Update on my carpal tunnel...
By BarBaraPrz
@BarBaraPrz (45498)
St. Catharines, Ontario
March 29, 2007 4:48pm CST
I had an EMG done on Tuesday. That's where they test your nerve function with electrical stimulation, i.e., little shocks. The first one caught me off guard and I gave a rather loud yelp. It scared the technician... I must say I've had pleasanter moments.
It seems I'm only 75% of the way to having carpal tunnel syndrome, so the surgery is not warranted at this time. The specialist did recommend I get an ultrasound done of my wrist because she could see that it was swollen a bit and I might have a tear in the tendon.
3 people like this
4 responses
@jchampany (1130)
• United States
19 Apr 07
Oh man, I have a friend who has carpal tunnel. She has had the surgery and all. It is very painful for her. I work all day on a computer myself and I am afraid of getting it. After all I have seen her go through. It's my best friends mother. She couldn't even pick up her grandchildren when they were little. I hope that everything somes out well for you.
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@BarBaraPrz (45498)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
20 Apr 07
Thanks for your concern. It wasn't too bad today, but yesterday was pretty sore. Sometimes, wearing the brace just makes it worse. Other times it helps.
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@surveygrrl (1270)
• United States
15 Jun 07
My doctor wrote down EMT. I wonder if EMT and EMG are the same thing. I am going in a couple hours to have mine done.
What are you doing to down the pain?
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@BarBaraPrz (45498)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
15 Jun 07
It may be the same thing... the G stands for graph, the T might stand for test... or your doc may just have the typical rotten penmanship they learn in med school. :o)
I wear a brace that keeps me from moving my wrist in certain directions, and when the pain gets really bad I take tylenol. I'm already taking glucosamine for the arthritis, but I may get a script for celebrex or similar.
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@surveygrrl (1270)
• United States
16 Jun 07
Turns out I don't have carpal tunnel. I guess that is a good thing. I have bad inflamation which has no known cause but I need to wear a brace for 2 weeks and take Aleve.
Thanks for your response. I wish you luck!
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@paidreader (5143)
• United States
1 May 07
Ouch! Doesn't sound very pleasant. A girl I used to work with didn't have the surgery but she did have to wear a brace and a tins unit on each wrist to send those little shocks on a regular basis. She eventually left the job due to the extensive typing we had to do.
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@BarBaraPrz (45498)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
1 May 07
Well, as I said before, it wasn't the typing that did it. If it was, it would be my LEFT wrist giving me problems, not my right, as 56% of all typing is done with the left hand. "The wee rat was fatter than that" is an example of using only the left hand to type. Yes, there's a "n" in there, and "n"s are usually typed with the right index finger, but it is easily reached by the left index finger, too.
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@paidreader (5143)
• United States
1 May 07
LOL, I'll have to try that. Typing wasn't the cause of hers either, it just aggrevated it a bit. :)
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@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
2 May 07
OUCH! I am very familiar with carpal tunnel..and the weird thing is was that I was just thinking the other day..gee, I haven't had a flare up in months and months and then, bingo...started that familiar twinge in my wrist that goes through my whole hand eventually...I really have had such bad bouts of it that I'm really incapacitated and now just in my one hand..it's almost like it switches back and forth--usually what I do is use Miracle Ice on my hand and wrap it up..that really seems to work for me...in fact the twinge I had last night is almost gone now thank god --and a lot of people blame doing too much on computers..actually any repetitive action with one's hands can trigger it--even cleaning chores! I'm just thinking though, in a sense it must have been funny when you yelped and scared the technician!
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