Capral tunnel brace |
Have you noticed
that there seems to be more people wearing braces on their wrists
now?
I understand that
wrist problems are on the rise and yes there are a lot of people that
are suffering from the various different issues that can occur with
the wrists or hands in general. I for one have already had two
different surgeries because of an issue with my thumb tendon tunnel.
I was one of those people that didn’t think anything like a wrist
issue was going to impact me but I found out the hard way that it
can.
For me, the first
issue was with my right thumb and it was pretty painful and it got to
the point that I couldn’t hold anything with my right hand because
the pain was so bad. After a number of tests for what was thought to
be carpal tunnel a specialist told me that no it wasn’t carpal
tunnel but it was something called De
quervain’s tenosynovitis and yes it is extremely painful. The
worst test is what is referred to as the Finkelstein test and you
bend your wrist thumb down towards your little finger. This is the
test were I thought I was going to hit the specialist because it was
so painful. The process I went through was to wear a special molded
brace for four weeks to see if it would help reduce the pain. It
didn’t so the next step was the corticosteroid injections into the
area to see if that helped. The area is frozen and the injection is
done and it is only after the freezing wears off that the pain really
starts as the corticosteroid is absorbed into your body. I thought
everything was going to be good after this but no it ended up I had
to have surgery to open up the sheath to release the pressure. It was
during this surgery that the specialist informed me that I have small
tunnels so he figured he would see me again either for the left hand
or for carpal tunnel surgery.
After having this
first surgery I knew that I was going to have to be very careful with
both of my hands to ensure that I didn’t have another surgery but
it didn’t work. Even after being extremely careful and watching
everything I ended up having the same surgery on the left hand. The
process was a lot faster with the second hand because I knew what the
pain was and was immediately referred back to the same specialist who
did the same tests and injections with no improvement so once again
it was surgery.
Now what this has
shown me is that for some people no matter how they try to avoid the
repetitive movements they may still have to deal with the surgery
because of the tunnels that they have. I have really tried to be
extremely careful with my wrists because no I do not want to have the
carpal tunnel surgery on either of my hands. I have learned the
warning signs that when my wrists start to bother me even the
slightest bit I will change what I am doing and I will also wear the
wrist braces that I have to ensure I give the wrists a chance to at
least improve.
Yes, the repetitive
motions such as typing in certain positions don’t help us when it
comes to our wrists. I have found that I do change up how I do my
typing to ensure that I am not always in the same position because I
know that I am one of those that has to be extremely careful
otherwise I will be in for another surgery on my wrists.
Wearing a brace when
the pain is even very low can make the world of difference and it can
mean that you could even avoid the surgery or the corticosteroid
injections because they are painful. Knowing your own body and being
able to be proactive is very important because it can make the world
of difference. I have so far been able to avoid any of the other
tendon tunnel surgeries that could happen. I know that in my wrists
my tunnels are extremely small so even the slightest issue could
result in surgery and I don’t want any more.
If you are
experiencing pain in your wrists don’t be embarrassed to wear a
brace because it can help. Also if you do have the pain look at what
you are doing and see if you can either modify what you are doing or
take a break from it. A hobby could be the cause of the pain so
changing how you do it or taking a break can make a difference. I
still modify all the difference activities that I do because like a
lot of people I spend a great deal of time on the computer and I
don’t want to be told that I need surgery because of how much
typing I have done.
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