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Bilateral wrist pain and swelling


Posted: Nov 10, 2010

Okay, I've been doing MT work for about 25 years and never had much of a problem with my wrists that a little R&R didn't fix. 

Lately, I've been having pain that seems to start in my wrists, causes my wrists and fingers on both hands to swell, and the pain seems to travel up both of my arms to my shoulder region.  It hurts to even reach overhead to change my shirt.

Has anyone else experienced this?  I do editing most of the day, which might be why I've never had this pain before since I just began editing about a year ago.  Straight transcription never caused this type of pain and swelling. 

Would wrist splints possibly help this?  Or has anyone else experienced this and have any recommendations?

Thanks much for any advice!

;

yes - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I have had wrist/finger swelling and pain for years brought on with typing and editing. I also get tingling, numbness, pins and needles, etc. Splints do help, along with ice and heat alternating. Icy Hot became my best friend for awhile! I was diagnosed with tenosynovitis/tendinitis and had to go through hand therapy, custom splints and LOA. Still not done with it. If you are going to continue typing, be mindful of how hard you are hitting the keyboard, get up and move around and try to take lots of breaks.

You had better get some wrist splints ASAP! - Cheryl B.

[ In Reply To ..]
I used them just to prevent problems, and my MT daughter does the same. Having said that, I have quit MT after 32 years due to what started as shoulder pain, could not even lift my arm to wash my hair..... and was recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I have quit MT unfortunately, just cannot handle the pain anymore.

Good luck. Maybe try taking some anti-inflammatories regularly too.

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