Question: I am going to go see Mark at Physicoworks as it sounds what I need. I saw my Doctor on Friday and he was helpful talking about the pain in my forearms as stress. However I am a little despondent as last night my thumb and wrist weren’t working and my whole hand was sore. Is this like nerve stress? How do you get over the frustration when it gets bad again? It really feels like it is ruling my life at the moment and that on top of it I am trying to live and work as normal. Sorry for the negativeness. Thanks for letting me bitch.
Answer 1: RSI does go up and down a lot, with many false dawns. Make sure you are getting the right diagnosis (tendinitis, CTS and/or AMT), and that you see a physio who understands AMT properly to at least rule this out (Physioworks sound like they know about this). AMT treatment is only the start of recovery IMO – see the recovery bundle on my web site and try some of the treatments I had. I am basically recovered for most purposes, although windsurfing does tend to aggravate things a bit too much. Four years ago I found it painful to chop vegetables, open doors, etc – within about 1 month I was dramatically improved and I asymptotically improved until about a couple of years ago when I got to this condition. I had AMT, which seems to be a major part of what many people have – it is highly curable (the good news) but also not at all understood by doctors and many physios (the bad news), so you have to manage your own case and use alternative therapies as well as simply seeing doctors. So don’t give up hope – if you aren’t improving, you need to try something else. Do join a local RSI group to exchange information about locally available treatments and get some moral support.
Answer 2: Thanks for all this. I am feeling more positive this week – swings and roundabouts. I have been taking notice how I do things at home now as well (I wasn’t) and am putting into practice some of the Alexander Techniques I learnt last year. This group is a wonderful source of info and I really appreciate the support I’ve had since joining. So thanks all. Have a good weekend.