Fuhgedaboudit

[wayfaringwordhack]

Almost two weeks ago, I went to a doctor about a pain in my wrist. He took my hand in his, pinched the tendon between my thumb and wrist a couple of times and, when I failed to say "ow," advised me to, and I quote, "Forget about it." This is after I explained that I had already been suffering from the pain for three months. It came upon me suddenly in Albania when I was lifting Soëlie out of her crib one night. For a while, the pain only came in the middle of the night, and I thought I was sleeping in a position that was bad for my arm.  I tried and tried to sleep differently, but the pain spilled over into the day and the sharp lances of quick-fading agony became a lance followed by a dull throbbing pain that could last minutes.

But, according the doc, my best bet was just to forget.  Um, yeah.  OK.

Today I went to see an osteopath, and she said I have a combination of a mechanically-caused pain and tendonitis. She manipulated my hand, wrist, and elbow for a good hour, told me to ice the wrist at least once a day, and to buy a wrist splint to immobilize it if the pain is not gone in ten days. I'm supposed to rest it as much as possible, but having the exclusive care of Soëlie when J is gone (ten days this time) and the cooking and housekeeping...yeah...not much chance at rest.

I hope the rest and ice (and maybe the splint) take care of it because I really don't want to have surgery, which the osteopath said might have to happen if it gets worse. :-/

Comments

[sunflower-sky.livejournal.com]

Yes, they told me two things: to hold my wrists straight when lifting and not let my hands dangle down at an angle; and to try and lift close to my body with my elbows bent, rather than stretching my arms out. Both help reduce strain on the wrist. It was pretty impossible to do with an itty bitty baby who needed to be lifted in and out of car seats/strollers/lying position on the floor; it should probably be easier with Soelie, who you can encourage to come close to you before you lift her, and whom you'll be lifting mostly from a standing position.

My dad (a rehab doctor) also advised dosing me up on anti-inflammatories (full dose of Advil like 3 times a day for like a week), but.... :-/

So yeah. Splint. I say if it doesn't improve at all within a week, go for the splint, wear it a few hours a day and see if it helps.

Feel better!

~D