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Chronic wrist tendonitis, corticosteroid shots and surgery in both wrists, didn't helpby Angela
I have been dealing with wrist tendonitis since February 2009. I am 26 and have been an auditor for 4 years, so i'm constantly typing, carrying heavy files, and driving to different locations for my audits. At first, the pain started on the back of my left wrist so I went to my family physician and I was told i could have a possible sprain and to rest my wrist and wear a brace. Well after a couple months the pain went away. Then in July 2009 the pain returned so I kept wearing the brace but this time pain just got worse. I went to my doctor again in September and was referred to an orthopedic. The doctor told me I had tendonitis and needed to rest my wrist for 2 weeks. So I was out of work for 2 weeks. During that time I started feeling the same aching and pain in my right wrist but it was hard to rest it because I'm right handed and my left wrist was also hurting. When I went back to work the pain in both wrists continued to get worse and worse and the location of the pain changed. The pain was now along the side of the wrist by my thumb and it hurt to grab anything. So I went back to the doctor in October 2009. He told me that my job was causing my issue and diagnosed me with de quervain tendonitis in each wrist. During that visit i also received a cortisone shot in the back of my wrist. The doctor also said i needed to take a break from work to heal and recommended occupational therapy 2 times per week where the therapist performed therapeutic ultrasound, wrist exercises, ans stretching on each wrist. During the 2 months i was out of work, the cortisone shot helped the tendonitis on the back of my wrist, but the dequervain tendonitis became worse. Therapy was not working so in December 2009 I received another cortisone shot but this time it was injected over my thumb on each wrist. The shot worked on my left wrist; however the pain did not change in my right wrist so my doctor suggested surgery on my right wrist. Since I was in excruciating pain and needed to go back to work I decided to ahead with the "tendon release" surgery in January 2010. It took 3 months to recover but I felt better and was able to work. Throughout the rest of 2010 I still felt some aching and pain in my right wrist but it would come and go. The doctors put me back in therapy which temporarily relieved the pain. Now in 2011 I still have pain in both wrists. It's not as bad as before but it limits what I can do and hurts most when I drive and use the computer mouse. I ice and stretch each wrist but don't know what else to do. Its really affecting my life and I would like to go bowling, drive long distances and play video games again. The doctor doesn't seem to understand why i still have symptoms and doesn't have any other suggestions. I have the following questions: 1. What else can I do to relieve my symptoms? 2. Why didn't the surgery help my right wrist? 3. Should I consider getting another cortisone shot? 4. Is it possible that I will have to deal with tendonitis the rest of my life? Thanks, Angela ---- Joshua Answers: Hello Angela. Welcome to the common of experience of people with Tendonitis when they go through the medical system. I'll jump right to your questions: 1. What else can I do to relieve my symptoms? Get my Reversing Wrist Tendonitis ebook is the short answer, as it has everything you need. The longer answer is, you must make sure to get rid of any nutritional deficiencies that are adding to your pain ecology. You must kick out the Process of Inflammation. You must reverse the Pain Causing Dynamic that has been, for years, making the structures of your forearm and and tighter and tighter and tighter. Guess what doesn't get 'released' when you get surgery? ALL the other tightness that is causing your pain. 2. Why didn't the surgery help my right wrist? I don't know. There are a variety of reasons, including, A. Surgery isn't magic and just because you cut on something doesn't make it all better, B. Surgery can't get rid of pain caused by nutritional deficiency or inflammation, C. Most of the time, where you feel the pain isn't the CAUSE of the pain. There are MANY factors that go into that question. Ask me a more specific question. 3. Should I consider getting another cortisone shot? Did the earlier ones fix anything? Aside from that, Corticosteroid Injections can and do weaken connective tissue and cause other problems, including taking all the pain away so you continue to use your arm/hand, hurting yourself without being able to feel it. 4. Is it possible that I will have to deal with tendonitis the rest of my life? Absolutely, unless you find and fix the CAUSE of the problem. In life, pain does commonly come and go. But in the situation you describe, especially post-surgery, it's a safe bet that it's not going to just go away on it's own. I'd love to be wrong, but the body just doesn't seem to work that way. I think you've noticed the trend that 'rest' isn't working. Clearly corticosteroid shots don't. Clearly surgery didn't. Granted, I'm biased and highly suggest following what you'll find in my ebook, as well as asking questions along the way. A couple important things to know: Rest doesn't fix anything. Your job didn't cause your Symptoms of Tendonitis. Symptoms come from the Downward Spiral of increasing tightness, dysfunction, and pain that build up over the years until finally your body starts losing the battle. More questions, more answers. ---------------------- Please reply using the comment link below. Do not submit a new submission to answer/reply, it's too hard for me to find where it's supposed to go. And, comments have a 3,000 character limit so you may have to comment twice. -----------------------  Joshua Tucker, B.A., C.M.T. The Tendonitis Expert www.TendonitisExpert.com
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