hi, I have been suffering with pain in my right hand for quite a few years. In 2018 I fell transferring from my wheelchair to my recliner, I landed heavily on my right arm and it bent back quite a bit. The carers called paramedics because I thought I had broken my arm and to help me up. The real pain didn't start until the next day. I went to the hospital to get them to xray my arm, there was nothing seriously wrong, just some tissue damage on the inside of my arm, close to my thumb and along that bone. Even after 4 years it still hurts there, I can feel a swelling where it hurts. I have had a few incidences where my arm or wrist buckles when I put any weight on it. It happened the other week, I was getting on my bed and my wrist twisted round, the pain was pretty bad afterwards. I went down the hospital again and again it was just tissue damage. For the last few years, being I am in a wheelchair, I can't have an electric wheelchair because I am also visually impaired, I have had a lot of pain and discomfort in the back of my hand and fingers around my wrist, this has just been diagnosed as osteo arthritis. Because of the constant use with my wheelchair, using my keyboard to type, typing braille, my hands get constant use. It is impossible for me not to use them. Over the last couple of days the pain has got so bad I am almost in tears, it is unbearable! I have a lot of pain relief left over from my foot injury but very little seems to help with this kind of injury. What would you guys use on this kind of pain, I have codein, oramorph, ibuprofen and ibuprofen gels. I was talking to a lady doctor last night, she told me this is probably going to get worse as I get older, is there a way of managing this kind of injury apart from bed rest 24/7 and getting 24 hour care which isn't going to happen. I like most people rely on my arms a lot, transfers, standing, etc. It is going to be very difficult.
hand and wrist pain: hi, I have been suffering... - Pain Concern
hand and wrist pain
Often tissue, muscle and ligament damage is actually worse than a break! I went to hospital with possible broken wrist and it wasn’t but too a long time for pain to improve. Had to keep strapped up for a long time and then intermittently when pain flared up.You mention not being able to use a powered wheelchair due to visual impairment. Can I ask how severe your sight loss is (feel free to PM me if you would prefer). It may be possible that you could use a powered chair after some input via a Rehabilitation Officer for the Visually Impaired.
Hi, the pain can be pretty awful at times, depends on how much I use it. I only see light and dark, nothing else at all. There is no way they'd let me use an electric wheelchair. I will just have to have more help with the things I find difficult until this heals up.
Have you had an appointment with a hand specialist, they are usually physios or OTs with extra training for hands. They should be able to advice on any exercises, supports or devices that would make things easier for you.
Hi, I saw a physio about a month ago when problems started and she looked at some older xrays and back in 2018 they said I have got degenerative wear and tear and osteo arthritis but nobody told me. my wrist buckled a couple of weeks ago and I went and got it xrayed again but the phrase they keep using is tissue damage, that tells me absolutely nothing. Nobody has actually diagnosed the problem but at least I know what is wrong but it is getting the correct treatment. I have booked to see a physio next Friday. I have dentist first followed by physio. I am having a tooth out so may not be the best plan but you have to get what you can.
I have a lot of pain with my thumbs due to OA. I also developed carpel tunnel when I was put in a wheelchair. I had to have it surgically repaired. You need to ask for a nerve test as this is the only way to diagnose carpel tunnel. You might also try wearing a wrist brace for carpel tunnel while you sleep.
Hi, I don't think this is carpel tunnel, just weakness and wear and tear in the joints, a lot of the pain is around my thumb and along the bone along the in side of my arm. Also the joint between my hand and wrist. No pain relief I use helps much. I just have to wear a wrist support. I need to start using my weights to help build up the muscles a bit.
Hi salamander160. I suffer badly with my right hand, wrist and thumb. My injury was due to doing heavy manual work which was continuous and now I can't work. I have a condition called Tensynovitis in my thumb with muscle wastage and I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my wrist/hand. I have been offered an operation but I can't have it due to also having a rare condition of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, so I have to live with this for the rest of my life and I am only 55 years old. I am also allergic to opiates so pain relief is a no no for me. If I was you I would get a definite diagnosis, I was told at first that I had arthritis in my hand but I don't. You will know what you are dealing with if you know what is wrong. When my hand/wrist is very painful I use a splint which makes it less painful. I received an appointment with an occupational therapist and she helped me such a lot, she gave me the splint and she asked me if I needed hand rails or other things in the home to make life easier for me. If you can I would make an appointment with one, it has to be through your doctor though but they do help.
Hi, it sounds really grim and in a lot of ways very similar to what is wrong with my hand and arm. Obviously mine is caused by constantly using a wheelchair for 47 years, my arms do a lot of work, transfers, supporting me when I stand and much more. I also use my pc a lot so typing a lot doesn't help. The pain I am getting in and around my thumb and the joint from my thumb and down my arm, the clinician who saw me mentioned something like Tensynovitis, it was very similar to that. I spoke to a doctor the other day but physios deal with these kind of problems now, the doctors don't do any of it. In some ways the doctors aren't very helpful. I can take opiates but for this injury they don't help. Exercise would help but you would think my hands and arms get enough exercise but obviously it is the wrong kind of exercise. No it is not good to be in so much pain, I hope for your sake they will find something which will help.
Does ibuprofen help at all? As in do you notice a slight difference when you take it? If it is soft tissue damage it could be inflammation that is causing the pain, and there are stronger NSAIDs that could help with that. As for exercise, you are right, it can help, but not while you are in the acute phase, you need to let things heal first. I hope the physio and dentist goes well.
Hi, no ibuprofen doesn't really help but the doctor has told me to use naproxine which is stronger and better for this kind of injury. I have just been out for a wheel around the block, a it is freezing cold and b I got trapped between two metal gates which are electronic, had to get help to get out but yes that is ok wheeling my chair, that didn't hurt too much but weights I think can wait until I have seen the physio, get proper help as I need to make this better, not make it worse. Problem is if I don't exercise, i will get weaker and things will get worse, it is catch 22, either way I can't win!!
The world is so wheelchair unfriendly sometimes! My son has power assisted wheels now, because my wrists could push him anymore. He has got a little weaker during the pandemic because he hadn't been able to go to the hydrotherapy pool which is his main source of exercise, but has recently discovered that sharpening my old sickle and spending 10 minutes a day trimming the grass is helping. Although with a VI I wouldn't recommend that! I hope you can find the right balance between exercise and healing. Even if you do lose a bit of condition it doesn't mean that you won't be able to make it up later.
Oh, and yes, it was naproxine that I was thinking of. When I had a bad flare I was taking tramadol until I realised that naproxen was better at curbing the pain. But I can only take it for a couple of days before I get headaches, so I alternate between the two when things get really bad.
Hi, I am taking the naproxine while I need to, i only have a few strips of it, depending on what the physio says next week and once I get a proper diagnosis. Yes the pandemic has a lot to answer for. As soon as my leg injury is better which won't be too long and my leg is out of bandage, I will be going back in the swimming pool. It is very easy to get out of condition. To help me lose weight and get fit I have ordered a rowing machine, again I need to check this with my physio but I need to do something. Ok about your son, I know how difficult it can be, the wheelchair service gave me a power pack for my wheelchair but nobody used it so I sent it back. It would have made it easier for my carers but I normally put it on myself but I am not able to get down on the floor like that right now.
My son has e-motion wheels. They were expensive but his arms and wrists are very weak and the wheels have made a positive change to his life as he can now self-propel for much longer. It is like the best of both worlds as he gets more arm exercise with them than if he had a full electric wheelchair, or when I was pushing, but it is so much easier for him that he can take himself further.
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