Posted by Kay on November 21, 2003 at 21:46:57:
In Reply to: Carpal Tunnel? posted by Robert W. Lee on November 21, 2003 at 20:46:18:
First, try switching your mouse to your left hand. It'll be akward for a few days, but you'll eventually get used to it. That may rest your hand sufficiently to recover from the problems you're having. The other thing to try are icing your hand and wrist a few times a day. Take some ibuprofen to help with inflamation. Take it at a prescription dosage (twice the recommended) for a few weeks to see if that helps. Some massage therapy may help. Insurance often doesn't cover that anyway, so you might want to give that a try now. Search this board for other remedies to try. And good luck...unfortunately it does sound like CTS. Look up some info on ergonomics and make sure your computer set up is ideal. I've found a split keyboard works best for me.
: I have been having some problems with my hands for a few weeks and I need a little advice. I don't have any health coverage, and am still in school, but want to describe my symptoms, and maybe get some feedback as to whether this could be CTS and what options someone without insurance might have. First, the symptoms I have. Several of my fingers feel "asleep" and cold throughout the day and night. Constantly. Primarily my thumb and my index finger, but affecting all fingers with a lessening degree towards the outside, or "pinkie" area of my hand. When I use a mouse for any length of time now, my right hand will also start to ache and cramp. This has been going on for a while, but the "asleep" feeling has been constant, to varying degrees for about 3 weeks or so, although I do recall some isolated incidents of the same sort of feeling some months ago, after some sustained Xbox game system usage. As in over 12 hour stretches. I know, I know, I don't do that any more. As to my actions now, I spend most of my day typing at school now, and when completing the vocational school I am in now, I hope to be employed as a customer service representative which will entail me being at a desk and typing full time. I don't really have any other options as this is what I have been trained to do, and I must find employment to support myself. Anyway, any help or lay diagnoses would be most appreciated. Thank you, Robert W. Lee in Sacramento, CA. Oh, and also, when I get employment, should I keep this to myself in order to receive help with it when I become eligible for health insurance. And, if it is CTS, and , also if, I was ever able to get surgery, would I then be able to go back to typing and gaming pain free? Thanks again.
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