Current Events > Anyone here deal with chronic pain? How do you manage?

(+) Yeah! (+)

So, for the past month now Ive had an issue with my left hand/wrist. It started with soreness out of the blue and progressively got worse over the next few days where it was pain radiating out of the thick part of my palm (the part below the thumb). Moving my wrist laterally made it worse. Ive been on anti-inflamatories since but I run out in 5 days. And they definitely helped because the big pain went away and there was swelling.

But Im coming to terms with the fact that this probably wont go away. I have a wrist brace and compression bandages (I havent worn the brace in a week) that I wear on the hand. They help, kinda. But I feel a popping or cracking sensation in my wrist now. The orthopedic office couldnt find anything wrong when I went there (Im probably going back for the follow-up visit). No broken bones in my x-rays. Ive all but stopped playing video games except things I can play right handed only (Super Mario Party is light on the strain bc motion controls so Ive gotten a little time out of it, unlocking everything for the next time I hang with friends).

Idk how Im supposed to manage if this never goes away. I couldnt sleep before I was on the medication. I would move my wrist when I was sleeping and Id wake up in pain at 3 in the morning.

Share your experiences with me. It doesnt have to be wrist-related either I just want to know how people cope.
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On Valentines Day, 2015 I chopped off the tip of my left index finger on a mandolin slicer. There was substantial nerve damage. It is a source of constant pain.

I avoid letting it get cold, as this exacerbates the nerve, and keep the nail rounded such that I can type and do other physical activities with the nail rather than the fingertip.

Day to day, I focus on other tasks so I do not notice the pain as much.

When the pain becomes severe, I exercise to draw my attention away from it.
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I intensify it until I adapt
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Do you have any idea what's the cause of the chronic pain? Are there lifestyle or occupational habits that put you in situations where you find yourself straining your left wrist often? How about your left forearm?

I think chronic pain management depends on whether or not you have to just deal with the pain. Like, someone with terrible arthritis obviously just needs to deal with it and do whatever treatment to help alleviate, but you can't cure it. I'd be trying to get to the bottom of the cause of the pain and do whatever it takes to fix it. Change your typing posture, elevation of keyboard, if you do sports/weightlift try to mix up whatever your routine is, etc.
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Darkman124 posted...

On Valentines Day, 2015 I chopped off the tip of my left index finger on a mandolin slicer. There was substantial nerve damage. It is a source of constant pain.

I avoid letting it get cold, as this exacerbates the nerve, and keep the nail rounded such that I can type and do other physical activities with the nail rather than the fingertip.

Day to day, I focus on other tasks so I do not notice the pain as much.

When the pain becomes severe, I exercise to draw my attention away from it.

Fuck me dude. Sorry to hear. Cringed hard imagining going through that
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Holy_Pumpkin posted...

f*** me dude. Sorry to hear. Cringed hard imagining going through that

It was the best Valentines Day ever!

Well, the reddest.
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Holy_Pumpkin posted...

Do you have any idea what's the cause of the chronic pain? Are there lifestyle or occupational habits that put you in situations where you find yourself straining your left wrist often? How about your left forearm?

I think chronic pain management depends on whether or not you have to just deal with the pain. Like, someone with terrible arthritis obviously just needs to deal with it and do whatever treatment to help alleviate, but you can't cure it. I'd be trying to get to the bottom of the cause of the pain and do whatever it takes to fix it. Change your typing posture, elevation of keyboard, if you do sports/weightlift try to mix up whatever your routine is, etc.

I am (was I guess) a heavy gamer since its how I connect with my friends. I have an online group of friends I got into via this site actually so its the only way I get to hang out with them. Plus my irl friends are the same way. I only see them in person once or twice a week.

Also in college when I was more busy I had to do a lot of programming. So still on the computer a lot.

Work also has me on the computer.

So it could be something like carpal tunnel or tendonitis... idk. I mean I hope not but if it was just a sprain or muscle strain itd be gone by now and plus I dont think the wrist clicking/popping would be the results of those.

Nothing really happened when I went to the orthopedic office but after that I started to feel the sensations in my wrist more :/

I dont know whats going to happen when my prescription runs out.
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I also broke my left elbow in high school like 11 years ago. So my left arm since then has always been the bad arm
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A few years ago I broke my wrist so bad the doctor said it was like a bomb had gone off in there. Bone fragments everywhere. I had to get a rod put in there and there is a piece near my thumb that will never recover fully.

What helped me was putting constant pressure on my wrist to kind of give it a "work out". When it got too much to take I just relaxed it and started again at another time. That helped getting me used to constant use of my wrist and now I really only feel it if I'm bending at an extreme way or putting a ton of pressure on there (like when I work out). Its 90% unnoticeable now, but unfortunately it will never go away and I could be prone to severe arthritis when I'm old. Hopefully it doesn't go that route though
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Yeah good luck on that. Having to avoid using a hand is really hard. Cause if you have arthritis in it I can imagine not wanting to use it as much.

For like 2 weeks I tried using my left hand as little as possible. My right hand is my dominant one so I didnt think it would be that bad but I was really wrong.
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sometimes i get the back pain from that incident in which i had a seizure. thought the pain went away for good after that month of living with it. but it aches a bit towards the end of the night.

think it's the chair doing it. used to help before but sleeping on the bed seems to fix it up due to it being extra firm.
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God I cant imagine how it even feels to have a seizure let alone knowing your body is capable of doing that to you
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one just blacks out without no memory of it happening.
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Damn still sucks though
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Bump
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