Wrist pain, can't play!

At first I thought I had sprained my left wrist, which I used to do all the time falling off my skateboard when I was a kid. It felt familiar, so I laid off for almost 3 weeks now, expecting improvement until I was able to play again. It's not getting better.

I know a lot of you guys work with keyboards all day as I do. Could this be the beginning of CTS?

I was in a doctor's office a while back (for something unrelated) and the doc said, "This might hurt a little". I said, After you're done, will I be able to play the ukulele? The doc said, "Can you play it now?" I said, "I'll get back to you."

:anyone:

keep an eye on it! seriously.

i'm in a cast now and can't play. it's torture. i keep finding new stuff to play and can't touch my ukulele.

CTS... maybe. But I, personally, think CTS is over-diagnosed. CTS is pretty much a bruised nerve. Symptoms are, of course pain, but also numbness and muscle wasting.

CTS like symptoms can also happen with wrist tendon injuries (from repetitive activities).

One simple fix is to go to the store (or drug store) and buy a wrist splint (or wrist guards) slap it on before you go to bed.

That prevents you from curling up your wrist in your sleep and wala! If it is a tendon problem (or the beginnings of CTS) you'll feel a lot better.

The other thing you could do is wear that wrist splint while typing- for the same purpose- but this may be a bit of overkill- especially if your wrist doesn't hurt when you type. (if it does hurt when you type... well... I'd try out the splint and see if it helps).

There are a few stretches you can do with a partner as well to help clear up wrist pain, and I'll post pics later today.

Hi eleuke. I have been stuck at a computer all day for several years now and my wrists have started to hurt. I use a brace for my mouse hand now and switch the mouse hand every couple of weeks. When it first got bad, I found these stretches on YouTube and started to do them. They have helped me a lot.

Exercises for tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome

Rather than risk something getting worse and interfering with your uke playing for an extended period, I'd suggest getting advice from a pro. Pop along to your doctor and get checked over.

I know there are healthcare professionals amongst our UU family members here, but I ain't one of 'em, and my advice would be to ask a doc.

Hope it gets better soon, eleuke.

buddhuu said:

Rather than risk something getting worse and interfering with your uke playing for an extended period, I'd suggest getting advice from a pro.

Click to expand...

I suggest a real pro...not your family doctor, as they deal with the sniffles and other common ailments. Get a referral to a specialist.

Yes. Get it checked out thoroughly. And praying never hurts either!

I think, like any other part of the body, it might help to do some mild stretching exercises for the hand/wrist, especially after an injury/not using it in the same manner for a period of time. Maybe something like these?

http://efuse.com/yoga/ (number 11 onwards)

It feels nice to do them even when your hand is functioning perfectly fine too.