Newbie, be gentle? Does anybody else suffer with pain and stiffness in pinky/ring finger and wrist/forearm?

[jchantler102675]

I'm new to the group/HealthUnlocked so apologies if I've missed similar posts.

Over the past few months I've been suffering with pain and numbness in my pinky finger/ring finger to the extent where I can't use the hand in question because of the intensity. I spoke with my GP who suggested it could be Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) due to constant use of my hands at work (Keyboard/Mouse) and anti-inflammatories and rest would help. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have helped and more recently the pain has spread to my wrist and forearm and before I went back to my GP, I thought I'd see whether anybody out there had similar pains and might have any advice on how to alleviate the pain (especially when using a mouse/driving as these are daily tasks that form the majority of my day).

For information, I've had an Occupational Health referral and a Display Screen Equipment assesment where I've supplied with a Logitech Trackman Trackball and while this seemed to have helped at first, it doesn't seem to be any better than a standard mouse at the moment.

Any ideas/advice would be much appreciated. Apologies if this post doesn't fit with the group - just let me know and I'll remove it.

[Bananas5]

RSI or carpal tunnel.

Only way to alleviate pain is surgery.

This is done under a local but your hand will be out of action for a few weeks.

x

[bantam12]

Have you tried wearing a wrist splint ? they help by keeping your wrist stable but as Bananas5 says surgery is the only permanent solution, I had surgery a few years ago and no problem since.

[Bananas5 in reply to bantam12]

Had mine done too...caused by gardening!!! Well being a florist mainly

x

[bantam12 in reply to Bananas5]

It was years of sewing that did mine.

[hypercat54]

Hi my first thought was carpal tunnel syndrome so get this checked out. x

[Min-Pain]

Hi

I went through this pain for quite some time before going to my gp. As soon as i seen him he told any tingling / pain is going to be a compressed ulna nerve. I went for a nerve connection study to confirm it. It then was a short operation under general anesthetic an job done. Just ask Dr google about ulna nerve compression symptoms.

Good luck

[cyberbarn]

This might not be a problem with the baby finger or wrist, it could be a knock on symptom of a problem higher up in the system.

I had a lot of wrist and finger/thumb problems that have spanned over many years now. When I was pregnant they deiced it was carpel tunnel syndrome and treated it as such. After the birth they sent me to standard physio and when it didn't resolve after 6 sessions they said the only other option was an injection.

Luckily a friend of mine was a newly qualified physio and offered to do an assessment for me. She got me to lay down on the floor, face down. She examined my thumb and hand and said 'hmmmm....' then went onto my elbow....hmmmm... then my shoulder...then my neck.

When I got up she said that i had a problem in my neck and regardless to any secondary problem in my hand or wrist, until I got the neck sorted out the shoulder, elbow and wrist and hand wouldn't get better.

So I went off to an osteopath who indeed confirmed it was my neck, and after just two sessions my hand problems including the long standing numbness in my little and ring finger, resolved.

We still have this idea in medicine that each part of the body is a stand alone system, but in fact the whole body is connected and one part can have an effect on another. So before you jump to the carpel tunnel explanation, make sure someone assesses the rest of the body too.

[Bananas5]

Yes that is why you go to see the neurologist who does nerve conduction test..

I had carpal as it was quite obvious. I also had pain in my wrist which showed up as a trapped nerve in my neck.

Inoperable as too dangerous.

x

[Hidden in reply to Bananas5]

I had pains in left shoulder and arm along with numbness in fingers. It was a C6/C7 radiculopathy and I had neurosurgery (foraminotomy) at the National Hospital For Neurology and Neurosurgery, London. It cured the problem immediately.

[Bananas5 in reply to Hidden]

My hand would jump uncontrollably. Often when I was carrying hot food or worse...my cup of tea!!

Glad your op was a success.

My jumps have lessened as I get older

x

[johnsmith in reply to Bananas5]

Trapped nerves are treatable by Osteopaths, chiropractors and Alexander Teachers. They may not cure the problem but they can reduce the problem.

[Bananas5 in reply to johnsmith]

Thank you johnsmith. I'll come to you instead next time I need to see my consultant. Obviously his knowledge and training on whether to treat me, or chop my neck off, is second to yours.

Does that mean by reducing the problem I only drop hot food a little bit? Cos believe me it burns me, or breaks the plate, just as successfully..

x

[johnsmith in reply to Bananas5]

Thanks for the humour. I had to chuckle.

Now for the serious bit. The body is an engineering system. It has a stress break down point. Just below the stress break down point the system can function albeit badly. Just above the stress breakdown point the system falls apart and breaks down with the smallest increase in stress. So by taking actions that keep your stress below the stress break down point you can enjoy a vastly improved quality of life. The injury can be present and interfere with all sorts of things and cause pain. However, below the stress break down point the problem can be at the one level. Above the stress beak down point the problem can be at the 100 level a very big difference in regard to soul destroying experience.

Dropping the food a little: means you lost a small portion of the food on your plate; and it takes 30 seconds to clean up the mess; and you still have a lot of food left on the plate. Dropping the entire plate means you have lost half an hour of your time cleaning up the mess. And you have to put your clothes in the washing machine.

[Bananas5 in reply to johnsmith]

No johnsmith you forget one very important thing in my life...or not in my life.

I am blind so dropping anything takes longer however small it is.

And...being David's carer......it is usually his dinner and I drop it on him....you can understand the problem.

x

[morphalot]

Hi I had severe carpal tunnel pain about 20 years ago. My GP gave me steroid injections into my shoulder and sent me to a physiotherapist. I've had no pain since. I would go back to my GP and ask first if he considers carpal tunnel syndrome a possibility and is there anything else he can try before surgery?x

[6092177588]

I received ice packs for wrist, ankles, neck. From Ms , i also get hand cramps like a charlie horse, it scares me. Sometimes I am not sure if it's the Ms or something else. Thanks