An affliction for heavy typers?

My wife has been suffering from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome for a year now and her doctors are reluctant to give her an operation as she suffers in both wrists and she would not be able to have both done at the same time. She has been receiving steroid treatments, in the form of injection directly into her wrists, throughout the last year and while these injections help to ease the pain for a month or so, it unfortunately returns and the process starts all over again.

I wonder, being a forum of people who spend a lot of their time typing, if anyone here has suffered with a similar affliction and has any "best practice" tips that she could try to help limit the amount of treatment that she requires?

I don't know if she has tried this.. But I have mild CT from years of playing bass/computer usage.

I usually take a damp cloth soaked in the hottest water I could stand, and wrap it around my wrists for a few minutes. Then take another cloth and soak it in really cold water and do the same. Repeat this several times. It helps the muscles relax by contracting/expanding them.

Also, doing stretches, get her to grab all four of her fingers and stretch them back and hold them back for about 10-20 seconds and release slowly. Again, this stretches the muscles and can help relieve the pain.

Another technique is to make a fist really hard and hold it for about 10-20 seconds.

You can also combine doing those stretches with the hot/cold clothes on the wrists as well.

Of course, there are prescription pain killers, if you're inclined to do so.

find a physical therapist.. and do something that utilizes your muscles in a completely different manner for fun.

only advice I have

Although I've never suffered from CT, I did suffer from a really bad bout of Gout which lasted for almost two months.

As kind of a last resort, I tried acupuncture and after two treatments in one week, it cleared up a few days after that.

Try resting the wrists on heated wheat or heated gel bags when typing. I know this works for some elderly friends. Just be careful not to overheat the bags in the microwave, or skin burns may ensue.

Thanks for your responses so far - really helpful. She is trying some of your suggestions as we speak!

No problem! Hope she feels better

quicksilver said:

My wife has been suffering from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome for a year now and her doctors are reluctant to give her an operation as she suffers in both wrists and she would not be able to have both done at the same time. She has been receiving steroid treatments, in the form of injection directly into her wrists, throughout the last year and while these injections help to ease the pain for a month or so, it unfortunately returns and the process starts all over again.

I wonder, being a forum of people who spend a lot of their time typing, if anyone here has suffered with a similar affliction and has any "best practice" tips that she could try to help limit the amount of treatment that she requires?

Click to expand...

I once read where office workers (Germany I think) had to rest for ten minutes each hour because of this problem. Any over-exercise will result in damage of some kind.

One thing you might like to try out is a strict vegetarian diet for a while (not for ever!). Like any part of our bodies, tendons need nourishment, and this can only be accessed through healthy food. Think calcium, ie, things like celery etc.

Mike.

quicksilver said:

My wife has been suffering from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome for a year now and her doctors are reluctant to give her an operation as she suffers in both wrists and she would not be able to have both done at the same time. She has been receiving steroid treatments, in the form of injection directly into her wrists, throughout the last year and while these injections help to ease the pain for a month or so, it unfortunately returns and the process starts all over again.

I wonder, being a forum of people who spend a lot of their time typing, if anyone here has suffered with a similar affliction and has any "best practice" tips that she could try to help limit the amount of treatment that she requires?

Click to expand...

you need to use hot heat packs and then cold packs.
She my need a few weeks of typing and just letting the arm and wrist rest.
She sould apply hot and cold packs at leat 7 times a day to recover from the pain. also, she my need to take fish oil to help to bones.
If I was her I would not do any stretches, stetches at this stage would be the worst thing. stop the pain then do the stretches not the other way around.
She needs a break from typing for at least 3 weeks!

what computer is she using? have her use a laptop keyboard that has a low key profile so it doesn't take much to press the keys