Mon, June 26, 2006 - 3:26 PM
Sigh. I'm kind of depressed. Got some news today that's not all that great.
A couple of months ago I woke up with a slight tingling in the fingers of my left and wrist. It was right around the end of the Irwindale faire. I didn't think too much about it, assuming that I had slept on my hand or something. It had that exact feeling, the strange tingling that meant I'd cut the circulation all night long. It quickly went away and I didn't think much about it.
Exceot that it happened every single morning after that without fail, and it slowly got worse. Still, I was feeling restless and didn't think anything was wrong.
About three weeks ago I was working at my desk at work and felt my whole arm go numb for a couple of minutes. It felt kind of like I'd hit my "funny bone" (I guess it's called that because everyone else thinks it's funny) except it was more intense and worse. The numbness went away quickly and I didn't think about it for a while, as I assumed that I had just knocked against something.
It happened again, and then again the next day, and then again. Now it started to penetrate my brain that perhaps there was something going on here that I should be concerned about.
Two weeks ago my arm went numb from shouldar to fingers. Well, not really numb, but more like a strange tingling sensation. For a brief second I thought something was really wrong.
So I put the symptoms in the handy interest search engine Google and up came Carpal Tunnel Syndrome! The symptoms matched exactly, and the article said there is a test the doctors do, pressing on a particular spot, to prove it conclusively.
Naturally I had to press that spot. I thought my arm was going to fall off! Don't do that!
I put on some wrist straps that I had purchased many years ago and wore them all week long. That's what the article said the doctor will do as the first step.
Today I went to my doctors office and told him what was happening.
He said "you have carpal tunnel syndrome". No duh.
So what now? I wear the wrist straps for a while. If the symptoms subside, all is good. If it gets to the point where the numbness and tingling doesn't go away (it's constant), then there is a simple operation.
You see, basically what it means is there is pressure on the nere in my wrist (actually in both wrists as I can feel the early symptoms in the right arm as well). The movement of the wrists is what causes the symptoms. Not typing, but wrist movement. The wrist straps keep the wrist from moving, and hopefully will allow my body to recover.
No worries. If the operation is required it's very simple. My doctor said it was like slicing open a tube of cookie dough, you know the kind you get where you bang it on the counter? You slice one of those open and the cookie dough expands and the pressure is relieved. He said it's just like that.
On the other hand, the operation is not optional if it gets to that point. The hand can actually wither and become useless if it's allowed to continue.
Sigh.
Auntie Pita (cause I am one!) (Mon, June 26, 2006 - 3:33 PM)
Please please take care of it Richard... I was the crepes cook at faire for several years, and ended up tweeking my hands very badly... I still have problems with them... and don't have the insurance to do anything about it!
Melis (Mon, June 26, 2006 - 5:52 PM)
fwiw, NSAIDs can help. Did the doc talk to you about that?
:::hugs::: I'm sorry dear.
Lee R. Green (Mon, June 26, 2006 - 8:24 PM)
"and don't have the insurance to do anything about it! "
I could sell ya some...*G* (Sorry, couldn't resist)
Richard, take care of those wrists! We need 'em to work that camera!!!
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