Caution: This May Affect Everyone of Us-Carpal Tunnel

Yes, it was diagnosed by my orthopedic physician who recommended the splints and ibuprofen as the first line of treatment. I was fortunate that it was successful and I didn't have to go the next step up to the surgery. However, it took almost a year for the symptoms to be totally gone. One must be dedicated and disciplined with the splints. There was a lot of things that I had to leave off doing for that time. I think it arose from a combination of causes. I was working at the time and we used computers the entire work day. I was also crocheting and playing video games every day. So, with those combinations, I was putting excess strain on my wrists and hands. The latter hobbies had to be put on hold. I used a wedge in front of my keyboard at work to elevate my hands and wrists. I did wear the splints while working at the computer occasionally. The ibuprofen was of major importance. I had always thought of it as a light-weight pain/inflammation reliever but found out that it really is effective when needed and used as prescribed.

Thank you for sharing your first hand experience of the issue. Was it traced to excessive keyboard usage? Did you actually have a diagnosis by a specialist? What tips do you gives members here from your experience? Sorry for shooting off questions.

I must point out to the first comment on this post to clarify that unless diagnosed as carpal tunnel as such by the doctor, it may sometimes be misunderstood to be one. I am just trying to recap what he said because he sort of cautioned that we should not assume any description of the syndrome as a condition of its occurrence. That said, it looks quite likely that certain jobs involving repetitive movements of hand & fingers could be a source of carpal tunnel and caution is advised. As a preventive best practice for long use of computers that I noted was to place the key board at a lower level than the monitor to ensure the fingers always point down below the wrist level avoiding strain on the joint. Good prompt for an interaction, dorann!

Thanks lilac for the related useful information. So, it is for real, I suppose. Yea, now that I have become conscious & aware, I better take preventive care. I think the split key boards which can be placed separately from the monitor will offer some relief.

sids: I kind of sense you going through a bit rough but I find also that you are one with a good attitude. That is one trait which comes in handy in mitigating the associated pain etc. I think you would do well, if not done, to get a split key board, keep it wherever it feels comfortable and minimize stress on the wrist area. Take good care!

Not yet, enelym. I normally sense the changes early on and look for possible changes in living and my schedules etc which may be triggering these and if things are not too acute as in the instant case, I tend to make some preventive adjustments. I am trying to change the position of palm while typing. I think the latest computers have split keyboards which means, the key board can be placed at a different level for correct hand & finger position. What it also means that lap tops may not be good if we work long hours because the hands go very close to the ventilation port from which there is lot of hot air blowing out because the key board is integrated. Hmmm I think stress balls are also good. Thanks for pointing out. I'll now keep a set and start regular use.