Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Wrist problems?

one more quick thought.
often the PTs have been able to diagnose the problem better than the doc,
so if you don't feel like the docs dx is right and/or the treatment isn't working, ask for PT. sometimes i've had to insist for it with my GP, but i'm persistent about it because its often the only thing that gets me better.

sue

Unfortunately I'm waiting to go before a judge for disability and currently have no insurance so I have to go to the clinic. So I'll get what I get from the clinic.
Thank you for all the information. I appreciate it!

It could not be carpal tunnel .. I had problems with my wrist.. and it was de Quervain's disease. I had surgery on it and never had the problem again.

just got back from the dr and she said have you ever heard of "de quervains disease" so she dx me. wearing a splint for a few weeks and see if that takes care of it.
thanks for everyones input and advice. sorry about the typing trying to do it with 1 hand
rick

that's the dq tendon that i describe in my earlier reply....i just didn't know how to spell it, so i abbreviated it. and the treatment that your doctor gave you was the same treatment i was initially prescribed that made things a lot worse.

be careful with the brace, it's that tendon that the brace destroyed on me.
maybe you'll be ok with bracing. my PT told me, "if a brace helps, its carpal tunnel, and if a brace does more harm than good, then we know its a tendon and tendinitis." i don't know how much truth there is to that, i just remember that quote really sticking with me.

using the thumb to click on a laptop is very irritating to that tendon, so be careful with that as well. and turning lots of pages as well, when i grade exams, i still to this day have my husband turn the pages so i don't reaggrevate this tendon. other things i was careful not to overdo when this tendon was really bad: nail clipping, hair brushing, teeth brushing, steering while driving, peeling and cutting up food. also needed to switch to gel ink pens as writing with regular ball points were also very aggrevating to the tendon. if i think of any other triggers, i'll let you know.

sue

oak,

i was rereading the posts for this site,
and read yours more carefully,
interesting that you've found soft ace bandaging to work for added support.
i'm pretty certain my left outer wrist (maybe where karen describes at the end of the ulna...need to get out my anatomy book) would never had healed if i hadn't been wearing the terry sports wrists bands...and i was reading somewhere last night that someone on this site posted a few years ago that a girdle gave her some stability....maybe i'll think about stabilizing with soft supports (or maybe the therapeutic taping a PT showed me) more often. i don't wear the wrist bands anymore except for when i'm typing or driving or something else heavy duty taxing on the hands.

sue


sue

Hmm did doctor discuss surgery?

Surgery is usually the last resort.. first my doc would usually do coritsone shots.. and it goes away for a long while then it returns and he will say surgery! and now lately with the last 3 problems, he knew the pattern and skipped the coristones and went straight to surgery.

cherkibbs

i've always been a little leery of surgery, always figured it would be just my luck that the scar tissue from surgery would be just as bad as the problems before hand, so i've tried to avoid that. but if i ever need surgery, i'll know who to come to for advice.

with that said, i probably did have a torn ligament in the outer portion of my left wrist, and surgery probably would have been the answer. going downhill for 6 months, and taking a year after the cortisone shot before i could type with that hand, was probably not the way for my GP and hand surgeon to approach it....but i can type again, yay!

sue

OK .. my dq surgery was in 2004 ....

HOpe you won't have to need it ... I hated being in a cast for two weeks (to keep your thumb immobile) especially when I am right handed.. LOL ..

i've noticed that with the brace that it has become worse overall. the only relief it really gives me is when i bump my hand into anything. that way i don't get the sharp shooting pains.also when i'm sleeping i haven't been awakened during the night with the brace