TB Medical Advice Needed

[Nyarlathotep]

Ok, so like 10 or 11 years ago I was a fat kid.

If there's ONE thing you don't get fat kids to do, its run hurdles. Obviously I fell, but I ended up not landing on the palm of my hand, it bent the other way.

I've pretty much had problems ever since, but now with a fair bit of heavy lifting in my job and such, and really getting into playing bass more, my left wrist in really bothering me. I went to the doctor and he seems to think its just temporary since I haven't lost any strength in my grip.

But, since TB is the BEST place to come for advice, I figure what the hell. If I hold my hand palm up I get pain right down the inside of my arm. 2 days ago my friggin bicep was aching by the time I was finished work. I just played a little bit o' bass for the first time since it started aching again, and it didn't feel so good, even with a wraparound wrist brace on. Also, when I rotate my wrist I get an audiable clicking sound

[Stumbo]

Find another Dr. Maybe get a referral to an orthopedist. They deal with bones and muscle.

I hate it when they make statements "It's temporary". Based on what? What does that mean? What's the diagnosis? You just paid the doc for nothing. I mean, if he's not helping you fix it, why pay him/her? Your doc didn't even offer pain relief.These are questions you should ask any doctor when they are not offering solutions.

The obvious problem with your doctor's logic/observation is that your current problems are happening only on the side of your body where it was injured previously. It's mono-lateral and specific to one area. The question is: why isn't it happening to the other side of your body? IMO, the answer is: it's not temporary and won't "fix" itself. It maybe some type of muscle degeneration.

Some ideas:
Baseball pitchers soak their arms in ice after a game.
Acupuncture/massage has helped me with a strained back muscle.

That being said, I'd see a specialist first before attempting anything drastic on your own.

You may need to go off work for awhile and rest it to get it fixed.

Note: YMMV. I'm not a doctor, just an experienced patient. Good luck.

[Thunderscreech]

^ What he said, plus get an X-Ray.

[Joe Gress]

Go with stumbos advice and see if you can referred to a specialist. Get it taken care of mow before you really screw yourself and get hurt. It may get worse, so the sooner the better.

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally Posted by Stumbo

You just paid the doc for nothing.

Canada = free

Originally Posted by Stumbo

You may need to go off work for awhile and rest it to get it fixed.

Unfortunately, NOT gonna happen. Im stubborn that way.

[Ericman197]

If your doctor thinks you're ok, I'm inclined to agree with him.

I can't say the clicking is normal or not, that's something that needs to be checked out in person. But a little bit of clicking is 'normal,' in the sense that it is not likely to be anything serious. If it's only on the injured side, then it's possible that it's a result of your past injury, an injury you don't remember, inflammation, or dumb luck (ie: genetics or what have you). It's usually caused by tendons passing/rubbing over something.

Speaking strictly in terms of probability, your left arm is most likely bothering you because you're using it more (work and bass). It is not necessarily related to your past injury, though that is always a possibility.

What your doctor should have done, though I can't tell if he did or didn't, is get a good history of your past injury, how it was treated, current status, etc. After that, just a few basic questions and tests will help determine the likely cause of your current problem (in your case, maybe tendinosis). X-rays, CT/MRI, EMG-NCV testing, etc. is probably all overboard - you're probably not dealing with a fracture right now, and whatever damage was done 10+ years ago has long since healed (though perhaps not correctly or fully).

Definitely go back to your doctor, or ask to see an orthopedist if this gets MUCH worse or continues to be a problem. Try to take it easy as much as possible, and ice it when/after you hurt it. Continue using ice as long as you want (some people say ice for the first day or two then go to heat, but other people prefer ice followed by heat. Totally up to you, just as long as you do ice first - that's what they say).

[lowendfriend]

An exercise that I used when I first got my Warwick with the Louisville neck (now I just hit notes out of the park) is to take a cardboard tube from paper towels and twist it lightly slipping through my hands alternating sides....almost like you were winding imaginary rope onto the tube. Seems to unload the tension and relaxes the wrists and forearms.

[Grizzly700]

Could possibly be tennis elbow, look up the symptoms for it. It can cause wrist and hand pain/tingling/numbness, etc.

[Stumbo]

Originally Posted by Nyarlathotep

Canada = free

Well, you got what you paid for.

As far as being stubborn about taking time off of work. You gotta do what you gotta do to fix it. It may screw up your life if you don't.

Good luck.

[Ericman197]

Originally Posted by Grizzly700

Could possibly be tennis elbow, look up the symptoms for it. It can cause wrist and hand pain/tingling/numbness, etc.

Could be, and it'd be on the list of things to check out. But his description doesn't totally match. He mentions pain when his hand is 'palm up,' which I'm talking to mean when his wrist is in flexion (like curving your palm in the direction that you'd be making a fist). Also, he mentions bicep pain (biceps are also a flexor). Both could be explained by playing bass, doing pullups, picking up heavy grocery bags, etc.

Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) affects extensor muscles in the forearm (think of the motion: talk to the hand):

http://www.revolutionarytennis.com/S...terms_copy.jpg

Tennis being the classic cause, as it is a common activity where you're forcing your wrist into extension. You flick your wrist when you hit the ball, and when the ball hits the racket at high speed, your wrist takes the load, and transfers it to the lateral epicondyle (where the muscles originate).

Not knowing what Nyarlathotep does for work, weird positions used for playing bass, or exact positions where it hurts and distribution of pain... impossible to tell what the problem is.

[klyph]

Well, heavy lifting and playing the bass are definitely two things that can be ruinous to the wrists if done wrong! Playing so that you avoid injury is a pretty popular topic on TB; I'm sure Mr. Stumbo can point you in the right direction- or you can find a good teacher. Suffice to say, if you're wearing the bass down around you're knees, you won't get much sympathy here!

The lifting question is more complicated. What are you lifting? Can you switch hands? Are you wearing gloves? Are you outside? In a giant freezer? The variables are endless, and without details, hard to say what ails ya, as Ericman points out.
I can share one tip: If you're lifting cardboard boxes 30 lbs. or more, get a pair of rubberized gloves (the ones that are white cloth on the back, with pebble-finish latex on the fingers and palms). It's amazing how much stress I see people putting on their wrists trying to keep heavy boxes from slipping out of their hands!
Remeber also that the same concepts that keep your wrists healthy when playing are applicable elsewhere; try to keep them in a natural (straight/neutral) position, etc. Also, the general concepts of heavy lifting are applicable to the hands, i.e. don't use your hands or wrists to do the actual lifting, use the larger muscles in your arms (just like you use the big muscles in your legs, not the small ones in your back!)This will take some observation and introspection on your part, but if you're going to keep lifting heavy objects, you will need to do this. Good luck!

[benthughes]

Fell on outstretched hands yeah? I suffered a similar injury years ago and it turned out I had a fractured scaphoid. It's a carpal bone on the radial side of the wrist. A fracture can be difficult to detect on x-ray and due to the poor blood supply the bone can actually start to die if not treated. I went for a couple months before being checked out since the pain was tolerable but varied depending on activity. It took 2 surgeries to fix me up.

[TBrett]

It does not sound temporary. It sounds like a warning of worse to come if it's not treated properly. Consult a specialist. Your doc can hook you up with one. If x-rays don't show anything wrong, go for physiotherapy. You may just need to re-train your muscles to do certain tasks (including how you play bass) so they're not continuously straining a weak point. Insist on further treatment. Contrary to the post about "getting what you paid for," we DO pay for medical care in Canada (through our taxes), and there is LOTS of excellent care available. Take advantage of it. Strength training will likely also help a lot. Also, stretching exercises are really great for preventing repetitive stress injuries. A good physiotherapist can help with that, too.

[hbarcat]

Are you doing a lot of repetitive motion activities with that hand?

If so, you might be developing some serious muscular, skeletal or nerve related problems in that hand.

Not to mention the unsightly hair on your palms or the possibility of going blind.

[Tama]

Originally Posted by Stumbo

Well, you got what you paid for.

As far as being stubborn about taking time off of work. You gotta do what you gotta do to fix it. It may screw up your life if you don't.

Good luck.

Exactly....If it is free, then go see a specialist.
If you find a good specialist and you trust his/her word, then you should take whatever time the Doc. tells you to take.

Sometimes an injury can be healed easily if properly attended to.
If you don't, you could make a solvable problem....well....un-solvable.

An example is my tendonitis. I didnt rest it and now it has gotten worse and I don't think it will reverse...neither does my Doc.

I cut my finger end off a few years ago.

I opted out of the therapy because I didnt want to make a bad situation at my job worse.
Now it is sensitive.
Fortunately, I think I can do the therapy even now and have good results.
I wish you luck.
Cheers, Dave

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally Posted by hbarcat

Are you doing a lot of repetitive motion activities with that hand?

If so, you might be developing some serious muscular, skeletal or nerve related problems in that hand.

Not to mention the unsightly hair on your palms or the possibility of going blind.

This post just made my day.

I wore the wrist brace/wrap thing to work today and its not too bad. Seems to be getting better actually. I don't get any pain unless I lift something weirdly (or in my case trying to get something from the top shelf thats heavier than I expected, even after dragging it out from the shelf )

Im gonna try to play some bass a little later.

[Ericman197]

Originally Posted by benthughes

Fell on outstretched hands yeah?

Just a random point... if his description is accurate, it would be a fall on flexed wrist. A fall on outstretched hand would be landing with the palm to the ground. The distinction makes a difference in terms of what type of fracture you're dealing with, as well as what tendons are being stretched/torn.