After four weeks of using splints...
I have been wearing the splints at night now for four weeks. Finally I have known the joy of uninterrupted sleep! However, although I am no longer being woken up during the night by any numbness, when I wake up normaly in the morning, the tingling and numbness starts (even with the splints on, in both hands) and continues for about ten minutes or so after I take the splints off.
Should I continue with the splints for a bit longer?
Many thanks.
Well, I've left the splints off now for a couple of weeks. I'm not being woken up in the middle of the night anymore - hurrah! - but when I wake up in the morning, my right hand is numb, and my right forearm and elbow are aching with it. Sometimes, my left hand is tingling as well. Any suggestions, please?
How long is that numbness lasting in the morning and are you able to function normally throughout the day? If it is only a brief temporary nuisance on waking then I would probably do nothing else for now and await developments for a while, but if it is enough of a problem to interfere with breakfast then I would probably try a local steroid injection for the right wrist. JB
The numbness is on and off after waking for about two to three hours. It doesn't interfere too much with actually preparing and eating my breakfast, but it does reappear when I brush my teeth. Occassionally, I have some tingling during the day (usually mid to late afternoon, if that makes a difference, and usually my right hand, but very occassionally my left), but it goes after rotating my hand a few times.
In that case I think I would be inclined to give it one injection. It sounds as though the symptoms are still pretty much a daily event and steroid injection is sufficiently safe and simple that it is probably worthwhile for these symptoms. If you call the SIPC office (01233 667884/667885) they will arrange it for you. JB
I think after 4 weeks if the only residual symptom is 10 minutes of tingling in the mornng I would try leaving them off for a week now and see if the problem recurs. We are not aiming to keep you in splints indefinitely and if we can't get you sleeping through without them then we should start thinking about injection. Don't throw them out though - you never know when they might come in handy. JB