Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Or Tendonitis?

Hello Dawn, sorry to hear about your increasing issues with carpal tunnel syndrome.

I'd like to invite fellow mentors @IndianaScott and @johnbishop in to the conversation. They both have talked about having carpal tunnel and may be able to offer some advice on remedies they have tried in order to manage the pain.

I'd also like to invite @soitis4590, @coladyrev, @sosaidhaq, @glenloig, and @grandma41, who have all talked about having carpal tunnel issues, pain or numbness in their wrists, fingers or thumbs, and how they dealt with those sensations and/or got relief.

Hi @dawn_giacabazi Sorry to hear about the troubles you are having with your hands. I have been diagnosed with severe carpel tunnel in both hands. Came from my years of lifting my wife dozens of times a day. While I am not a medical professional, here is what I have experienced, done, etc.

Two doctors and a third doctor/specialist have each confirmed the diagnosis. I just had the electrical stimulation test run on both hands, arms, and my neck. I've had more fun, but it is done.

I have no feeling in any finger tips up to the first knuckle. My thumbs go numb often and the pain radiates down into my hands and up towards my elbows. My grip strength is greatly reduced in both hands. Fine motor skills, such as shirt buttoning, shoelaces, etc. are a challenge.

Nights my hands felt like they were throbbing so hard I could see them. I could not sleep at all. Finally I bought a set of 3M "Futuro Night Wrist Sleep Support, adjustable". They gave me enough relief I can sleep some now. I am on my fourth set at this time. Love them, but the interior padding tends to get beaten down due to my grasping it in my sleep so I find better relief buying periodic replacements. Tried several of the gloves on the market, but they did not help me at all. I get mine via Amazon, cheaper than my local drug stores.

The medical recommendation is for surgery on both hands at separate times, but I am not psychologically ready for that, nor have I found the 'right' doc to perform it. It is not getting any worse and now that I am not doing the lifting any longer I am also doing a bit of waiting to see if nature can heal me at all. Especially since the surgeon here admitted surgery "may or may not relieve the symptoms and most likely will not restore feeling".

I have no magic bullet nor home remedies, except since cold makes my pain increase, I take some time to wrap my hands in warm towels out of the dryer when it gets really bad.

Peace & strength

@dawn_giacabazi I forgot to mention I am also taking 7.5 mg daily of meloxicam as an anti inflammatory.

Hi Dawn, my carpal tunnel diagnosis earlier this year came when my PMR came out of remission and I was have the same issue with pain in both hands/wrists and nothing helped. I had tried the wrist support sleeves and while they felt good they didn't help with the pain/tingling at night. When I went to my pcp she said I had severe carpal tunnel which I had thought I had but wasn't bad enough to do anything. After I started back on 20mg of prednisone for the PMR I still had the pain in the wrists with the left hand being worse. My pcp referred me to the Rochester Mayo Hand Clinic downtown and I received a cortisone? shot which helped a little but wasn't really a fix. The hand doc said the carpal tunnel surgery would be the next step but I'm not ready for that yet. I did buy a set of Mueller wrist straps/gloves from WallyMart which the hand doc said were as good as the ones they sold for big bucks down in the medical store. They are better than the ones I bought from Amazon because they have a metal support and padding to keep the wrist immobile. I'm thinking the magic bullet for carpal tunnel is the surgery by a good hand doc that has done a lot of them and Mayo has done a lot. My wife's sister had a botched one done by another clinic in a town close by and she was in a lot of pain which Mayo fixed in a second surgery.

Hoping you will find some relief soon. Keep us posted if you find something that works for you.

John

Thanks John!! Wish I could try the shots but my tumor prevents me. Ice and electrical stem seems to be my best friend. My internal med doc seems to think the tumor has effected my inflammatory response system and things should settle down once it's gone.

Praying out soon
Dawn

Thank you!! Does meloxicam effect your blood pressure negatively like NSAID's?? Good idea, I will try heat, maybe ice is a trigger, just always my go to with pain but maybe not the right thing this time.

Thanks
Dawn

No, @dawn_giacabazi I checked with the doctors and my pharmacist.

Thank you so much!! I will give that a try.

Meloxicam IS an NSAID. Presumably a doctor or a pharmacist would have mentioned that in answer to your question.

Yes md said, I absolutely can not take it. With my blood pressure and it will have negative effects on the dumping syndrome. (Vomit horrible stomach bile daily) Stuck with ice, biofreeze, rest, and a brace. 🙁

Therapist taped it a special way which has helped a lot. I was able to rest it and limit my typing and did not drive over the weekend.

Thanks
Dawn