Tendonitis

[BatChao]

Hi. I was wondering if anyone here has (or has had) tendonitis or a similar RSI. I've had tendonitis in my wrists for about 2 months now along the pinky side of the wrist (the tendon that controls bending the wrist left and right). It's not extremely painful, but it's annoying as hell and I have to wear wrist braces pretty much 24/7, which sucks. I got it due to improper posture while typing and excessive video gaming. I work at a game publisher, so I can't NOT play games because my job requires it, but I've stopped all gaming outside of work (which TOTALLY sucks). Anyway, I was wondering if anyone with a similar experience could let me know about how long it took for them to heal and what they did to help heal it. Right now, I take 30 second breaks every 5 minutes when using the computer and while working. I also take a 3 minute break every hour to stretch. I do contrast baths every night for 10 minutes (soaking my hands/wrists in hot water + epsom salt for a minute, then in ice water for a minute, and back again to the hot, etc). I've also had physical therapy, which consisted mostly of stretching, massages, and ultrasound. I don't go anymore, though, since my insurance won't cover it anymore. I'm going to see a hand specialist once my insurance gives me authorization.

So yea, any personal experiences would be great. It has been getting better, but VERY slowly. I was just wondering how long I should expect it to last and if there's anything I can do to help heal it.

[Hambone]

do you play an instrument?

[Jojee]

What exactly is tedonitis?

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Tendonitis is inflammation resulting from overuse of tendons.

I can't empathize, but I hope you recover as quickly as possible, Chao. It sounds like you're doing everything that you can.

[o_O]

I used to get tendonitis in my wrists playing drums.
I've since developed a better technique and I can't remember the last time I had it now, though.

[rubah]

Really the only way to heal it is to stop doing anything that calls for it.

I get crazy pains in the wrist because of xylophone playing, so I can sympathize :(

Does 24/7 include whilst you sleep?

[BatChao]

I don't play any instruments.

I used to get pain in my wrist before I was diagnosed with tendonitis after playing a game that requires constant and rapid button mashing for four or five hours, but it would always go away a few hours after I stopped playing. Right now, I have constant pain in my wrists no matter what I am doing (just worse when I'm typing or using a controller). If I can get it back to the pain just coming on after an hour or so of playing/computing, that would be good enough for me...

And yes, I do wear the wrist braces while I sleep, though I loosen them to let the blood flow better.