Tendonitis and joint pain in hands?

Hi all,

I'm a fit, active and healthy male who've had no problems to speak of until recently when I've found myself being chronically fatigued in my forearms along with significant joint pain. I believe it must be the dreaded 'mouse arm' or tendonitis and I got it after a very long period of long days (typically 60 hour work weeks with mostly mouse work all day long).

I've been seeing a physical therapist which performs trigger point massage, but not so sure it's helping.

It's not the best timing as I'm about to go out on my own.

Anyone had this and found an ailment for it?

Thanks in advance.

Howard

 

I had it a three years ago. I got through 25+ years of IT but because an intensive chart scalper at the beginning (200+ trades a day, small cars) in my first years trading clicking too much. Trackpad really made it worse fast but eventually even a good normal mouse was an issue.

A SINGLE injection of a specific steroid (intramuscular, posterior) cleared it entirely when ibuprofen etc. was only helping for hours. After that I was far far more willing to take a break of a day or so from the computer when I needed it. I changed my style to more cars, fewer clicks and less hours. It did return somewhat and I had another injection six months later.

You need to be careful with those shots as too many (max once every six months I was told) can cause protein to grow over the receptors in the eye affecting vision if abused.

I don't have the prescription and don't trust my memory but if helpful I'll search an old phone, I think I took a picture of it.

Edited, found it in WhatsApp, the drug name was "Diprofos", obviously prescription unless south of the border so check with your doctor.

 

I've been lifting weights on/off for around 15 years now including heavy deadlifting without straps. So my hands are definitely not weak. Lately, I've been running a lot more and lifting a bit less.

It's not more than 6-8 weeks ago a colleague of mine got on a long term sick leave because of this exact issue and I remember thinking this would never happen to me. Then 3-4 weeks later I get the same issue.

A trackpad is probably ideal, but they just seem so hard to use. I may need to consider it though.

For now, I got a vertical mouse which seems to help a bit, but it seems like it's all the clicking and clenching the mouse which is the worst. I'm an engineer, so I typically do a LOT of clicks throughout a day when I'm modeling stuff. Then I go back home and continue working on my trading or actually trade.

Thanks for your input.

Howard

 

That's interesting. Most people seem to say that a trackpad is a solution for these kind of issues?

Very interesting.

Did you try any other treatment prior to this?

I wonder if 1 month of complete rest would be a solution. Just not very easy in practice when you have work involving computers both profesionally and privately.

My mother had similar issues - specifically in her wrists. She was also cured by injections. I believe she took a total of three before it was solved.

Regards,

Howard

 

Have you checked all advice about desk layout, seating position, type of chair and so on? A mouse arm develops quickly if your seating posture is not good.

 

Rest will work however I did that and it just returned, it will all depend on how bad it has got. For me the tendon to my index finger was feeling raw and up my forearm a bit.

Others like vertical mice, when I worked in publishing a couple of editors had these. All depends on the drug I guess but oral anti-inflammatory drugs were just not working, I tried several different types. But I was greedy and a bit trading addicted

 

This maybe explains the advantage of the vertical mouse clearly. I'd avoid the fixed position with ball ones and get the normal optical type you move on the desk. I've tried one, did not get used to it in a few days but I have seen two photoshop guys using them and both said they has as much or more control.

 

What you also often see is that people have their wrist leaning on the edge of the desk. This may also contribute, as nerves might get pinched.