NWR: WWYD

wadingmoose · July 2009

Friday morning, I woke up and my right arm was numb. I didn't think anything of it because I often sleep wrong and have that problem. I went on to do some pretty repetitive upper body workouts and then on Saturday I painted for about 6 hours. Throughout this, my forearm was generally achy, but nothing too serious.Since then, It's gotten worse. I have an appt with my dr and I'm not looking for people to tell me what's wrong with me. I'm just wondering what you'd do if you had a desk job and your dominant hand was pretty useless.I've switched my mouse to left-handed so I can still use it, but typing hurts up into my neck and is giving me a headache. I can't write anything, picking up a coffee cup hurts a lot. I can't even scratch my freakin' head without my arm screaming at me.I can still work - obviously, I'm typing this, aren't I? My dr is only in the office on Tuesdays so I have a week before I can get this looked at. Do I take a couple of days off and hope it goes away enough that I can function? Or do I keep working and let my coworkers laugh at me when I have to do everything left handed?

danieliza1127 · July 2009

I don't think I'd waste 4 days of sick time for it, unless it was seriously painful. I'd probably just try to muddle along as best I could, again unless I was in serious pain.

ndzenowski · July 2009

I think you should go to another doctor and have it looked at ASAP.

fabbate13 · July 2009

I'm certainly not a doctor, but it sounds like a pinched nerve. I would at least try an anti-inflammatory and continue to use your left hand. I am currently doing that myself due to carpal tunnel in my right arm.

ac_in_dc · July 2009

I'd keep working but only a couple of hours a day.

danieliza1127 · July 2009

I think you should go to another doctor and have it looked at ASAP.I change my answer to that actually. What about a walk-in clinic or something? Even when you told the doctor's office how bad it is, they still can't get you in any earlier than a whole week? What if you really hurt something?

TiDa2009 · July 2009

If you're having pain and tingling right from your neck down, you very well could have a pinched nerve in your neck. Have you tried massage for it?

cmhershey · July 2009

You should see if you can see another doctor. Otherwise, I'd work through it unless the pain was too much to bear.

betrothed123 · July 2009

I'd probably take some sort of over the counter anti-inflammatory for a day or two, in hopes it would at least allow me to work through until I could see my doctor (I'm not a doctor, so if you choose to do this and it makes it worse don't blame me).

Brie2010 · July 2009

Yeah, I'd check out an Urgent Care type clinic if you have one. We have one through our insurance and used it when FI was having random back spasms and couldn't wait to see his regular doc...but it wasn't quite ER-worthy, either.Feel better!

torontobride17 · July 2009

Poor you!Can you go to a walk-in clinic in the meantime? Or what about a massage or physiotherapist? If it's a pinched nerve (understand you're not looking for a diagnosis) they might be better able to treat it anyway. I wouldn't miss 4 days of work, but I'd try advil and stretching and see if that helps.

Night_Sprite · July 2009

I assume you took ibuprofen? Have you tried heat?Do you ever see a chiropractor?

georgia_bride09 · July 2009

I'd call and see if they had an earlier appointment, and then I'd pop ibuprofen until I could see the doctor. I wouldn't take sick leave.

salt78 · July 2009

I'd take ibuprofen and wait it out until my doctor appointment. I have chronic shoulder pain and that's how I normally get through it.

wadingmoose · July 2009

Walk in clinics here are a disaster. When I had mono, they sent me home with anti-biotics for strep. I just refuse to return. It's not worth a bad diagnosis. Unfortunately, where I go to the dr, they don't treat each other's patients. It's near impossible to find a Dr accepting patients here (thanks economic boom, thanks a lot) so even trying to find another dr will take longer than getting in to see mine. That's why I have a Dr who only works one day a week.I haven't tried massage yet. I'm a little concerned it's carpal tunnel. 15 years of work as a computer geek, not including what I did while in school is not good. I'm hoping tennis elbow after my stupid weekend though

I'm going to go ahead and get a massage appt. Thanks Tida!

Pirata13 · July 2009

NightSprite is in my head. I was going to ask the same things...

airidh80 · July 2009

A massage therapist *might* not see her in her current condition, without a diagnosis from an MD. The wrong massage treatment could make things worse, which opens them up to liability. The place I go to refused to see me after my wreck last year until I saw a doctor to confirm that my back pain wasn't due to something serious. This is just a possibility... another masseuse might see you immediately.But yeah, go to a walk-in clinic, or urgent care, or call your doctor's office and (politely) insist on seeing someone NOW.

wadingmoose · July 2009

Also, I forget how spoiled I am here. We get unlimited sick days. Basically our sick time is treated as short term disability. If I take too much off, I'll get talked to about it so I'm not in a hurry to take time off, but damn this is irritating.

Calypso1977 · July 2009

do you have to see your doc? i'd see if you can get in sooner with another doctor that's part of your doctors practice (unless yours is a sole practitioner). i wouldnt take the sick days either. you probably just have some sort of pinched nerve or something.

betrothed123 · July 2009

I'm a Licensed Massage Therapist. If you called my office to make an appointment and told me about those complaints I'd tell you to see a doctor first. I wouldn't want to risk hurting you more (and potentially going through a malpractice lawsuit as a result).

Night_Sprite · July 2009

Great minds, Pirata. Great minds.

TiDa2009 · July 2009

NP, wading. Whether it's a pinched nerve, carpal tunnel, or tennis elbow, massage can help. I know a lot of people don't see the benefits of it, but it can be very therapeutic and a lot of people choose massage over medication to manage their chronic or accute pain. I'm not saying you shouldn't see a Dr, becaseu you definitely should. I'm just saying that massage can be the relief you're looking for until you can get into a Dr. and he/she very well may prescribe massage to you depending on what their findings are.Plus, getting a massage is alwasy great! Enjoy!

wadingmoose · July 2009

Betrothed, as a massage therapist, is there something you could do to alleviate the pain or is it off limits until you know what is causing it?

wadingmoose · July 2009

I have gone to a chiropractor before and had great results. I am hesitant to do so until I know what's causing this though. I'm always nervous about the neck adjustments as it is

TiDa2009 · July 2009

A massage therapist *might* not see her in her current condition, without a diagnosis from an MD. The wrong massage treatment could make things worse, which opens them up to liability. The place I go to refused to see me after my wreck last year until I saw a doctor to confirm that my back pain wasn't due to something serious. This is just a possibility... another masseuse might see you immediatelyThe massage therapist will probably do a full assesment first (should do, anyway) and if they are uncomfortable treating her, they will say so. As for wrecks (which I assume is a car accident), you're right. Any good MT will tell you to see a Dr first because there are so many things that you or the MT can't see internally as far as injuries go.I'm a MT and I would book her in, do a full physical assesment, and based on what I found with that, sculpt my treatment plan to meet her needs. If my results showed something neurological, I would definitly have her see a Dr first.

J&K10910 · July 2009

If you get unlimited sick time, I'd day a day off and see what happens. If you think it's tennis elbow you can try some ice and NSAIDs. Rest it. It might get better after a day of rest and you can go back to work.

punkyb2b · July 2009

I suggest downing a few drinks to help you work through the pain....

wadingmoose · July 2009

Ahh, but booze at work would get me fired.Which solves other problems.... Hmmmmm.

Jamilynn627 · July 2009

Is there another doctor you can see? I had this exact thing happen to me and I took off for the duration because my right hand was completely useless.

NuggetBrain · July 2009

Take the time off - you have a damn good reason, your dominant arm is in serious pain and you have a typing-heavy job. Either that, or go in to another doctor sooner but I wouldn't try to just work through it. That's what sick time is for.

TiDa2009 · July 2009

There's not much you can do until you find out what the problem is. Like J&K said, if it's tennis elbow, you'd want to use ice, but if it's a pulled/swollen muscle compressing a nerve in your neck, you'd want to use heat. If I were you, I'd take some sort of anti-infammatory like ibuprofen and do whatever makes you feel good. If a heating pad on the neck feels good, do it. I wouldn't do much more than that until you see your doctor or get some direction from an MT. HTH

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