Aye yi yi!
(reposted from my HappyArt.com blog)
I’ve been avoiding thinking too much about the growing numbness and weakness in my right hand during these past two months where I’ve been ramping back up as a production artist, but a visit with a doctor friend who has an orthopedic surgeon for a husband has confirmed my suspicions. They say my symptoms are perfect for carpel tunnel. Zoiks!
Raise your hand if you've experienced this!
Of course I’ll go see a specialist and pay for a complete evaluation – but in the mean time I’ve begun looking for treatments and exercises online to help me alleviate this condition and perhaps even nip it in the bud.
Now I know I’m not the only artist out there with this little difficulty so allow me to share what I’ve learned so far in case any of my readers are bumping into this issue themselves.
My symptoms do not involve any pain
I had always expected pain to be a part of this, but nope. Instead in my right hand there is:
- a general sporadic loss of strength
- a weird tingling and
- sometimes a numbness.
The Good News
Happily there are exercises I can try to maybe undo some of what I’ve done so far and help me avoid any potential surgery altogether. Here’s a German drummer who’s created a short video showing us how to stretch for tendonitis and carpel tunnel:
Maybe that dude will help you too!
Here’s a page of slightly different exercises http://cts-carpal-tunnel-syndrome.com/CTS_exercises.htm
And another quick vid:
