You'll be in mine.

 

I too am a programmer/tech. We had a sales lady a few years back that had to quit because she had carpel tunnel in her wrist pretty bad. I fear that one day I'll have that problem since I've basically been sitting at a computer since I got this job at 20 years of age. You probably know how a feel B-Dawg when I say it would be devastating since it's the way I make my living.

There are exercises that help stretch the muscles and help prevent carpel tunnel. I'd suggest that anyone in a similar work environment do them. A quick google search will find them.

 

Not getting it fixed can be big problems. My carpal tunnel was very advanced and my arm had pain with the numbness. The lady doc who tested my hand told me if I didnt get surgery very soon i would lose the use of the hand. Something about the nerves not being able to communicate with my hand. But I waited about 20 yrs after my first symptoms.

Not sure what you do for a living B-Dawg but the recovery isnt bad at all. If you can work 1 handed you can work that afternoon. No use of the hand for a week and after that full use with some pain. The pain goes away a little each day for about 2 weeks and then your good to go. I was at my shop working with my cnc mill about 5 hrs after my surgery. I went riding after 2 weeks and while it hurt a little, my hand didnt go numb.

Got you in my prayers B-Dawg. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Get one of those sand or foam therapy ***** for your hands...... It will really help with the arm pump......makes the fingers so strong the riding will feel like nothing....

 

I got carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists from working in a factory. No surgery needed so far. You need a doctor to confirm it but I'm sure you have it too. I have a thumbwarmer for winter rides and sometimes I turn it on low for awhile other times of the year just to increase bloodflow. It helps a little bit. Heated grips would work on your whole hand. Even on low it gets so hot it will burn you if you don't wear gloves. When I had a 2-stroke it vibrated so bad I had to buy some soft gel handgrips. A thumb assist throttle extension may help you too.

You really need to do 3 things:
1. Wear some kind of wrist brace while working and riding. An elastic brace without any metal splints should work.
2. See a doctor and get the nerve conduction test. It's about as fun as getting dull thumb tacks jammed into your arms but it's neccesary to see how bad off you are. I had it done on my legs too and that sucks just as bad.
3. Try to keep your wrists straight, and not have your hands tipped back. Get on your ATV and grab the bars. Look at your hands and wrists. If your hands are tilted back turn them forward until your wrists are straight. This is hard for me to get used to but helps a lot.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: jumbofrank

I got carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists from working in a factory. No surgery needed so far. You need a doctor to confirm it but I'm sure you have it too. I have a thumbwarmer for winter rides and sometimes I turn it on low for awhile other times of the year just to increase bloodflow. It helps a little bit. Heated grips would work on your whole hand. Even on low it gets so hot it will burn you if you don't wear gloves. When I had a 2-stroke it vibrated so bad I had to buy some soft gel handgrips. A thumb assist throttle extension may help you too.



You really need to do 3 things:

1. Wear some kind of wrist brace while working and riding. An elastic brace without any metal splints should work.

2. See a doctor and get the nerve conduction test. It's about as fun as getting dull thumb tacks jammed into your arms but it's neccesary to see how bad off you are. I had it done on my legs too and that sucks just as bad.

3. Try to keep your wrists straight, and not have your hands tipped back. Get on your ATV and grab the bars. Look at your hands and wrists. If your hands are tilted back turn them forward until your wrists are straight. This is hard for me to get used to but helps a lot.</end quote></div>

Good point about keeping your wrists straight....... they teach racers to keep your elbows up.... this automatically takes stress off the wrists and gives you more control...

I see a lot of Ute riders especially riding with elbows down......

As I said earlier a sand or foam therapy ball will help, just carry it around and work your fingers/wrists all day long. It keeps the blood flowing and your tiny fibrous muscles strong. It is those tiny muscles that are often neglected and they demand a lot of blood, so CPS can set in when they are starving for blood/oxygen.

If the tiny muscles stay strong they and flexible they will demand blood and flow will increase.

Also try softer compound grips as that will help too.....

It can also help to identify what process of riding is causing this. Is it simply holding on? Or is it holding on to a lot of power? It is turning or breaking or something in particular?

I've seen a lot of guys have numbness because they don't stand up enough and rely too much on their hands/arms to bear the brunt of the stress. If you let your legs take some of it, your arms will be better for longer....

Mostly important is that there are many ways to work around this without surgery. There are even those who suggest some aspirin to help thin the blood a little and increase flow to the hands.....

I had the problem a few years ago... but I made some adjustments.... I stand up more now, I got softer compound grips and make sure my gloves are always good,........ but the most important was the sand and foam therapy *****. I carried one around with me everywhere for a few months, constantly squeezing and working my fingers, even my thumb throttle......my thumb has not been sore at all anymore for the last two years, and my hands are so much stronger and I can hold on without gripping too tightly.....

I still keep working the therapy *****, and probably will now forever. They are great to keep your hands healthy......I also make sure to stretch my fingers a lot.

BTW I'm a Network Engineer so I'm working on computers all day long too...... but now I can also type for hours with no stiffness on my fingers at all....

 

Thanks for all the input guys!

I went to my general care doctor today and explained to him what I was experiencing and he said he is 90% sure I have Carpal Tunnel. He is referring me to a Orthopedic specialist next week to see how extensive the damage is.

Althought I don't want to have surgery, if it is needed then I will by all means get it done. I don't want to keep doing stuff that is a "work around" to the main problem. So we will see how it goes, thanks.

 

Well,

I had the CTS surgery on my right hand back on the 13th of November. The recovery is going well. My insition is sore and due to where it is (in the crease of my lower palm) the stitches didn't close it up all the way but it seems this is a common thing with the surgery. Now I am just working on getting my grip strength back so I can hop back on my quad!! These past few weekends would have been PERFECT for riding but I couldn't obviously.

To those who have had this done, how long was the recovery time before you could ride your wheeler?

 

B-Dawg, glad to hear you got the surgery done. I was riding after 2 weeks, but not near full speed and with pain. 4 weeks and I was back to normal strength, with a little pain. My doc told me the pain wasnt doing any damage so I ignored it.

 

Glad to hear things sound like they are heading in the right direction. Oddly enough, I developed carpal tunnel (minor) doing carpentry. Later after injuring my knees, I did some computer work for awhile. The CTS cleared up. Another thing that may help in the future is getting a twist throttle. It might help some of the problem.