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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

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#1

Hi.

I have CTS.

I have had numerous expensive tests and analyses - and I have CTS.

This means holding a pencil or a stylus results in numb hands within minutes.

Who out there has this problem?

How do you deal?

I am advised that the only solution is to ‘Open the Carpal Tunnel’ which means cutting open the Carpal Tunnel through surgery to relieve pressure. Which means loss of hand strength.

Is there a ‘Thick’ stylus? that I may hold with a more open-handed grip? I can work with a broad mouse but I long for the freedom of a pad stylus.

Is there help for me?

Please advise.

~S.~

#2

that sucks, i’m sorry to hear that, i know so many people suffering from this.
about the thick stylus, i don’t know of one but if it were me i’d use cork or something similar and wrap it around my stylus, even make pegs to reach the buttons. i guess i’d also start to try to train my opposite hand.

#3

Thanks for your input, SpaceBoy.

I have made a stylus suspended inside a bicycle grip handle but the transfer pegs are intermittently responsive and un-responsive. Frustrating. I am no machinist, however, I get good results with my standard broad mouse.

I examined the work of a fellow artist who creates images with only his mouth - as he has no arms. So, I have no excuses, because, I do have arms.

Thank God for the mouse, at least!

Perhaps I will invest development into such a device and market it. A stylus for broad-grip CTS victims.

Yo!

~S.~

#4

I dont know about how much can be done with Zbrush(most likely as much as with a mouse) ,but the new Bamboo touch should be a lot easier to use than holding onto a mouse for you .maybe you can look into this and see if it helps…

http://www.wacom.com/bamboo/bamboo_touch.php

#5

This may be a too small a band aid for your issue, but ever since I started using a smart glove, I haven’t experienced any discomfort from being on the computer a long time.

http://www.amazon.com/Imak-Smart-Glove-Medium-Pack/dp/B001G7QQO0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1269538696&sr=8-1

#6

I once bought a Power Ball which is a gyroscopic device encased in a ball. I mainly use it before I play piano as I feel a marked difference in my fine motor skills, i.e I go from very crap to OK, but still crap, when playing the piano :slight_smile:

Although I do not have CTS one of my former colleagues had mild symptoms of CTS. He suffered from numb/cold fingers and sore muscles in his forearm (insert obligatory joke here). He was probably intrigued by the glowing lights when you speed the ball up, so he bought one and used it 5-10 min. each day, as far as I remember. A couple of months later I asked him how it was going and he told me he had stopped using it because right now he had no symptoms. But the symptoms did return and then he started using it again.

So, anecdotal evidence posted on the internet. That has got to be a first :slight_smile:

But to be absolutely serious I would recommend you looked into it, maybe someone you know has one? As I said I do not have CTS but from using the ball extensively in the beginning I know that it flexes all sorts of weird little muscles around the wrist area and all up the forearm. It is different from weightlifting as when you are spinning the ball you are using your muscles to keep the ball centered ( if that makes sense ). Instead of your muscles working against two directions of force with weights, you are using your muscles to counter the force from 360 degrees when spinning the ball. The quicker you make the gyrscope spin within the ball, the greater the force.

There is also the issue of how you sit at your desk. Is it comfortable, are you sitting at the right height, etc. Perfect seating is of course not going to cure anything but it will not exacerbate your condition either.

#7

Hi there, I too had CTS. I had the surgery, and I can’t recommend it enough. I missed about 2 days of work for each hand. I had them done about 3 weeks apart. The day after the surgery, I was able to type on my computer at home and I got along just fine after that. I tell people you really don’t know how miserable you are until it is gone. The first surgery took 15 minutes, the second took 6 minutes (I guess because it wasn’t as bad)

As for losing strength, haven’t heard of that before. I guarantee I haven’t lost strength, I just dead lifted 405 LBS this past Monday. Feel free to ask me any questions you are concerned about! You can email me at jim {at} cyberpepper dot com.

-Jim

#8

Thank you everyone for your input and support.

I am convinced my only avenue is surgery as I wake each day with partially numb hands having done nothing but ‘wake up’. I am happily interested to hear my first anecdote that surgery does not diminish hand strength.

I have a drawer full of wrist supports I have tried over the past 15+ years that did nothing but increase palm sweat.

3DJ - Please tell me more of your situation. I have spent many decades sculpting clay at full size (and larger) and manipulating clay in the real world has given me more pain (and pleasure) than I care to recall over the past few years. And I love sculpting clay.

Can you tell me more about how you dealt with your CTS?

Thanks, All!

~S.~

#9

Hi Snark sorry for the slow response. Basically I found out they really don’t point to one thing that causes it ( I think because of insurance wanting to hold a one particular thing responsible) but everyone can get it, but not everyone does. I used to be an airbrush artist for years, and I am sure that added to it, but I never had a problem until about 10 years ago. I was working out and I was doing cable incline flys and as I brought the handle over my head, one of my friends said good bye to me and I turned my head and was in severe pain … I had pinched a nerve really bad. That set the ball rolling. I saw a chiropractor for years as he assured me I didn’t have CTS, but the nerve in my neck was compressed. For years, after seeing him it felt better. Then it got to as point when it didn’t help. I even felt as if there were electrical pulses shooting through my wrists at the worst point. I was discouraged by my chiropractor who I knew well, because I had a nerve conductance test done that proved it was CTS. I talked to another Chiropractor who told me not to get the surgery that it would need to be redone and that he has seen people that look like their wrists looked as if they tried to commit suicide several times. Well, I knew then what a quack he and I think the whole chiropractic industry is as they don’t operate on you through your wrist, but through a small cut in the base/palm of your hand.

Long story short ( I know too late :wink: after my surgery, my neck no longer bothered me at all. I used to have to have my wife rub it all the time and then bammo, right after the surgery, some 3 years later, she doesn’t have to do it anymore. The DR. did say they are connected and when one end of a nerve flares up the other end will too.

I tried the brace with the metal in it to keep from bending my wrists at night, no luck with those, I was still miserable. Whatever you do, don’t think about icing down your wrists, I tried that then when I took the ice off, I was in pain. Hopefully you have insurance and can get it taken care of. Again, you think you know how miserable you are now, but when the pain and discomfort and numb feeling is gone, then you’ll know you were really really miserable and life can be good again.

-Jim

#10

I’m sure you’ve tried this, but you could set your pen to the most sensitive pressure settings in the Wacom preferences (assuming you’re using a Wacom). That would allow you to hold it very lightly without the need to press on the tablet. Sure you would lose the pressure control, but that’s not as important as other settings with the brushes (or your joint health).

You could also wrap a cloth or something around the pen to make a large soft grip. At that point, you would manipulate the pen using your elbow and shoulder joints. I got a big Logitech mouse for modo, it’s great to have something that conforms to your hand. While it would look silly, a pen with a conforming grip like that could actually be nice on an Intuos where it’s not blocking your vision.

Sorry to hear of your condition. That is tough for an artist to deal with. Hope you find your solution :slight_smile:

#11

Hi James, good advice there, I think this will help minor sufferers for sure. It is a tough spot to be in for an artist, but trust me the operation is nothing short of amazing! Fast, doesn’t keep you out of work but a couple of days. I highly suggest the surgery for those that have the condition because it rarely gets better without it, only sometimes it is manageable at best. Typically it just gets worse when you are prone to doing repetitive tasks.

-Jim

#12

when I first got my wacom, of course I overworked my arms, wrists,etc, and I suffered with the pain, numbness,etc…there was also a burning sensation…I wound up with a severe case of CTS…I put pads on my desk, under my palms/wrists,and that helped some, but the burning and soreness/numbness was still there, (from gripping the pen) so I got some disposable nitrile gloves,(powdered),this may sound odd, but I think I may have actually been allergic to the wacom and pen material ,regardless, the only way I could bare to handle the pen or mouse was with the gloves on,this went on for several months,now I don’t need to wear the gloves, maybe my hands got immune to the chems their material is made of ?..who knows,I have learned that I have to ration myself …so I work in my 3d programs, then go watch tutorials, or just work in another image editting program for awhile that doesn’t require such reppettitive use of the pen/mouse,…(I spend alot of time in Vue).I also spend time (several hours at a time ) away from my pc altogether (gives my pained joints a break and time to heal)…I’ll never have surgery for CTS, cause I’ve had enough surgeries to last several lifetimes…but for me, rationing my time in certain programs (and time spent on my pc) has been the main key to my relief and I will say the road to full recovery,(in my case) cause the more I stick to the rationing, the more the pain goes away;) .

#13

Sorry about your bad luck on your wrist SNARK.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is very common in gamers, because of the long hours using a mouse, it affects more gamers then people holding a pen or pencil, at least that’s what my doctor told me because the mouse is #1 enemy of the wrist, again that’s what one doctor told me.

The only 100% way out is surgery, so I was told, but you can alleviate your problems with long long resting periods in between or you could use a different grip style if you feel it helps.

#14

I highky recimmend “wristreleve” it helped me alot their is company in texas you can order from.

It a small wrist pad with pressure poits that work!!