Wednesday, February 11, 2015

They Come In Handy

Hands. What would we do without them? I think I might have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Over a year ago we spent some time helping a friend clean up her property in the hope that she would have her horses, and her livelihood, returned. (It never happened.) That afternoon in early November of 2013, I picked up a grass and leaf rake and took to the yard. I raked leaves for about four hours and went home with sore arms and aching thumbs. My arms recovered, but my thumbs have not been the same since.

It wasn't until this Monday afternoon, while I was outside snapping a few photographs while waiting for Rachel, that the pain in my hand became unbearable. Although my thumbs have been popping down along the sides of my hands, it was my right index finger (my camera trigger finger) that was shooting pain. I felt like I desperately wanted to crack the knuckle between my finger and hand, but knew better than to try.

Yesterday morning I left early for Prayer and Bible study and picked up a wrist brace on the way. two actually, one for daytime and one to wear at night so I don't curl my hands up when I sleep. This morning My Darling brought me one he had purchased for his left hand. (I look crippled...) I really don't want to face the possibility of surgery so I am going to try and take it easy for a while and I'm going to find out how to be more careful with my hands. I'm going to need them for a while longer. How would I ever crochet, or paint, or make pies, or build snowmen?

More photos from that walk in the park last Friday. They're too fun not to share.

On second thought, maybe I have this, Mommy's Thumb.  Not sure what's up with the index finger...

9 comments:

  1. Oh dear....that doesn't sound good....
    Mommy Thumb....hmmmm...let me think about that....
    Enjoy your evening...
    Cheers!
    Linda:o) aka....birthday girl!

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    1. You're right, Birthday Girl, this isn't good.
      Here I was just getting the hang of crocheting too.

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  2. I had all of those exact same symptoms...even the curling hands at night... but mine ended up being arthritis! Hope you figure it out! So painful!

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    1. Yeah, I'm trying not to think about it being arthritis. It's really the finger that's killing me.
      :P

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    2. Does it feel like someone is hammering a nail into it?

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    3. When it's hurting, my finger feels like I really, really want to crack the knuckle. I'll have to think about the nail being hammered in. I'm not sure if I'd describe it exactly like that or not.

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  3. The test for carpel tunnel is very easy and painless. I thought I had it, but it turned out to be arthritis in my thumb joint and wrist :-( My husband had very successful surgery for carpel tunnel. Said he would do it again. I just love your photographs Martha.

    Marilyn from Canada

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    1. It's really the tendons in the outer edge of my thumbs that hurt. That's not the carpal tunnel, it's more like De Quervain's Condition and it won't go away by itself. (I'm still doing research) At least I'm not using my thumbs to text or play video games. Maybe the finger has arthritis.
      Thank you for the photo compliment. They are so fun when they turn out great.
      :0)

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