arms.
Seven months after the initial injury, I'm nearly healed. It almost never hurts any more, though I'm still careful not to overdo it.
The end of the ulna, which is where the bone on the little finger side of your arm meets the wrist is a typical enthesitis site for AS.
I hope you can find some help for your wrist. Where exactly does it hurt?
Karen
I cannot make the universe obey me. I cannot make other people conform to my own whims and fancies. I cannot make even my own body obey me.
Thomas Merton
Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all.
Emily Dickinson
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,763
Diamond_AS_Kicker
|
Diamond_AS_Kicker
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,763 |
yeppers i got wrist problems, mine is from tremors/spasms neurological AS related i use a bottle with a pull up cap on it just in case i drop it it wont spill all over the place, sometimes its hard for me to button my shirt up, but i also have RA so that is also a factor for me on dropping things...all i can say is talk to your doc and do not repeat do not let them brace ya, sone time i will ace wrap my wrists just for added support and still be able to have flaxibility in them, ice packing and heat packing doesnt work for me for some odd reason they never had...but it is a good idea simple hand exercises should help you as well my PT gave me a sheet on how to do them but i lost the sheet, as long as i got my darvo's and flexeril and valium im fine......oak
 my little angels
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 1,763
Diamond_AS_Kicker
|
Diamond_AS_Kicker
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 1,763 |
I had 'tendonitis' in my thumb-wrist area...the part that moves your thumb. I had no strength carrying bowls or coffee cups, etc. very weak. my doc said it was an over-loosened tendon from pregnancy. hand me in thumb/wrist braces only at night or when the flare was at it's worst. After about a year, it went away. I am noticing, however that it seems tender again..
~ Trudi: homeschooling mom to 6: 16,14,11,9,7, 6 mos
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 21,346 Likes: 2
Very_Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
|
Very_Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 21,346 Likes: 2 |
do let me know what the doctor says. hopefully you'll get a good one. if its pretty minor, following doctors orders might take care of it, but i've always found that for my major problems, i've always needed PT, and PT was always successful.
good luck and keep me posted, sue
sue
Spondyloarthropathy, HLAB27 negative Humira (still methylprednisone for flares, just not as often. Aleve if needed, rarely.) LDN/zanaflex/flector patches over SI/ice vits C, D. probiotics. hyaluronic acid. CoQ, Mg, Ca, K. chiro walk, bike no dairy (casein sensitivity), limited eggs, limited yeast (bread)
|
|
|
0 members (),
413
guests, and
181
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|