Arm update

[solarbird]

My arms are getting somewhat better only very, very slowly. (And right now I'm in a good bit of pain in my right hand.) I'm back to wearing wrist braces and will mostly continue to be offline. I've seen a couple of people but no new ideas so far. I've been taking it as easy as I can with my arms and such but quite frankly this scares me and I don't know what to do about it. I'm really scared this'll fuck up my ability to play and then I don't know what I'll do.

Comments

[nijibug]

Take care of your arms, fellow musician ♥

[403]

Get well soon!

[unexpected_finn]

For what it's worth, given that my hands and arms are screwed-up for completely different reasons than yours.

Long fabric/metal splints have been an absolute mercy to me. You've probably seen them, since I wear them a lot, including for highway driving. I also wear them for sleeping. Sleeping is not as bad as it might sound -- they can be adjusted to suit my sleeping posture.

Main thing is that they pin my wrists from flexing and rotating, and they take on all the mechanical loads that my wrists and arms cannot handle any longer.

The ones I wear are about 35 cm long, covering hands, wrists and most of my forearms. The metal bars inside are curved to fit and fix the resting (minimal stress) angle of my wrists. The fabric is some sort of plush-lined high-denier nylon/cotton mix. Adjustment is by means of three very tough hook-and-loop tape fasteners.

I have no idea how much these braces would cost Stateside. I got them in Alberta, courtesy of the Cancer Board, who did not make a charge for them.

-----

I previously wore shorter braces, just for my wrists. They did not really help. The longer ones have helped. They are not very aesthetically-pleasing, since they look like simply what they are: medical devices. Dammit, though, they work -- I'm still pounding away at mechanical-action keyboard instruments, after all.

Good luck, Dara. Good luck.

[janne.livejournal.com]

Get well!

[gerimaple.livejournal.com]

I second janne's sentiments, and make a possibly-out-of-line suggestion: massage therapy and chiropractic treatment on a regular basis make a HUGE difference in my shoulder's ability to function, though I don't it's anywhere near as messed up as your arms & hands are. my $0.02CAD, YMMV, batteries not included, etc ;)

Good luck finding what works for you.

[solarbird]

yeah i have regular appointments with both and my gp has just said he'd be more than happy to write a letter declaring both medically necessary if insurance decides to be jerks. (as they're indicating.)

[brombear.livejournal.com]

Silly question, but are you doing any strength building exercises, or is that against your Dr.'s wishes?

[solarbird]

Missed this, sorry. Um, not right now; I have loads of strength in my fingers, tho'. Part of the problem is freaky high muscle density (as in, never-seen-this-before, make-needles-bounce-off high) and very high muscle tension.