You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I developed this a couple of weeks ago. It's bloody painful, and reading up on it doesn't give me much cause for optimism. The one bright spot is that riding a bike doesn't seem to aggravate it.
Anyone else had it? Did you find anything that helped significantly?
I got double thumb casts Some 15 years ago following a house reno. Pinch lifting drywall sheets and setting 400sq ft of 12x24 porcelain floor tile plus the wringing out of sponges almost certainly caused mine.
Casts for a couple of weeks which made life awkward but mostly recovered following their use. I have to be careful still and try and wring sponges/cloths different now when tiling and I still get twinges every now and again to remind me to be careful or do a few thumb stretches.
In addition to washser woman's thumb, I've had a skiiers thumb injury since. The dequervains definately lurks more though.
Anyone else had it? Did you find anything that helped significantly?
Not had it specifically but have suffered from similar tendon problems - 'Crepitus' in the tendons in my forearm.
Something that worked quite well was a sort of topical ibuprofen (or similar NSAID ) cream that set quite hard on the skin - it reminded be of 1980s hair gel - I guess the NSAIDs were doing the own thing but the sort of crispy coating was just a really useful constant reminder not to move those joints / flex those muscles and really, really rest everything. If that hadn't worked he next step would have been having my arm set in plaster.
Had that; had to wear a brace thing for a couple of months. Was very annoying, kept me off a bike for a while, and couldn't do any washing up/housework for ages. What a shame. Always look for the silver lined cloud.
The one bright spot is that riding a bike doesn’t seem to aggravate it.
It might not feel like that; I felt fine riding a bike, but my physiotherapist said it was probably aggravating it, even if I didn't feel pain. Stopping riding definitely helped, and it took a while, but I seem to have made a good recovery and have had no problems since. It is essential to stop doing anything that might aggravate it at all, if you want a good recovery. Otherwise you could end up with problems that last for the rest of your life.
The good news is that if it does get bad then both the riders I've known who had it had a complete recovery after the surgery.
had a wrist injury earlier this year that was probably a torn ligament.
I went to a Chiropractor with a K-laser and a few sessions of that made a huge diference and I recommend seeing if you can find someone local with one.
I was advised to take the maximum safe dose of ibuprofen (about double what it says on the packet) by my doctor as the inflammation needs to settle down to allow free movement of the nerves without further aggravating it. It worked for me but DO NOT take this as medical advice – see your own doctor.
I am not a doctor.
But yes it is horrible - I couldn't even hold a pen for more than a few moments when it was at its worst.
I am not a doctor.
My wife had it a few years back, probably brought on by being a postie at the time. Eventually had an op on it. Worked very well and made a quick and full recovery. Doesn't get any problems now 5 or 6 years on.
Thanks everyone. I've bought a brace and I'm taking the ibuprofen, although since johndoh isn't a doctor I'm just taking the recommended dose. I'll see how it goes.