Tendonitis or Carpal? Answers needed, please!

[Calvincrowe]

I am having pain in my right wrist, specifically when I hold things like pitchforks, wheelbarrow handles, knives and grip or exert force. No injury that I am aware of. Kind of zingy, and sharp. Doesn’t hurt to ride and does feel better when I do not do those things–which is pretty near impossible having my horses at home!:lol:

So, am I dealing with a simple bout of irritated, overworked tendons or is it something more serious? I thought I’d ask here, for the “horse owners perspective” before hitting the doctor.

I am wearing a OTC wrist brace, and it helps limit my movement.

[whoapony]

Doesn’t really sound like carpal tunnel. With CT you will experience tingling and numbness in your fingers - thumb to inside of ring finger - with pain radiating up to your elbow and sometimes to your shoulder. It is usually associated with repetitive movement or holding your hand in the same position (ie - holding the reins) for a period of time. CT can get painful enough to keep you awake at night.
Google Carpal Tunnel - most info sites will have a list of symptoms w/ kind of a self check to help you decide if it might be CT.
Whatever it is - if it is painful enough to have you worried, certainly would be a good idea to have it checked out.

[spurgirl]

Ditto whoapony, it does not sound like CT, I had it pretty bad in both hands, and had surgery on them several years apart.

Could be a sprain, perhaps you overflexed it somehow, who knows, but since you need your hands to do all those pesky chores:no: you really should get it checked out, esp., if icing it/resting it for a few days* does not help at all.

*Remember, the horses WILL live if the stalls get a tad messy, if all you can do is lightly pick out, not sweep, etc. If it is just a sprain it MIGHT feel a lot better soon if you can REST/ice/brace it for SEVERAL days. Good luck!

[red_mares]

This sounds weird, but it might be in your shoulders. I had the quickie diagnosis of CT, based on hand/wrist pain & a computer desk job. Turns out the problem is in my shoulders - when they tie up, my hands hurt. Thankfully, I just wore a brace at night before I figured this out & didn’t do any major doctor stuff.