What is this pain in my hands, and can I do something to lessen it?

Question

I don't know if this is carpel tunnel or something else. For about the past 5 years or so my hands have been cramping if I hold something small, like a pen, paintbrush, cooking spoon, anything small like that. Even fingernail clippers, scissors - anything.

I am only 28 so I don't think this is arthritis. It is mainly in my right hand, because I use it so much more, but it has happened in my left also.

I don't have a job where I do this often, thankfully. I use my hands a lot, but for normal activities. Also, I was a piano major in college though I haven't played much since then.

Recently my hands have been falling asleep, mostly at night, but during the day also.

Typing does not bother my hands, only activities where I must hold something small.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

I am a Neuromuscular Therapist.

The most obvious place to start is with the muscles that open and close your hands and flex/extend your wrist. Most of the muscles that perform these movements are attached to your forearm bones (radius and ulna) and attach to your metacarpals and phalanges (fingers) via long tendons that pass over your wrist bones (carpals). You have some smaller intrinsic muscles between your finger bones responsible for detailed, finer movement.

Some self-massage of the flexor and extensor muscles of the forearm will help. Add stretching by flexing your hand toward your wrist and extending the back of your hand toward your arm. You may assist the stretch with the other hand. Stretch the finger muscles by spreading your fingers apart gently and massaging the entire length of each finger. Pay particular attention to stretching the area of your palm as this contains a lot of connective tissue.

Cramping usually indicates that your muscles are on the verge of spasm all the time and it takes very little to trigger them into spasming contractures. I would not rule out the problem also being caused by tight muscles in your upper arm and even the chest and shoulder muscles, which often cause numbness and tingling. Repeated or prolonged activities like computer work, driving, chronic slouching, weak or overly strong muscles, dehydration, past injuries and other factors will cause these types of symptoms.

The best place to start may be to hire a Neuromuscular Therapist or other qualified deep tissue massage therapist. There's no substitute for hands on and visual assessment to determine exactly what is causing your pain. They will be able to give you much relief in one or two sessions, identify factors causing the problem and give you self-help direction.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Dude, I really think it's carpel tunnel too.I have the same thing except it doesn't hurt.My fingers just crack every time I move them.I think it could be from playing the piano back then because isn't it wiered that doing everything else hurts but typing doesn't.

Answer 3

Usually if you have a hard time holding something small, it's arthritis, although when they start falling asleep, it means you have carpal tunnel. I'd see a doctor and see what he says.

Answer 4

My mother had problems for years in her arms and hands. They thought it was cts, it wasn't, then they did two useless surgeries to move her funny bone to the insides of her elbows; that didn't help. Finally, someone figured out that she had a deteriorating disk in her neck, that was pinching nerves. She had surgery to remove the disk, replace it with a cadaver bone, and a titanium plate. She's better now.

Answer 5

Could be carpal tunnel, or signs of something even worse. Edema that pits on pressure is more likely to be due to heart, liver, or kidney disease. See a doctor.

Answer 6

Type in your search bar, www.mycarpaltunnel.com. It sounds like you have this. This site should let you evaluate your situation. Good Luck!