From the tab and backspace I stab at thee...

[gement]

Tendonitis has been gnawing at me for the last couple of months, on and off. It's come to my attention that I need to nip this in the bud. I feel it in my wrists, my thumbs, and the depths of my elbows (the tendon that drives the rest of the fingers). I know friends who deal with REAL chronic pain, so I was tempted to ignore this, but then I realized that's often how it starts, so let's talk now.

I've seen the "prayer" stretch, though it doesn't seem to stretch the right things. The yoga "Dog" stretch loosens up my shoulders, which helps peripherally but doesn't address the main problem. I've got an ergo keyboard now, I've been adjusting the heights and distances every which way...

But every time my pinky reaches for the tab (I do Excel all day) or the backspace (I have to correct typos regularly), unless I'm REALLY conscious, my hand twists and I ache. Any time of day, except when my hands have been resting all weekend, I can touch the funny bone hollow behind my elbow and feel the ow ow ow tendon. My finger knuckles have popped constantly (but not painfully) for the last three years since I started typing day jobs.

My massage therapist says he submerges his arms in hothot water at night until they're pink and parboiled, which promotes blood and lymph movement and thus healing. He says it hurts worse at the time, because of swelling, but that's why you do it before bed, not in the morning before work.

Tylik suggests I bring in my sitting ball and sit on it at work, which would certainly help my overall useage, but (like Dog) I'm not sure my wrist problem will benefit more than peripherally.

I'm trying to figure out if there are more stretches I should be doing, if I should pick up drug store wrist braces to train myself out of twisting when I hit tab, if there's something I'm missing here.

Must fix. Suggestions and resources appreciated.

Comments

Maybe it's sugar... ?

[sprgtime.livejournal.com]

Have you had your blood sugar levels checked recently? I'm wondering if they're a little high.

I was dealing with terrible pain in my hands & wrists, which spread down my arm, could feel that tendon owie you're talking about... it just got worse with time. I went to see some different specialists about it, had tests done... nothing was conclusive. And some of those tests were painful.
I typed less and less - passed most of it off to others. I even gave up doing massage and reflexology because that was too painful - and you know how much I love doing that stuff.

Anyway... that was one of the HUGE side effects I discovered when I gave up sugar in January 2004. The pain got less, and less... and now it's completely gone. It has been gone for a while. But I no longer eat anything with added sugar, corn syrup, or the worst - high fructose corn syrup.

You could try 100% avoiding sugar (read ingredients labels on everything - I did not think I was consuming much sugar) for 2 weeks and see if your problem disappears.
I still eat fruits... natural sugars do not cause a problem, but when I have refined sugar or corn syrup, that pain starts coming back.

Signs of high blood sugar can be: extreme thirst, frequent urination, headaches, feeling drowsy, dry skin, blurred vision, stomach pains, feeling confused... do any of those symptoms seem to have cropped up recently?

Re: Maybe it's sugar... ?

[gement.livejournal.com]

I don't think this is it, but it's not a bad idea for me to try cutting back on general principle. I'll add it to the barrage.