It was a super basic wrist brace from the drugstore, no splint or anything, and it was okay. I put it in pretty tight and the compression helped. If this happens again I will get a specific thumb stabilizer brace like this https://www.amazon.com/Mueller-Medicine-Reversible-Stabilizer-Measure/dp/B004YIFA2C/
I am still working through the diagnosis and treatment with my doctor. They want more tests, but I bought a brace that keeps my thumb from being used and it works well. I wear it all the time pretty much if it’s hurting. Here is the Amazon link
Mueller Reversible Thumb... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YIFA2C?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
I bought a couple of these. My doctor had me get one. Then in therapy the doctor made one that was molded to my hand , wrist and forearm. I wore the molded one at work and the soft one when home with LO.
I'm dealing with this right now! I think I caught on to it pretty early, and picked up this brace: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YIFA2C/
I take off the brace when I am handling baby, washing dishes, using the bathroom, etc., but otherwise try to wear it regularly especially while sleeping. It's improved a lot over the course of a week!
For me, I think what's causing the pain is the way I've been supporting baby's head with my thumb and other fingers in a "Y" shape. I've been avoiding that as best I can with both hands (don't want the other hand to get it, too!) by either cupping all five fingers together to support his head, or having the other four hands support most of the weight.
20hours!!! That seems impossible with a newborn lol. But thank you for the steroid shot tip. I bought the Mueller reversible thumb stabilizer brace from Amazon and read a tip somewhere to reinforce with a popsicle stick. I thought it sounded silly but it definitely does provide more stability.
Link to braceAmazon link
I’m actually at physical therapy now warming up. Mine is tendinitis. Partly there because of my work and then pregnancy loosening Up all the tendons.
My physical therapy is spaced out and only can accommodate a few of us at a time. Everyone is masked and washes hands before. I am two months in and almost finished! Definitely feeling better and seeing the difference.
I use a soft brace from amazon while with my LO and a hard brace made at therapy when I am at work.
Mueller Reversible Thumb... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YIFA2C?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
A lot of my pain started at the base of my thumb, in my palm. Then eventually the rest of my fingers and my wrist started having pain. Just a bit when I used them a lot at first, then they suddenly hurt all of the time in both hands.
Your symptoms being different doesn't necessarily mean "not tendonitis," though. Hands are complicated and have a lot of parts to screw up. My doctor eventually landed on "tendonitis, I guess" after three specialists basically said "idk, go see this other specialist."
But if you're having pain or discomfort, that's your body telling you that you need to cool it for a while. I'd take at least a week completely off from games with controllers and see if you still feel something off with your hand/thumb after the break. Since most of my pain was in my thumb, sleeping with a thumb stabiliser on helped mine feel better even before I managed to get to the first doctor.
Or... you could keep playing RL for hours a day and ignore the pain like I did. For the first six weeks or so I couldn't even use my computer mouse without pain - I grabbed my little ambidextrous mouse and used my left hand with that or my laptop's trackpad since it didn't hurt to just use one finger on that. Holding/using a controller was out of the question. Instant pain. After those six weeks, the pain wasn't constant and I could use my normal computer mouse without pain. It wasn't until five months had passed that I could hold and use a controller without my hands hurting, but even then I could only go around thirty minutes before I had to start worrying about soreness. Now I can go around 1-2 hours without pain or worrying about any soreness, but if I try to go beyond that I feel it the next day and have to make sure I don't play again for a few days.
Ugh, I feel for him. DQT gets the name "mom thumb" because it happens a lot from the repetitive motions inherent to caring for a newborn, but really it could be caused by any repetitive motion (typing, handi-crafts, woodwork, shooting, writing, etc.). I think knitting and crocheting exacerbated for me what the pregnancy swelling kicked off.
Anyway - so from what I understand, the DQT is caused by inflammation of the nerve within the tunnel. Nerve swells up too big and is pinched off, basically. The cortisone shots work by injecting an anti-inflammatory directly into the affected area. If you can get the inflammation to go down, you can release the pressure on the nerve so that it begins to repair and is less likely to become inflamed again. There is a numbing agent, or some sort of pain relief, within the shot that results in an almost-instant "masking" of pain, so it's important to continue wearing the braces and limiting use of the hands - even if the pain goes away. I remember the first time I got the shot I went from not being able to open my hands enough to grasp a coke can to being able to make an L shape with my thumb and pointer finger by the time I made it back to my car.
What kind of brace is he wearing? He wants to make sure they stabilize the thumb and that he wears it while sleeping and as much as possible while awake.
Yep very similar to that. It went a little bit further up my palm though, like this https://www.amazon.com/Mueller-Medicine-Reversible-Stabilizer-Measure/dp/B004YIFA2C/ref=sr_1_4_s_it?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1487081213&sr=1-4&keywords=thumb%2Bbrace&th=1
Could try using on of those wrist brace things.
It could also be related to you're keyboard. Whether the angle you type like those ergonomic ones or feedback from the keys like bottoming out on a mechanical. New keyboard or the rubber grommets should help with these though the grommets are a pretty low difference.
What kind of wrist brace? I used to have carpal tunnel so I starting wearing one of those braces. After researching my symptoms more it seems like a thumb stabilizer is what I need. This one arrives today.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004YIFA2C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Yup yup yup to what everyone has said (Mommy's thumb/tenosynovitis). I had it when my daughter (now 1) was 2 months old. What worked for me was a wrist brace -- this exact one. I wore it as much as possible but what especially helped was wearing it while sleeping (which didn't seem obvious at first) since you wind up sleeping on it in weird positions which can make it worse. I was diligent about wearing the brace, not picking up the kid by the armpits (don't hook your thumbs under the pits, instead put thumbs on ribcage and wrap rest of hands around and then lift) and icing it and took two months to clear up for me.
Taping would work best because you can customize and provide support for just the ligament or tendon in question but in the absence of a good trainer it's tough to do a good job. Plus over a couple months you can go through a lot of tape. I ended up purchasing this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004YIFA2C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
From searching through some of the volleyball-specific reviews it sounds like it adds some support without decreasing mobility, but we'll see. Might end up just going with the tape.
Everything seems consistent with MCP joint arthritis like you said. It's quite common for people to develop pain/tightness over that circled area (the thenar eminence) due to repetitive thumb movements- commonly caused by texting! With consistency and time, pain over this area can resolve with regular massaging. You can use your other hand, but that can be straining on the other thumb. I prefer pressing down on a small ball (marble, golf ball, Rad ball) and rolling it around the area, 2-3x/day for 5 min sessions.
I'm not sure what kind of splint you have, but make sure it covers the MCP joint. My personal favorites are the Mueller or Copper thumb spicas, as linked. I think you might like the Copper brace as it provides some compression. If it's too in your way, you can get a softer brace for use during the daily, but I would recommend always using a firmer brace at night while sleeping.
Also, super important to follow joint protection principles to slow the progression of arthritis. Hopefully you can keep the pain to a minimum for as long as possible :)
This was me for 6 months I can tell you exactly what I did and treatment. For me it was so bad I couldn't hold the bottle or brush my teeth. Speaking for myself I didn't get any shots bc to me it was a bandaid. I needed to treat the inflammation and strain. No judgment towards others that have but that's just my thinking, masking the pain but not treating it but yet still using the hand the same way without any changes isn't the solution.
Here's what I did - it's not 100% recovered but about 95%. We have to come to terms with this possibly being a life long thing like how people pull the sciatic nerve you always gotta be mindful it never really goes away.
1) epson salt soaks every night with water as hot as u can stand it for minimally 15 minutes. Important to use the right amount of salt to water ratio.
2) brace brace brace BRACE!!!!! I always wore a brace to elevate the pain and from misusing the thumb tendon. What u feel is the tendon being inflamed and twisting around - this brace absolutely hands down helped me I can't recommend it enough.
Mueller Reversible Thumb... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YIFA2C?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
3) and brace again lol - I can't tell you how much this thing saved my hand I wore to sleep as well and my mother who developed the mothers thumb too swears by it.
4) excercises for the thumb and wrist to recondition the nerve, I did this everyday I truly believe it helped me. My mother again who isn't really into this eventually did it too bc her wrist and hands got so bad she couldn't hold a fork either. This happens when u ignore the problem and just takes longer to heal.
You're welcome! Of course, if your symptoms worsen, definitely see a doc. I'm just a dude on the internet.
And I don't mean to freak you out - my case is this severe because I played through the discomfort/pain for about a week. And honestly, I had been holding my Switch in stupid, careless, non-ergonomic positions for like a month+. I suspect that people who get it really bad play through the pain for several weeks before realizing what it is. And moms get it really bad because it begins, but then they can't rest their hands because, well, kids.
I just wanted to share because I wish I had known to chill out and take a break at the first sign of pain. I've spoken to folks who did rest at the early signs and their recoveries were much quicker.
Currently between health insurances so haven't seen a doc yet. But I've researched extensively and the diagnosis is pretty clear.
This is my favorite brace because it provides some solid stability and support while allowing me to still use my hands: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004YIFA2C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This one is pretty good if you decide to go for hardcore stabilization: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XBJKBVF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Sure! It's the reversible thumb stabilizer. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YIFA2C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_MGCE9PN6CZPFW1DHBDRK
Sorry to hear you're also having issues on your other hand! Unfortunately I don't have experience with a vertical mouse, but it feels good when I try setting my hand in a sideways pose as if holding such as mouse and moving it around, so perhaps it'll help. I'd be interested to hear other people's experience with it as well.
By rest I meant giving your hands a break, although sleep is important too. :) These are some stretches recommended for carpal tunnel. Personally I like doing the wrist stretch, finger exercise and grip strengthening. These are the gloves I used for De Quervain. They're great for that but I don't recommend it for carpal tunnel as they don't have wrist support. For me the changes that helped me the most are having good sitting/ typing ergonomics, stretches, moving with my arm instead of wrists, and offloading macros on my keyboard so I can click the mouse less.
Good luck!