wrist injury

[Sbbradley]

I went to the a doctor a month ago with pain in my thumb and wrist. He told me that I have repetitive motion injury, due to playing clarinet and writing. 3 weeks ago for finals I typed 3 essays, wrote 7 essays, and played clarinet for an hour. Ever since finals my wrist has been swollen and it cracks whenever I move it. The pain has also increase tremendously, and I can't move my wrist the best.  I have been doing OT for a while now and it is not helping, it makes it worse. What do you think is wrong with my wrist? What can I do to reduce the pain besides a brace?

[Jomichaels]

Another possibility is a pinched nerve. Do you have any neck pain? Maybe see about getting an EMG/NCS from a neurology.

[Jomichaels]

I have thumb and wrist pain from de Quervain's syndrome, which impacts the tendons on that side of the wrist. I've tried a lot of things, but relief has been temporary so far. For me, all that consistently helps ease the pain is icing it.

I also had a cortisone shot in that wrist. After an brief initial flare up, it reduced my wrist pain a lot for about a month. Supposedly the second will be more effective, but because that's basically my last stop before surgery, we're putting it off until we've seen if anything else helps.

I went to an OT for a couple of months, and she put kinesio tape on my wrist. It also reduced my pain, but it's not a long term solution. Still, it's worth trying out if you need to buy time. She also recommended an ergonomic keyboard, which helps for when I'm writing papers and the like.

I'm in the middle of a really bad few days with my wrist, where it hurts to hold pens and cups, so I do sympathize. Good luck!

[jemma116]

Sorry to hear you have a problem with your wrist and thumb.

It is all to do with overuse.  You can apply natural set yogurt to your wrist and bandage it up for support.  The yogurt will hep to reduce the swelling and inflammation.  

You need to keep the wrist strapped up and support it with a sling.  Do not continue using that hand, until it is completely healed.  It needs to have complete rest.  The more you ignore the symptoms and carry on, it will get worse.

Shame that the doctor has not checked the xray to see if there is any damage with the bones.  Personally I feel it is to do with overuse.

Best wishes.

[Sbbradley]

He say it was not carpal tunnel and it was not tendinitis. the first treatment he offered was OT. The OT has been giving me a Cortisone patch which has done nothing. He did no testing on it, he gave me an x-ray and didn't look at it, which angers me. I am seeing him soon so I will request him to do more testing. Thank you for the tips!

[Ellen038]

If it's from repetitive motion did he say it was carpal tunnel? Has he sent you for a test called EMG? Splints and NSAIDs are usually the first treatments offered. A cortisone shot may help relieve the pain as well. If those treatments fail then surgery is often done. It will release the trapped nerve. I had surgery on my wrist after dealing with carpal tunnel for several years. So far I haven't had anymore trouble with it up until recently with pregnancy. It should go away after my baby is born. Hope you can get some relief soon!