Thumb pain after one year

Hi all, I haven't posted here in a while as I've been trying to shut my brain off with TMS but unfortunately I'm not making much progress.

I've had RSI thumb pain for over a year now, initially assumed to be De Quervain's Tenosynvitis (which has since been ruled out by multiple people). I've seen a hand surgeon, a physio specialist and also a rheumatologist (due to pain in multiple joints, which I now think is probably nerve pain). I had an ultrasound scan of my joints and an X-ray - nobody has found anything wrong at all, except that I have hypermobile joints. There was no inflammation in my joints or tendons according to the ultrasound.

I've started using the computer mouse with my left hand, so have reduced the usage of my right hand considerably, but the pain won't go away. It hurts constantly, even at rest, but especially when I'm using my hands. It hurts along all of the joints in my thumb and that side of my wrist, usually focusing on one spot at different times (ie. one day the last joint of my thumb will hurt a lot, other days it will be the base of my thumb).

Around March this year, I stupidly tried to crack my thumb (as I had an obsession with cracking my finger joints for years), and I'm worried I've stretched a ligament or something. After this I had tremors in my thumb for a while, which I sometimes still get when I put pressure on the joint. When I've looked up ligament injuries, I usually find redness/swelling as a symptom, which I've never had at any point during this ordeal.

Although I'm dealing with this better mentally nowadays, it feels like I'm living in a nightmare that won't end. Gaming has always been my passion and I've been unable to do this for over a year. Has anyone been able to overcome pain like this?

 

Yes. The answer is, yes they have - pain like this, and worse. You'll find many examples in the Success Stories subforum.

You've seen medical professionals, and they can't find anything wrong, but your post is devoted to details of your physical symptoms. You're still thinking physically, when you should have made the shift to thinking psychologically.

Your fearful primitive brain is totally in control of your inner conversation, and it's keeping you exactly where it wants you, stuck in fear and doubt. As I like to say, this is your brain on TMS.

What kind of emotional work have you been doing? Which books, which program?

 

I've read the Divided Mind and I also tried the SEP (though unfortunately trailed off after a few weeks).

I thought my symptoms might improve after the ultrasound scan as I was absolutely convinced I had some kind of tenosynvitis or inflammation, so I went back to regular computer use etc. But my symptoms just kept getting worse. It feels so deeply ingrained now that I'm not sure how to stop thinking about it - it's the first thing I notice when I wake up every morning, whenever I use my hands, etc.

 

Hi, i had iT I HAD IT lol, my thumbs both clicked and painfull i couldnt use my arms at all because of it, totally gone now was my particular bookcure im a digital artist i and i dont strenche or do therapy at all now. hope this helps

 

You barely dipped your toe in the water! Very few people achieve a significant level of recovery without doing the work. That was true before 2020, and even more so now.

Do more of the SEP and/or Alan's free Pain Recovery program right here on the forum. Read Success Stories in that Subforum. Do a keyword search on Alan Gordon and Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and see what folks are saying.

 

Since posting this thread I've gone back to using my mouse hand to play some video games, and holding books (yeah, I literally haven't held books up for a year as it hurts my thumb). My pain hasn't been any noticeably worse since I started doing this, which is reassuring. It's nice to do something I enjoy for a change instead of sitting on the couch feeling sorry for myself. I've also started doing more housework and general stuff.

The pain is still the same though. I think what I'm struggling with is that it seems to be a physical problem. When I stretch my fingers out, it feels like something is pulling on my thumb, and if I try to extend it as far as my other thumb, it starts to shake. Also, when I pinch to grab something, my thumb will start to shake uncontrollably sometimes, and sometimes even when I'm just moving my thumb around. Logically I know this would normally have healed by now, and likely there is nothing wrong since there is no inflammation. But the shaking/tremors upon activity is something I'm finding hard to reconcile as TMS.

 

Mines were clicking some times even get stuck and i had yo put it back with the other. Hurt every time I used my hands for almost anything i couldn't. Even wash myself back then. All was another form of TMS. Even if looks so phisical it isn't. Even all the docs that i saw told me that i have quervain and i and to take pt or mostly surgery. All of them, there was inflammation lack of strength and movement. I couldnt even pick a glass of water. And in the end was just TMS. You can do dis but u have to decide

 

You have gotten confirmation over and over that it is not physical so set that aside.
If you re-read your post, you'll see that you've built your entire life around your hand pain. You stopped doing all the normal things. That's what your brain wanted you to do. It was "protecting you" from life. Now that you've picked up a book and done some cleaning, your brain is making one more last ditch effort. "How about if I make it shake when she extends it......will that scare her enough to stop living," asks it.

But the good news is that YOU are in charge. The lower part of your brain can only give you those sensations and try to talk you into not living. It can be very persuasive. BUT the higher parts of your brain are the one that controls your actions. It's the one that can say, "I'm not going to listen to your nonsense any more. I control what I do with my hands and my feet. I can pick up a book every single day if I want to."

Stop buying into the part of the brain that's trying to trick you. Stop testing your hand to see what happens when you extend it a certain way. Stop symptom searching. Stop trying to find out what is wrong. Stop wondering if it's TMS or not. It's time to spend all that energy on releasing whatever emotions you have bottled up inside. Get that paper and pen and start writing. Find the anger that you don't know you have. Find the hurt. When you focus your time on that, the pain will dissipate. It will have lost its power.

Best of luck on your journey. Remember, you are in charge!

 

Yes my friend. There is lots of hope for you. A good place to start is awareness as to what thoughts and emotions are happening when you have the impulse to crack your fingers. Many people have nervous ticks like this when encountered with a situation that feels uncomfortable. Have you even seen someone doing a stretch (even subtle) when in a social situation? Often times people stretch off a little tension, because well....social situations can be uncomfortable for numerous reasons. Any way pay attention and bring a little more awareness to when and why you crack your joints. You might begin to see there is some consistency there. Observe the thoughts in your mind at that time, how those thoughts are making you feel emotionally and even your environment. This will give you the emotions that need some attention. When you focus on feeling those, the thumb pain will go away on its own.

of course working with someone 1 on 1 in these things is always the best option if you can.
Bless

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