March 23, 2007
Wrist self-defense
Written by Shirley Karr in Jaunty PostLately I’ve been noticing a lot of people wearing wrist braces. Probably because a week ago the pain in my left hand was diagnosed as DeQuervain’s tenosynovitis. (I’d never heard of it either.) www.medicinenet.com/de_quervains_tenosynovitis/index.htm
Part of the treatment calls for wearing a wrist brace that immobilizes the thumb in a perpetual thumbs-up position. It’s stylish black so it goes with everything and really shows off lint and cat hair.
My older wrist braces – now tattered and forlorn looking non-descript beige — have helped me deal with flare-ups of tendonosis over the last 15 years. In chatting with people wearing new braces, I realized I’ve collected a fair bit of information about wrist injuries. Since so many of us are in professions and pursuing avocations where our wrists are at risk, I thought I’d share some of it.
Insert disclaimer here: I have no medical training, consult your healthcare professional before trying any technique, your mileage may vary, yada yada yada. These are just some of the things that work for me and people I know. With the prevalence of computers and text messaging, I’m surprised there aren’t even more cases of tendonitis, tendonosis (the latter is often misdiagnosed as the former — see www.tendinosis.org/), carpal tunnel, and DeQuervain’s tenosynovitis.
Plenty of sources will warn you about the importance of ergonomics in making sure your wrist, hand and arm angles are correct; good posture; taking breaks, varying your tasks, etc. One warning sign I’d never heard of, and therefore completely missed, was a pleasant sensation of warmth in my wrists after spending hours reformatting a document — lots of repetitive keystrokes and mouse clicks. I felt fine Friday night, ditto for Saturday and Sunday. Monday morning, however, I couldn’t grasp my hair brush. With either hand.
For the better part of the next two years, I did the prescribed routine of ice packs, anti-inflammatory drugs, and wearing supportive wrist braces full-time … and made almost no improvement. When my mom suggested magnets, I figured I had nothing to lose, so I started inserting the Nikken brand magnets inside the braces at night. Within a few weeks, there was less pain, and a few months later, I only needed the braces at night to keep from curling my wrists under my chin. To be free of pain after so long, I was a believer.
Nowadays I also wear bracelets made of magnetic hematite. Some people say magnets can’t possibly have any effect, that it’s all in your head. I have accidentally proven (repeatedly) that I can type pain-free for twice as long with the magnets than I can without. I don’t care if the reason is psychosomatic — magnets help me. I’ve heard from other people that they also may help with carpal tunnel, arthritis, and circulation problems associated with diabetes.
Soaking in the hot tub also does wonders for undoing the day’s damage. I’m no longer certain taking ibuprofen helps with the inflammation (some recent studies suggest it may actually hinder the healing process), though it can help ease the symptoms of pain.
A co-worker had been in such pain from carpal tunnel, his doctor scheduled him for surgery. Knowing surgery results are mixed for CP, his mother convinced him to take vitamin B6 during the eight weeks before he was to go under the knife. Not only did he end up not needing the surgery, within three months he was completely symptom-free. I take a B-complex vitamin every day — it’s supposed to help cells heal. (Some people also find B6 eases nausea, regardless of the cause.)
Occasionally I overdo it and the wrist pain comes back. I write, make jewelry, play guitar — all things that abuse my poor hands. It feels like being stabbed by a thousand tiny needles in the back of the hand, and pain shoots up to my elbow. Sometimes massage therapy helps ease the flare-ups, sometimes acupuncture works better. I haven’t figured out a rhyme or reason for that one, and I’d love to ‘cuz I’m a wuss when it comes to needles.
After so long of getting nothing but frostbite from holding a bag of frozen peas on my wrists, I didn’t have a high opinion of ice therapy. A massage therapist taught me a much more effective technique. Rub ice over the injured area for one minute, going above and below the affected area. (Freeze a Dixie cup full of water and peel back the paper as the ice melts, or hold ice cubes in a damp sponge.) Then immediately dunk the affected area in really warm water for two minutes. This creates a pumping action, greatly increasing the blood circulation — bringing in oxygen and nutrients and taking away the waste, which helps the cells heal faster. There’s also a pleasant tingling sensation, and I always feel less pain afterward. I go back and forth between the kitchen sink and the hot tub three or four times for each treatment, and do three or four treatments per day. (This works well for tendonosis, but was specifically recommended not doing for DeQuervain’s tenosynovitis.)
Another coping technique is to use voice recognition software to avoid keystrokes and mouse work. Two years ago I was racing toward a deadline and spent too many hours at the keyboard too many days in a row. I had over 150 pages to go and less than six weeks to turn in Kiss From A Rogue, but my hands hurt so badly I could only type with the tip of my middle fingers. Dragon NaturallySpeaking to the rescue. It doesn’t come anywhere close to the wpm speeds claimed on the box, and makes interesting mistakes (”abominably” became “a bomb in the plea”), but it got the job done. That particular flare-up was so bad and long-lasting, I ended up writing almost all of Confessions of a Viscount with Dragon. Talking to Dragon is also how I write most of my blog posts … which may explain why they’re long-winded and chatty.
So there’s my wrist first aid kit — Dragon, B6, ice/heat, hot tub, braces, and magnets. I hope you never need any of it. 
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Shana Says:
Thanks for the information, Shirley! It’s so important to take care of ourselves. I hope your wrists feel better!
Maggie Robinson Says:
Shirley, I’m going to try them all. I went to an orthopedic guy in February who told me I only have “moderate” carpal tunnel. I can’t imagine what the pain would be like with “severe.” I’m fine during the day, but at night the tingling and deadness goes up to my elbow and I just can’t sleep. It doesn’t seem to bother me when I type (maybe because I only use fingertips as I’ve never learned the “proper” way to type), but I’ve already decided I need surgery this summer cause I’m missing out on very necessary beauty sleep! But I’m going to the pharmacy this morning and see what I can rustle up. Thanks for the info. Anybody else with any? Hope everything works out for you!
ladydawgfan Says:
I had both wrist operated on for Carpal Tunnel many moons ago. At the time, it was so bad that my doctor read the results of the electropulse test (that they do on your hands to judge reaction time) while the techs were doing the test, looked up at me about halfway through, and said, “So when do you want to schedule your surgery?” No braces, no therapy. Straight to surgery.
In the end, it turned out to be the best solution for me and I haven’t had any problems since. However, I might just look for a couple of those magnetic bracelets just to ward off any possible problems. I work on the computer a lot with AutoCad and all, so my hands sometimes ache a LOT at the end of the day.
Thanks for the suggestions and information.
Helen Sibbritt Says:
Sorry to hear that you have to suffer so much pain Shirley but it sounds as if you have found some solutions that are helping I have heard that magnets help a lot of people as well and have been thinking of getting a magnet underblanket to help with the athritis I have in mine spine but they are very expensive here in Australia.Thanks for the suggestions I am sure they will help a lot of people.
Have Fun
Helen
Rainy Says:
Sorry to hear about your wrists, Shirley, but I’m glad you’ve got some workable solutions.
I certainly appreciate your taking the time to share the dangers of prolongued typing, etc and for us to take caution.