For Anyone Suffering From Painful Hands & Fingers

[jewgaffer]

Hi Everyone.

I'm not sure if many of you have ever experienced occasional bouts or constant pain in your hand/s and numbness in your fingers...... This condition is often diagnosed as being Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, a condition that can occur as a result of repetitive movements which may overstretch and eventualy harden the tendon which is located near the centre of the hand where the palm of the hand meets the wrist...... The tendon loses its elasticity and becomes fixated against the group nerves in a sac underneath the tendon..... These are nerves that service the thumb, the index finger, the middle finger and the base of the ring finger........ Apparently the pinkie finger is not affected directly and also the upper joint/s of the ring finger is not affected directly although in some instances pain may be referred to that area.

I believe that fishing in the winter aggravated an old problem that wasn't troubling me enough to worry about to such an extent that I had to seek medical advice and it seems regular exposure to cold air may have hardened the tendon against the nerve sac.

In my case the associated finger numbness which I believe many others experience occasionally, progressively become constant and developed into debilitating hand and finger shock like pains after being exposed to long bouts of extreme cold on the water, to the extent that I am now awaiting surgery.... There are separate operating wards just for hand surgery I believe in certain public hospitals..... There is a waiting list up to several months in my area due to the number of sufferers, and I was told Carpel Tunnel Syndrome affects a large number of young people.

I have to wear hand splits at night but I have found that the exercizes below help ease the pain. If anyone else has signs of numbness occasionally in the fingers or deep hand pain or similiar symptoms do go and see your doctor about it.

Stretching exercises can often help alleviate the symptoms experienced in carpal tunnel syndrome. The exercise described below is specific to the management of patient’s who experience carpal tunnel syndrome.

1) Extend and stretch both wrists and fingers out in front of you (as if you are telling an oncoming car to stop with both hands)

2) Hold for a count of 5 seconds

3) Relax and straighten both wrists out in front of you

4) Now make a tight fist with both hands (arms still extended out in front of your body)

5) Bend down both wrists curling your fists to the floor

6) Hold for a count of 5 seconds

7) Relax and straighten both wrists out in front of you

8) Repeat steps 1 through 7 ten more times

At the end of the session relax both your arms straight down by your side and shake you hands and wrists back and forth for about ten seconds to loosen them up as though you are shaking water off your hands.

I hope this helps other members who may have signs of this problem to cope better with it and I believe these particular exerizes are also preventative measures.

Cheers

jewgaffer

Edited December 29, 2008 by jewgaffer

[robeebee]

your a veritable wealth of knowledge Byron

[mick309]

A good mate of mine suffers from this, he wears a thick copper bangle and swears by it. It does however turn his wrist a shade of green. Have you tried this?

Mick

[Mik]

Byron

Thanks for the info. My brother has just been diagnoised with Carpel Tunnel. He is a guitarist & the idea of not being able to play is almost too much for him to hear. He has played on & off for most of his life & has played professional over the years with several years being in 3 seperate style bands gigging 6 days a week. His favourite instrument is the guitar but he also loves the banjo.

Recently he quit his job & had decided to go back to playing for money. After many years of finger picking style it has taken its toll. He had begun practicing 6 hours a day for a few weeks before looking for work but towards the end he started experiencing pain that made it hard to play. After a vistit to the docs he is now faced with a decicion to under go surgery or try some alternatives like physio etc.

Anyways, I'll pass this on to him & see what he thinks. Poor bugger is a little devistated at the moment & now looking for another boring job to get him by.

[squizzytaylor]

I had the operation (keyhole) on my left hand about a year and a half ago and have never looked back, people who dont suffer from it cant begin to understand how bad it can really get. The exersizes you have mentioned were enough to get my right hand (no jokes please) back to about 90% and were recomended to me by one of Australias leading therapists.

GT

[THE SWEENEY]

i had both hands operated on at the same time one hand was in plaster for one week the other was bandaged to the elbow for eight days,wife was very understanding and helpfull. take my advice and have the operation,i wish i had it done years ago so good not to have tingling and numb fingers every night. cheers Laurie.

[jewgaffer]

i had both hands operated on at the same time one hand was in plaster for one week the other was bandaged to the elbow for eight days,wife was very understanding and helpfull. take my advice and have the operation,i wish i had it done years ago so good not to have tingling and numb fingers every night. cheers Laurie.

Thanks Laurie. I really appreciate this information I have to have my right hand operated on first and my left hand done six weeks later as I have a back injury and I am currently waiting to be called in for surgery for that.

Cheers

jewgaffer

[marcel haber]

I feel for you mate, the pain is bloody terrible.

Your hand can go numb and you get sudden hot electric shocks pulsating thru your forearm and hands.

My mum did the operation and she is now pain free.

Get it done mate so you can have many years of painfree fishing.

Twin 1