Worse after splints
Hi - I had an appointment last week at your clinic and was diagnosed with "mild CTS" in both hands, although I was also told that my symptoms (pain and stiffness in left hand, numbness in right hand) would suggest that I may have more than just CTS going on. I've been wearing the splints for a few nights but already in the mornings my hands are markedly _worse_ after having worn the splints. They're both (but particularly my right hand) incredibly stiff and painful, and it takes about 10 minutes before I can coax them into being more than crab claws grafted on the ends of my wrists.
is this normal? Should I continue, or is it likely that something more than CTS is at play which is being exacerbated by wearing the splints overnight?
Cheers,
C
Thanks for the speedy reply. OK i can do that, though it pretty much puts me where I've been for the last couple of months (ie persistent stiffness with pain in the left hand and periodic numbness in the right). The severity varies, and it's always worse first thing after they've been immobile overnight, but neither symptom goes away completely. Do you think I need to test for something else in addition to CTS?
C
Possibly yes, but I would just like to check that change over the last few days really is the splints and not just progression of some underlying problem. JB
Ok, I'll see how things are without the splints for a few days and will let you know.
Cheers
C
Hi - I left the splints off for a few nights and have started using them again, but had the same stiffening problem when I woke up.
I am starting to notice a slight change in my symptoms now too. My right hand is now starting to feel more like my left (i.e. more of a stiffness than a numbness, though not yet to the same degree and I don't yet have the same pain in my right hand as I ave in my left). Should I still be approaching this as mild CTS, or does it sound like further investigation is warranted?
cheers
C
Was the stiffness of the hands in the morning less marked without the splints? JB
Hi - Yes it was, though of course I do have continuous stiffness (and pain in the left) throughout the day.
cheers
C
...and the pain is more on the back of the hand rather than the palm side - as if the back of my fingers between the first and second knuckle has been hit with a mallet, sending the fingers all throbby, stiff and tender.
cheers
C
Should almost certainly be checked out for other problems I think. Your GP may have some ideas and we can arrange for the hand clinic to take a look at it, though there may be a bit of a wait by that route. JB
OK, so basically I should go back to my GP now and say that you're recommending he arrange for other things to be checked out (or do you need to write to him to say the same thing)?
cheers
C
I will look into the records when I get in to the office on Monday and arrange a hand clinic assessment but as that will take a while, if you get a chance to see your GP in the meantime it might get things moving a little faster. I'll copy a supplementary report to yur GP on Monday too. JB
That sounds rather as though they are stiffening when immobilised. Try leaving the splints off now for a few nights and let me know if things improve. JB