Alex B. General help

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Question

PROFILE: I am male, and 27 years old. My height is around 5'9" and my weight is around 88 kg.


HOW IT STARTED: I started using computer at the age of around 14 – 15. I have a degree in software engineering but my problem is not due to that. I was an introvert and spent lot of time on computing (chatting, gaming, et cetera). My symptoms (pain in wrists) started appearing around 6 to 8 years back. During this time more or less they have remained same except for the last few months – when the pain exacerbated.

As far as my RSI is concerned, For very long, the pain would appear when I would type (sleep has almost no correlation with my pain). When I would wake up in the morning, there would be no pain. Rest would also decrease the pain. Exercises made me feel better.


I visited many doctors but these were with no avail. Many considered the problem insignificant. Some just suggested some exercises.


WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING: stretches and exercises, ice therapy, walk, speech recognition software, breathing exercises.


OTHER ISSUES: I have several other pain problems; I checked them all with professional doctors and no cause has been found. (1) I have knee pain (on and off, increases with exertion and SPECIALLY driving) – I have even done MRI and it was a normal. It has lot of crepitus. (2) I have Ear ache (occurs with headphones or continuous loud volume (Cinema). Once I showed it to the doctor and he found nothing – no infection or wax. (3) I also had pain in my right ankle for very long (around 5 to 6 year) – this pain has virtually and suddenly disappeared. In this also, doctors did not find anything substantial.

There is reason that I’m telling about other issues. And please note that I have been having these problems for very long and I am only saying it because I am dead certain of this. For some reason I only have been having pain at only one spot at any given time.

RECENT HISTORY: In the last few months, frequency and length of pain have increased. Pain has also started appearing in my elbows. With some particular type of working (holding shaving razor, holding cellphone, holding a page, et cetera (I have noted that these symptoms do not appear if I do all these things applying a lot of pressure in holding), there also appeared numbness.


Since I got new type of symptoms, it worried me and I rushed to a doctor. This was first time that a doctor conducted NCS; I guess electric shocks were passed from my wrists and elbows to my fingertips. My doctor said that they are normal. He also did some physical examinations; he put my hands in prayer position (both of palms facing and touching each other) for some time, asked me to spread my fingers and then tried to force them closed (and asked me to put pressure against that), slightly hit my wrists. All these weird tests proved negative except for the tapping on only one spot of my left wrist (MY RIGHT WRIST has always had more pain). Later after reading, I also learnt about some other tests and did them personally: Phalen Test, Tilen Test, Hand Elevation, Durkan Carpal Compression Test.I did all of them myself personally in my home – I did not feel any difference.

I'm still not sure what exactly is my problem. It has HUGE IMPACT pact on my career, mood, and productivity. I use speech recognition software. It has helped me a lot but it reduces the speed by manyfold and is very frustrating.

My main reason for writing this here in this form is to know what exactly is my problem? And if I will ever get permanent solution to this.

 

[Alex Bloom LCSW]

Answer

Hi, thanks for the question.

My recommendation would be to try and schedule an appointment with physician who specializes in TMS as available to you as possible. The wiki contains a list of resources including physicians by area. As a TMS therapist I do not diagnose people per se. That being said, so many of the things you are mentioning point to the possibility of TMS - the irregularity of symptoms, having your pain move around, negative MRIs, etc. However, in order to approach these issues from a TMS perspective it is crucial that you accept the diagnosis. One of the most helpful ways of doing this is to speak to a physician who is familiar with the issues. Hopefully they can provide you the confidence necessary to accept the diagnosis by explaining some of your symptoms. One thing to keep in mind is that TMS will almost always affect you in an area that is impossible to ignore. In other words, someone who uses computers will have symptoms in their wrists, a singer will have vocal issues or reflux, a runner will have foot problems, etc. This is because the symptoms are there to preoccupy and distract you, and they will only be effective if they affect thee meaningful aspects of your life so of course there is a huge impact.

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