Dr. Hive: Repetitive motion injury vs. arthritis???

[BikeBookBread]

I am an avid crocheter (I hold the hook with my right hand), and have been exceptionally productive lately. My hands recently started to KILL me. It doesn't seem like carpal tunnel, because it isn't running down fingers through the wrists. The tip of my right pointer finger is very painful, with hot, shooting pain when I flex it (like I'm mousing too much, but I'm not), and my left thumb hurts the same way.

 

Does this sound like arthritis or a repetitive motion problem?

[TravelingChris]

I have arthritis and I also get muscle spasms and nerve pains. Hot shooting pain is indicative of nerve pain. That is the pain you get from repetitive motion injuries or from compression issues or muscle spasms that don't get resolved. They are hard to treat. The best thing is to avoid what is aggravating it. Unfortunately nerve pain only responds weakly to most pain medication. For long term issues, there are special medications. But they have heavy side effects and not what you want to have. I would suggest trying to stop your activitiy for a while and seeing if that helps. If it does and then re-occurs when doing it again, I would seek help from an occupational therapist who could recommend devices and methods to keep doing the activity without aggravating the condition. Good luck.

 

Oh, and arthritic pain is in the joints and doesn't radiate much though with prolonged pain, the whole area can end up hurting like my hands have been lately. However, when the doctor pressed on my joints, the pain was excrutiating versus the normal pain while I do things like type.

[HSDCY]

It does not sound like arthritis to me, it's probably "overuse syndrome".

 

I am a former PT and a crocheter, I know how it feels to crochet for a long stretch of time. My advice to you is to rest until your symptoms go away before you start your next project. Meanwhile, you can do contrast bath described here:

http://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/nquarrie/contrast.html

 

I know it's hard to do, but next time you pick up your crocheting needles again, try to relax your fingers a bit and pace your work (no more than 45 min at a time), it will help to prevent future injuries.

 

HTH.

[BikeBookBread]

Thanks so much, gals...I'm sure it is from too much crochet. I've been doing 2 - 3 hours at a time for the past 3 weeks trying to get my friend's afghan done. I DID finish it in time, but now I'm paying for it. I think I'll put away the hook for a while...

 

I am a former PT and a crocheter, I know how it feels to crochet for a long stretch of time. My advice to you is to rest until your symptoms go away before you start your next project. Meanwhile, you can do contrast bath described here:

http://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/nquarrie/contrast.html

 

I'm going to try this...sounds very soothing.

[Beth in OH]

Does this sound like arthritis or a repetitive motion problem?

 

My recently diagnosed (through exam and x -ray) arthritis became acute awhile ago when I was gripping repetitively due to packing for a move. Because it seemed to come on suddenly in both hands and radiated around the basal thumb joint up into my hand, I really thought it was some type of tendonitis. I also had hot, shooting pain with no joint stiffness at all. I did lots of anti-inflammatory self-care. Over time, one hand became the more painful of the two, and it began to affect my daily activities.

 

I was finally referred to a hand specialist who showed me the joint damage in my worst hand. I ended up with a cortisone shot in that joint, along with supportive splints for both hands so I can do housework comfortably. Although it bums me out to have this problem before age 50, I'll just keep on using it and then consider a joint replacement when necessary.

 

Bottom line--I would see if it calms down on its own, but if not, go see a Dr. The Dr. can set you up with an occupational therapist so you can learn to relieve any extra pressure on the joing.

 

Beth