Age catching up...

[major_clanger]

My god. I turn 37 on Saturday, and before I know it bits are falling off, or at least seizing up.

I've been experiencing shooting pains in my left arm and fingers for a few weeks now, combined with discomfort whenever I flex my left wrist under load. Having concluded that this wasn't going away I went to see the doctor today, who asked me to wiggle my fingers with my hand in various positions and describe when it hurt.

Diagnosis: I've got tenosynovitis, or as it's more often known, repetitive strain injury.

This is a surprise to me, as unlike some of m friends it's not as if I type 90,000 words a day. I suspect change of posture sitting in front of either my home or work computer as a result of my move about three months ago (shortly before the problem began). Time to do some applied ergonomics; as it is I've been given some anti-inflammatory pills and told to minimise use of my left hand for a month. This means either one-handed typing (really slow) or a sort of one-and-a-half handed typing where I try to keep my left wrist rigid and type by moving my arm (a bit faster but still awkward).

I do of course have an OU essay to finish tonight.

Comments

[purpletigron.livejournal.com]

Ow :-(

[daveon.livejournal.com]

Wow, for some reason I thought you were slightly older than me. Not fractionally younger :) Happy Birthday!

I've been having similar RSI related problems and changing posture and doing stretches and so forth on the arm has been helping.

[alex-holden.livejournal.com]

I get the same thing, although my doctor called it tendonitis. I just googled both terms, and I'm sure tenosynovitis is what I actually get - it's definitely the tendon guides that swell, not the tendons.

I think for me the original root cause may have been that for many years as a kid I wore a watch with a tight metal strap 24x7, so much so that I developed a sort of step in my arm. Where that step was is where I get the problem now.

Things I have done to reduce recurrence include:
* Switching to a better keyboard both at home and at work.
* Switching my mouse to my left hand.
* Switching my watch to my left arm (though actually I rarely wear a watch at all any more).
* Switching to the DVORAK keyboard layout.
* Avoiding hand-writing as much as possible.
* Taking frequent breaks while doing a lot of typing.
* Learning to recognise the early signs of an attack and stopping immediately when that happens.

The last one is probably the most important, because if I keep going after the first signs begin, it quickly reaches the stage where the symptoms are obvious (in my case, a horrid crunching sensation whenever I move my right wrist), and by then the damage has been done and I know from experience it's going to take a couple of weeks minimum for it to heal. The "one and a half handed typing" doesn't work for me- any typing at all before it has completely healed immediately sets me right back to square one.

With regards to healing, don't let people tell you to put a pressure bandage on it- that'll make it worse by compressing the inflamed tendon guides. Try to use the affected hand as little as possible. Every time you use it for something, you increase the healing time a little. Repetitive activities like typing and operating a mouse, and activities which require you to apply a strong squeezing force, like crimping CAT-5 cables, are very bad indeed. But at the same time don't leave it completely still for hours on end either, because that increases the healing time too. Every few minutes, wave your arm around (I like to slowly rotate it around from below my waist to above my head and back), and gently move your fingers about a little. I believe this works because the reason your tendon guides take so long to heal is that they have a very poor blood supply, and the movement pumps fresh blood through.

BTW I first experienced the problem when I was 21, so it's not really a symptom of old age.

[frandowdsofa.livejournal.com]

Join the club - Dragon Naturally Speaking software was a big help.