Ouch my wrist!

[????? answers]

I had to leave work early today because my right wrist/hand finally gave up on me. I have been experiencing pain and soreness/weakness while working for about a month now, (both hands and both elbows) but I have been trying to just alter my use of them to alleviate the pain. I have been an LMT full time for about two years, and have been out of school for 4 years. My work load has recently increases a small amount, and I am pretty busy most of the time (4 days a week= about 25 hours) Anyway, so during my client today I started having severe pain in my right palm and heel of the hand. The pain was so bad that I was unable to use my hand at all, and ended up doing most of the massage using only my left hand and forarms. (I use alot of forarms usually) So anyway, I have the rest of today off, and all day tomorrow and then I go back to work Sunday. But I need to know some ideas of how to help myself with this injury. Oh, now my right pinky and half of my right ring finger is tingly but not completely numb. It feels like i hit my funny bone (ulnar nerve)

Responses GREATLY appreciated, and I'm sorry for my gramatical errors and runon sentences etc... I'm having a hard time typing/thinking.

 

[Junie]

Ouch my wrist!

Can you get a massage for yourself? That might help.

I can't diagnose of course... but this sounds like some of the symptoms my nephew is experiencing... he was recently diagnosed with Cubital Tunnel Syndrome. There are a couple thread on MassagePlanetL about this.

Ulnar Nerve Compression/Cubital Tunnel Syndrome:
http://www.massageplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=10021

Cubital Tunnel Syndrome - Help Please:
http://www.massageplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=2440

I hope you are feeling much better soon!

 

[born2ski1]

Ouch my wrist!

I would agree with maestra about the not diagnosing, but sounding like a few nerve related things going on there. I would also agree that getting some bodywork could really help. Sounds like you could really use some work in the neck/pectoral/scalene/clavicle areas due to the compression of those areas that can come from doing MT work

Also, try some Arnica gel in the aforementioned areas.

Good luck!

ETA, depending on where you are, someone on this board might be able to direct you to a good MT.

 

[<barbierox>]

Ouch my wrist!

So, by reading your post, I am assuming you are physically doing 25 hours of massage, 4 days a week. So, about 6 1/2 hours a day? Not sure if I'm right on that, but maybe you should consider working 5 days to space out your sessions more, or consider working longer days to give yourself more breaks in between sessions? I'd recommend some self care, are you stretching and giving self massage regularly? Use ice packs, heat packs, paraffin, etc to soothe the your wrists and elbows and shoulders! It sounds like the new additional stress on your body is wearing you down, so make sure you are eating well, getting rest and exercise, etc, take care of YOU! It is very important in this field to remember to heal and pamper ourselves, you give alot of your body and energy, and it needs to be replenished.

Another big thing to do is evaluate your body posture during sessions. Ask a friend or family member to volunteer for a massage (easy to find someone lol) and video tape your session (with their permission of course!) so you can play back and see if there are certain things you are doing that could be putting excess pressure on certain joints or muscles. Try using new techniques and table heights for clients and see if that helps.

 

[kingsley]

Ouch my wrist!

I'm getting a massage tomorrow (taking another day off of work.) I don't get alot of massage, and I'm probably actually averaging 4.5 to 5 hours of MASSAGE a day, 4 days a week. I am also a full time student so I can't work more days than I already do. The Cubital Tunnel Syndrome sounds pretty similar to what I'm experiencing. I have been icing/heating today and yesterday, and the ice seems to make the nerve pain SO MUCH worse...

 

[barbara b]

Ouch my wrist!

I hear that your body spent a month or so giving you warnings:

I have been experiencing pain and soreness/weakness while working for about a month now, (both hands and both elbows)

Instead of cutting back to address your injury, you made a few small changes and tried to work through the pain. Now you need to take a short vacation and heal this properly, or you will soon be suffering a recurrence of this injury. While you are at it, get a doctor and/or PT to check it out and determine what's actually going on so you aren't just guessing. I've seen too many careers end over stuff like this. Mistreatment may be worse than no treatment at all...

Best wishes for a rapid and complete recovery. You will heal faster if you treat this seriously and aggressively.