Not addicted any more.

[Little Cutie]

I think I no longer have the bug bite for modeling now. I have severe CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME and it's wrecked my hands! My doctor gave me anti-inflammatory drugs (Naproxen) which is worthless. I TOLD her that I wanted the surgery and she didn't listen. Now I need it desperately! It's difficult to type now and my hands hurt so bad that I wish I was dead!! I work at a place that makes heat shields for Ford Motor Company and it's killing my body. First my shoulder went out on my Thursday morning at work. This sent me to the local health clinic to get an X-ray which took THREE HOURS and by the time I was done I had a little less than an hour and a half before my shift ended. So this meant putting me on light duty putting spring clips on the edge of another shield which means that after eight hours of cramping my hands I now hurt and cannot use my hands for anything!! My shoulder hurt because after FOUR DAYS of slamming the clamps down on the jig that holds our parts so that the robot can punch holes into the crash shield and the aluminum shield then rivet them together. I am on light duty until the first of next month. This means for the next five days I have to do these clips. Now I don't know what to do. I know that doctors get money (kickbacks) from pharmaceutical companies but that won't cure my problem! Now my hands are wrecked.

 

[Belugawrx]

 

[ssgteverett]

Wow... Sorry to hear of this - I can relate [to some degree]. For me, it was the diagnosis of "...well Ed, its like this... you're going to require complete CMC-Osteoplasty - Oh, and that's on both hands...". Needless to say, that took some of the fun out of one, of my major pursuits for relaxation and therapy. Now, some 20+ yrs later [and learning to live with the aftermath], I've re-learned/readjusted this pursuit - Slimmed down the time I can 'model' [less stress on my hands]- Became REAL selective on 'what' to build [got rid of a huge amount of my stash] - AND discovered, after trial-n-error, how to re-use my hands and not over-stress them. It's hard, that's for sure... But, I learned it can be done [to some degree or another]; for me, mostly these days, I pace myself and try not overdoing it when it comes to this model building stuff AND to have fun.
I wish you all the best and for a speedy recovery and for gett'n better. - Ed

 

[Pantherman]

I think I no longer have the bug bite for modeling now. I have severe CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME and it's wrecked my hands! My doctor gave me anti-inflammatory drugs (Naproxen) which is worthless. I TOLD her that I wanted the surgery and she didn't listen. Now I need it desperately! It's difficult to type now and my hands hurt so bad that I wish I was dead!! I work at a place that makes heat shields for Ford Motor Company and it's killing my body. First my shoulder went out on my Thursday morning at work. This sent me to the local health clinic to get an X-ray which took THREE HOURS and by the time I was done I had a little less than an hour and a half before my shift ended. So this meant putting me on light duty putting spring clips on the edge of another shield which means that after eight hours of cramping my hands I now hurt and cannot use my hands for anything!! My shoulder hurt because after FOUR DAYS of slamming the clamps down on the jig that holds our parts so that the robot can punch holes into the crash shield and the aluminum shield then rivet them together. I am on light duty until the first of next month. This means for the next five days I have to do these clips. Now I don't know what to do. I know that doctors get money (kickbacks) from pharmaceutical companies but that won't cure my problem! Now my hands are wrecked.

Sorry to hear your not doing so well, the whole world seems against you when you're ill somehow. We in the UK are very fortunate to have the nhs which covers most treatments and aftercare for free (well, you pay more tax so not really free). I would be devastated if I had to stop modeling so I do hope that some of our fellow members advise works for you. Take care.
Irishvic/Pantherman

 

[Little Cutie]

I wish we had national health here in the USA. However I do have insurance but I don't know how much of the surgery it would cover if I went under the knife. I already have surgical scars on my right arm and right leg from having tumors removed. I also had two tumors removed from my large intestine earlier this year in February. Getting old sucks but I don't know for sure how long I've had the internal tumors or the one on my arm. However the one on my right leg I've had from 2001 until 2020. I'm just glad to have them gone. Now only if the scars would go away.......

 

[Pantherman]

I wish we had national health here in the USA. However I do have insurance but I don't know how much of the surgery it would cover if I went under the knife. I already have surgical scars on my right arm and right leg from having tumors removed. I also had two tumors removed from my large intestine earlier this year in February. Getting old sucks but I don't know for sure how long I've had the internal tumors or the one on my arm. However the one on my right leg I've had from 2001 until 2020. I'm just glad to have them gone. Now only if the scars would go away.......

You are absolutely right that getting old sucks. I have so many scars on my arm's from years of construction injuries and micro fractures in my spine from lifting too much, again for years in construction. My fingers don't always do what my brain is telling them. I must say that since I started modelling last December I now find myself less stressed and happier in general so no matter what I will always find a way to get some modelling done each week.
Irishvic/Pantherman

 

[golgotha]

Sorry to hear your not doing so well, the whole world seems against you when you're ill somehow. We in the UK are very fortunate to have the nhs which covers most treatments and aftercare for free (well, you pay more tax so not really free). I would be devastated if I had to stop modeling so I do hope that some of our fellow members advise works for you. Take care.
Irishvic/Pantherman

There is a great pastime in the UK where you hear moans about the NHS, right up until you need their help.
However we are so fortunate to have such a service as the speed that our local hospital's Oncology service got into gear has been stunning. I can't estimate the cost of CAT scans, MRI's, XRays, biopsy and onto Chemotherapy that has racked up already and much more to go of the same and similar, Surgery, Radiotherapy, and countless medication prescriptions, but I couldn't pay for it, that I know.
I know that people do pay private health insurance subscriptions, but for 62 years I have had fabulous care available.

I hope you find a resolution for your pain and are able to carry on with fulfilling hobbies and work that looks after your health and wellbeing. Good advice will be available from other members, who have similar experience with life and don't forget, it is worth looking at some of the natural and alternative therapies and Meds.

Keep well all

John

 

[Little Cutie]

You are absolutely right that getting old sucks. I have so many scars on my arm's from years of construction injuries and micro fractures in my spine from lifting too much, again for years in construction. My fingers don't always do what my brain is telling them. I must say that since I started modelling last December I now find myself less stressed and happier in general so no matter what I will always find a way to get some modelling done each week.
Irishvic/Pantherman

I am sorry that this happened to you. : ( <--- sad face

I know what you mean when you say that this helps you therapeutically. But I can't even do that since I have to wait until my hands stop hurting long enough to do anything which makes it that much worse! I don't know what to do. I hope that I can hold on long enough to get into the company after my ninety days probation is up and get the surgery so that I can work again without worrying about it. The scars will just blend in with the others!

 

[stevethefish]

CTS surgery is the most widely-performed surgery, yet it is the least successful. I was able to overcome mine through physical therapy and a naturopathic doctor, which I already told you about. I think some people's blood chemistry makes us more susceptible to inflammation and tendonitis. I currently have some bad tendonitis/tennis elbow in my right arm and I can feel trigger finger in my left middle finger. I've been going to an osteopathic doctor about twice a week.

I remember the flinching pain coursing through both arms when I suffered from CTS. Just one morning I woke up and my right hand couldn't move. Then the next morning or so later, the same happened to the left. Just typing caused flinching nerve pain in my wrists and I was so scared. The cortisol hormonal therapy from a naturopathic doctor is where I started to make a turnaround.

In my opinion though, it doesn't matter if you're in America or the UK, or Japan where I live. The modern medical paradigm has the ideology of "a patient cured is a customer lost" and it seeks to address symptoms rather than problems. This parody news article pretty much sums up the state of things. Sustaining maladies under a conditional management is far more profitable than curing people.

Surgery may help you. I don't know. I have permanent trigger finger in my right index finger from when I severely injured the tendon in my hand 8 years ago, and I can no longer make a fist. I can still use my hand to work on models, play video games, and whever, but I have a permanent limited range of motion and I wonder if surgery could improve that. Right now, though, I just cannot trust any hospital with my well-being anymore these days.

 

[sanford12]

I think I no longer have the bug bite for modeling now. I have severe CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME and it's wrecked my hands! My doctor gave me anti-inflammatory drugs (Naproxen) which is worthless. I TOLD her that I wanted the surgery and she didn't listen. Now I need it desperately! It's difficult to type now and my hands hurt so bad that I wish I was dead!! I work at a place that makes heat shields for Ford Motor Company and it's killing my body. First my shoulder went out on my Thursday morning at work. This sent me to the local health clinic to get an X-ray which took THREE HOURS and by the time I was done I had a little less than an hour and a half before my shift ended. So this meant putting me on light duty putting spring clips on the edge of another shield which means that after eight hours of cramping my hands I now hurt and cannot use my hands for anything!! My shoulder hurt because after FOUR DAYS of slamming the clamps down on the jig that holds our parts so that the robot can punch holes into the crash shield and the aluminum shield then rivet them together. I am on light duty until the first of next month. This means for the next five days I have to do these clips. Now I don't know what to do. I know that doctors get money (kickbacks) from pharmaceutical companies but that won't cure my problem! Now my hands are wrecked.

I worked in the automotive industry for 27 years and before that I was a welder. I had carpal tunnel to the point where when driving I used to have to take one hand off the wheel and shake it to get the feeling back into it. I found the best carpal tunnel surgeon and insisted on using him instead of the butchers the company recommended. I was in my late '30s when I had the operation and I'm now 68. It was the best thing that could have happened. As soon as I woke up from the surgery I knew my hand was better, it was the same with the second hand. Don't let a company doctor poo poo you insist on the operation. From what I found, the full release where they actually open your hand is better than the orthoscopic. Either way, find the best surgeon you can.

 

[sanford12]

I think I no longer have the bug bite for modeling now. I have severe CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME and it's wrecked my hands! My doctor gave me anti-inflammatory drugs (Naproxen) which is worthless. I TOLD her that I wanted the surgery and she didn't listen. Now I need it desperately! It's difficult to type now and my hands hurt so bad that I wish I was dead!! I work at a place that makes heat shields for Ford Motor Company and it's killing my body. First my shoulder went out on my Thursday morning at work. This sent me to the local health clinic to get an X-ray which took THREE HOURS and by the time I was done I had a little less than an hour and a half before my shift ended. So this meant putting me on light duty putting spring clips on the edge of another shield which means that after eight hours of cramping my hands I now hurt and cannot use my hands for anything!! My shoulder hurt because after FOUR DAYS of slamming the clamps down on the jig that holds our parts so that the robot can punch holes into the crash shield and the aluminum shield then rivet them together. I am on light duty until the first of next month. This means for the next five days I have to do these clips. Now I don't know what to do. I know that doctors get money (kickbacks) from pharmaceutical companies but that won't cure my problem! Now my hands are wrecked.

 

[sanford12]

If your hands have gotten to a certain point, no medication or therapy or hand braces are going to help. Surgery is the best way and from what I've read the full release is better than the orthoscopic. I found the best surgeon and insisted upon him instead of those on the list of the automotive company I worked for. The full release is all the surgeon I picked would do and I have barely noticeable scars. I had my surgery done in my late '30s and and I'm now 68. The surgery work better than I could have imagined. I've had no problems in the 30 years since the surgery. Sometimes you have to insist on what you want instead of being led. The nurse I went to for the nerve conductivity test said I needed the surgery. I told her I want you to recommend this surgeon to which she reply that she couldn't. I wasn't going to accept that. I told her I don't care what the f what you can't do. I want you to recommend this surgeon. She did recommend the surgeon. When other people that I worked with needed carpal tunnel surgery. I recommended the surgeon who did mine and they were completely happy. The surgeon makes the difference

 

[stevethefish]

That's comforting to hear someone's success story with the surgery. I'd talked to people who said that it came back. I have no idea how to go about selecting a good surgeon.

 

[sanford12]

You have to start asking the people who work for health care providers for recommendations and then you can research them online. Google is your friend in this instance

 

[stevethefish]

You have to start asking the people who work for health care providers for recommendations and then you can research them online. Google is your friend in this instance

Unfortunately that won't apply to me since I moved to a country over 10 years ago where I will never be fluent in the language. The one time I had surgery was a few years ago because my doctor thought my complaints were "just gas." Then when I went back a few days later after I got worse, he told me I had a burst appendix and told me to go to the hospital. I then proceeded to drive myself to the hospital and was able to stumble to the front door where some ladies got a wheelchair for me before I collapsed in the parking lot. My only luck has been when I've known better than doctors and in this case, I failed because I trusted one without doing my own homework. Now my current doctor keeps trying to push statins on me for this hoax that LDL is bad for you. No thanks, I'm just here for the Chinese herbal decongestant, you drug pusher. You won't rope me into that poison that destroys your body when it can't be proven that "high" LDL causes heart attacks while low LDL levels are often a sign of a serious health problem. That's what I'd like to say to her, but I don't want to get into it an argument with her. I was 27 when I realized that if I had gone with my doctor's advice, I would have become crippled with a terribly caustic "medicine" given to elderly women. He told me that poison was the only way for me to improve, but I threw it out, came back a year later, and proved him wrong. Never saw him again.

I just have a hard time trusting doctors, but I have been tempted for a while to have surgery for my trigger finger. The nurse at one of the schools I worked at a couple of years ago said that her mother had surgery for trigger finger and she has full mobility.

 

[Little Cutie]

I too have to shake my hands around to relieve the numb tingling in them. I am so sick of this! I take Naproxen which I just found out is the pharmaceutical name for it but the over the counter name is ALEVE!! But what I take is 1000 milligrams per tablet! This is a lot more than the usual dose. However I felt dizzy and tired at work. This is a blood thinner and I didn't know it. I wondered why my blood pressure was down about twenty points since last week when I went to the clinic. This keeps your tendons and muscles from being inflamed. I think I would rather have the surgery too! I am still on light duty until two weeks from now. In the meantime they said if I feel better to call and reschedule an appointment. We'll see what happens but meanwhile........... I don't want to wait too long until my nerves are so shot that they never recover and surgery isn't something that you want to get with a discount coupon! Thank you all for reading and for your advice - it is greatly appreciated.

 

[stevethefish]

If you are taking statins for lowering cholesterol, this could be a factor. I'm learning that statins can cause all sorts of nerve and tendon problems.