Aching in both wrists, arms up to my elbow. Fingers ache in my left hand but not my right. Possibly CTS?

Question

Possibly carpal tunnel syndrome? This started happening in both of my hands around the same time. I've never had any symptoms of CTS like this before. I'm 20 yrs old. My mother has a slight calcium deficiency, like a mild brittle bone disorder.

I get a pain up to around each elbow in my arms and sometimes up to my shoulder. Sometimes my wrist kind of burns and a lot of the time the back of my hand aches. Seems to effect mostling the pinky-side of my hands and my pinky fingers. I didn't figure CTS because it started in both wrists on pretty much the same day. I'm on the PC maybe 2 hours a day. I work in a pharmacy, screwing lids on pill bottles and typing for most of my day. This has been going on for about a week now and I have yet to see a doctor because I have no insurance. I should also note that I play about 15+ hours of videogames a week.

Sorry if that sounded like a run-on, I'm trying to get as much out there as I can to see if anyone might offer any help.

Answer 1

Treat it like arthritis like I bet it is. Get to the doctor when you can. Warmth keeps my body in motion.
Both sides of the body hurting at the same time, if you run a low grade fever, tired quite a lot, and your bones just do not feel like doing anything. These are some of the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. They can check your blood work for this though it does not always show up. Lyme disease, and there is another that can mimic some of these symptoms.

A inflammatory might not hurt, ask your boss the best over the counter one for you.

Get to the Doctor as soon as you can.

Wish you well.....

BTW chiropractors (as the person above stated) I am told to stay away from. They do nothing for arthritis if this is what you have, they might even hurt you worse.

Answer 2

Hi Jeff. This could be a lot of different things. The two most likely problems are a centrally herniated disc in the neck or a bilateral Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS).

The extensive videogame playing and use or your upper extremities at work lead me to think that TOS is the most likely diagnosis. TOS is often the long-term sequelae of a neck injury (e.g. whiplash). It results in compression of the neurovascular bundle as it passes through neck and shoulder, into the arm.

Most docs are not well trained in diagnosing TOS. You may need to see a good Chiropractor to get a proper evaluation and treatment (note: even though you work in a pharmacy, these problems are not effectively treated with drugs).

Best wishes and good luck.