After Carpal Tunnel

I thought I was all finished with hand problems after my
(successful) surgery for Carpal Tunnel on both hands. However, a new
thing has cropped up – basal thumb joint arthritis – which results
in wearing down the cartilage in the thumb joint where it meets the
wrist. This results in no cushioning between the bones – it is very
painful, and I couldn’t do any real work with my hands for some time.
Surgery on one hand was very successful-- although the recovery was
lengthy-and the other needs to be done as soon as possible,
Apparently this came strictly from wear and tear on my hands –
making jewelry, stained glass, needlework, and all the other hand
work I enjoy. I agree with the notion of fixing the mechanical things
that can be fixed. Sometimes delaying that ends up making things much
worse. When my left hand was healed, the Hand Surgeon asked me please
not to let the other hand get as bad as the first one. He also said
that any exercise I might do would only make it worse. When I
googled it I was surprised to find that it was not uncommon among
people who work with their hands – beaders, crocheters, etc.

If anyone wants more info on this, you can contact me directly.
Sandra

Several people have written to ask me about Basal Thumb
Arthritis–and an accompanying problem that I forgot to mention. It
is called De Quervain’s Syndrome, and causes inflammation in that
joint, which is also very painful. I just wanted to mention that
there is some good on the Internet. Just Google either
name and look for the reliable sites like Medline, or John’s Hopkins,
etc. If you have these symptoms, I feel that it is important to have
them evaluated by a Hand Surgeon, because the wrong treatment, or
sometimes none at all, can make it worse. Sometimes wearing a thumb
splint can also help. The Doctor can suggest what you might need.

If you have any fingers that click when you bend them, that is also
a related hand stress problem called trigger finger. Eventually, the
tendon can tighten up and cause the finger to be permanently bent.
There is a relatively minor surgical treatment for that, which
releases the tendon that is being caught and can’t move smoothly. As
you can probably figure out, I’ve had (and still have) them all, but
we can take only take care of one hand at a time!

Sandra

Thanks for the I have DeQuervain’s Syndrome and it is
difficult to work as a Graduate Gemologist as I have to manipulate
small diamonds and gemstones in grading. I have to live on Aspirin!

Thanks for the I have DeQuervain's Syndrome and it is
difficult to work as a Graduate Gemologist as I have to manipulate
small diamonds and gemstones in grading. I have to live on
Aspirin! 

I had my hands operated on for both DeQuervains and Carpal Tunnel.
Left hand in '97, right hand in '98. Recovery can be slow. The hand
was useable within a couple of weeks but achy for 6-12 months when
used excessively but I have never regretted the surgery. Once the
recovery period was over there was no pain, no limitations.

I also had some severe right hand/arm pain several years ago, to the
point of hardly being able to work, I couldn’t hold a tool. Besides
physical therapy, I found that I was helped greatly by keeping to an
ani-inflammatory diet - no sugars or sweetners, no dairy, wheat or
corn, no caffeine, no sodas, vegetables in the nightshade family,
basically avoiding processed foods that had any chemicals. Okay to
eat rice, spinach and broccoli, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, most
fruits except citrus, try to avoid the high sugar ones, keep to
organic meats to avoid hormones, antibiotics and steroids. Get off
caffeine gradually, so you don’t trigger a headache that will kabosh
the whole thing.

It’s cheap and not too difficult, and I was amazed after three
weeks, I really started to feel better, and in six weeks it was
almost completely gone. You need to be prepared when you are out in
the world so you don’t get desperate and eat junk food.
Anti-inflammatory eating regimens can be found on the internet. It’s
basically identifiying foods that we are sensitive too that cause
reactions, like an allergy, and make us uncomfortable and ultimately
in pain.

I hope this helps someone else as much as it helped me.

Leslie Sherman
Heart of Stone

...... no wheat or corn, no caffeine, no sodas, vegetables in the
nightshade family, basically avoiding processed foods that had any
chemicals. Okay to eat rice, spinach and broccoli, carrots,
squash, sweet potatoes, most fruits except citrus, try to avoid the
high sugar ones, keep to organic meats to avoid hormones,
antibiotics and steroids. My wife has been on a similar diet
(totally gluten free) for about 9 

years now, losing nearly 40 lbs effortlessly, stopping
anti-depressants, and severe arthritic problems literally
disappearing, as well as a 3 year blistered throat healing completely
in the 1st week of being gluten free. And her bloated lower abdomen
that she had struggled to lose for years, simply disappeared. I
personally am aprox 75% gluten free, losing aprox 5 inches in my
waist size, and disappearing arthritis probs, as well as nearly
perfect blood pressure. Neither of us exercise to speak of, other
than getting our butts ran into the ground daily in our store.

Her condition is called celiac sprue(sic)- allergic to gluten, as
well as corn, some vinyls, wheat, oats, malt, barley. Celiac sprue is
related to Type 1 diabetes and autism, and is a genetic disorder that
affects something in the range of 1 in every 150 people. Especially
fair skinned people of European descent.

We eat ALOT of brown rice, Jasmine rice, basmati rice, limited meats,
organic milk and veggies. In the summer I plant 5- 4x8 raised organic
beds of veggies, herbs, as well as flowers. Corn, corn starch, corn
flower, and corn syrup are ingredients that I would encourage
everyone to omit from their diets, for immediate and drastic
benefits. Some think that this is far to difficult of regimen to
maintain, but once you experience the benefits of gluten free, you
will never go back. We think of it as not what we can’t have, but
rather what we can have.

Ed in Kokomo