And now for something completely different: Ow.
Monday, November 18th, 2013 05:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chanaleh
Around the end of September -- shortly after Sukkot -- I started experiencing some swelling in my hands (both hands equally), especially in the mornings.
Since then, it's turned into genuine stiffness/aching and been getting progressively worse, especially in the last week or so. Just today it's bad enough that I am having trouble typing, which was not the case even last Friday.
As someone who does computer-intensive work, I do experience some (OK, fairly chronic low-grade) tenderness in the forearms, mostly on the right, which is my dominant/mousing side. But I've never experienced anything in my hands before. I really don't even know where to begin with this!
Things that specifically changed around the time of onset:
(1) I went back to eating "normal" quantities of grains/flour/starches and refined sugars, which I had been making an effort to avoid for the previous 6 months or so.
(2) I started spending an average of three hours a day on the phone with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
etrace, holding my cell phone up to my head. (Yes, I finally replaced the battery in my Bluetooth earpiece so I could start using it again! so I've been better about this the last few days; but if anything, the stiffness has actually still been getting *worse*, not better.)
ETA: (3) Duh. I also began spending about 90 more minutes a day thumb-typing on my phone keyboard. It's a slider/physical keyboard, which I find much easier to use than the onscreen kind, but by the same token it's probably way too tempting to do WAY TOO MUCH. Hmph.
Things I have been sporadically trying without noticing much difference:
(1) Ibuprofen
(2) Elevation (when the primary thing I was noticing was the swelling, originally)
(3) Self-massage
(4) Stretching the affected areas
Things I understand I am supposed to try next:
(1) Aspirin
(2) Heat
(3) Cold
(4) Return to eliminating grains and sugar (starting this today)
(5) Actual massage therapy?
(6) Getting more sleep
And yes, I did also call/email my primary care doctor this evening for an appointment or consultation. Even some advice or a referral would be fine -- *something*.
Things I have heard about that I may want to consider also trying:
(1) Eliminating dairy and caffeine (this is MUCH more daunting than grains and sugar)
(2) Glucosamine supplements
(3) Fish oil and/or evening primrose oil
(4) Acupuncture
(5) PT?
(6) Reducing my computer use, I suppose, although beats the hell out of me how I am going to accomplish THAT.
(I suppose sitting here typing to you all about it is counterproductive, but I need sympathy, dammit, if I'm even going to make it through tonight's band rehearsal. Advice based on either experience or training is also welcome.)
Since then, it's turned into genuine stiffness/aching and been getting progressively worse, especially in the last week or so. Just today it's bad enough that I am having trouble typing, which was not the case even last Friday.
As someone who does computer-intensive work, I do experience some (OK, fairly chronic low-grade) tenderness in the forearms, mostly on the right, which is my dominant/mousing side. But I've never experienced anything in my hands before. I really don't even know where to begin with this!
Things that specifically changed around the time of onset:
(1) I went back to eating "normal" quantities of grains/flour/starches and refined sugars, which I had been making an effort to avoid for the previous 6 months or so.
(2) I started spending an average of three hours a day on the phone with
etrace, holding my cell phone up to my head. (Yes, I finally replaced the battery in my Bluetooth earpiece so I could start using it again! so I've been better about this the last few days; but if anything, the stiffness has actually still been getting *worse*, not better.)ETA: (3) Duh. I also began spending about 90 more minutes a day thumb-typing on my phone keyboard. It's a slider/physical keyboard, which I find much easier to use than the onscreen kind, but by the same token it's probably way too tempting to do WAY TOO MUCH. Hmph.
Things I have been sporadically trying without noticing much difference:
(1) Ibuprofen
(2) Elevation (when the primary thing I was noticing was the swelling, originally)
(3) Self-massage
(4) Stretching the affected areas
Things I understand I am supposed to try next:
(1) Aspirin
(2) Heat
(3) Cold
(4) Return to eliminating grains and sugar (starting this today)
(5) Actual massage therapy?
(6) Getting more sleep
And yes, I did also call/email my primary care doctor this evening for an appointment or consultation. Even some advice or a referral would be fine -- *something*.
Things I have heard about that I may want to consider also trying:
(1) Eliminating dairy and caffeine (this is MUCH more daunting than grains and sugar)
(2) Glucosamine supplements
(3) Fish oil and/or evening primrose oil
(4) Acupuncture
(5) PT?
(6) Reducing my computer use, I suppose, although beats the hell out of me how I am going to accomplish THAT.
(I suppose sitting here typing to you all about it is counterproductive, but I need sympathy, dammit, if I'm even going to make it through tonight's band rehearsal. Advice based on either experience or training is also welcome.)