has anybody ever had a bout of carpal tunnel or numbness????

[Rick Averill]

I'm convinced it's the mouse that causes it. All this didn't come along until the computer mouse. While in the Army during the sixites I sat at a typewriter and typed constantly for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. No problems. I've played the banjo since I was in Junior High School (late 50's) and if anything involves repetitive motion, it's playing the banjo. No problems. Then along came the computer mouse and bang: problems!

The solution that I've found is a graphics tablet to replace the mouse (I use the Wacom.) As soon as I started using it: no problems! No pain, no numbness. I swear by it.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I'm convinced it's the mouse that causes it. ...

Actually, the cause of numbness can be (as previously mentioned) in your wrist, elbow, shoulder, etc. Tension can cause it as well as poor circulation. CTS affects very specific areas of the hand (usually around the thumb). If the entire hand goes numb, it is more likely NOT CTS (at least that is what I have been told by several well qualified Dr's).

4 Ibuprofen in the AM and again in the PM, along with B6 supplements (don't over do it), MSM and Glucosimine and Condroitin (I cannot spell these drug names, sorry) should be a good regimen in severe nerve issues, whether CTS or skeletal-muscular issues.

[monkey man]

....I can relate, Spikey.
You were a drummer, no?.....

Sure am! - I had a brief fling with being a normal person after my injury - now I'm hitting things again ...
That's me in those (ancient) recordings in my sig ...... although there's too many bloody guitars to hear what I'm doing - LOL!

I downloaded them just two weeks ago.
Nothing you could have said would have quite prepared me for that stuff.
Truly original. Brash. Imaginative. In short, unique.

Well done, Spikey!

[jgest]

I'm convinced it's the mouse that causes it. ...

Actually, the cause of numbness can be (as previously mentioned) in your wrist, elbow, shoulder, etc. Tension can cause it as well as poor circulation. CTS affects very specific areas of the hand (usually around the thumb). If the entire hand goes numb, it is more likely NOT CTS (at least that is what I have been told by several well qualified Dr's).

4 Ibuprofen in the AM and again in the PM, along with B6 supplements (don't over do it), MSM and Glucosimine and Condroitin (I cannot spell these drug names, sorry) should be a good regimen in severe nerve issues, whether CTS or skeletal-muscular issues.

well my numbness in in the ring and pinky fingers. 4 Ibuprofen would give me a fear of liver and kidney issues later on.

[jgest]

....I can relate, Spikey.
You were a drummer, no?.....

Sure am! - I had a brief fling with being a normal person after my injury - now I'm hitting things again ...

That's me in those (ancient) recordings in my sig ...... although there's too many bloody guitars to hear what I'm doing - LOL!

Ignatius.mp3 is a cool track. I just took a listen.

[Spikey Horse]

Hey thanks for the positive comments jgest and monkey man - it's all a very dense (OK, a bit muddy!....) mix but we did the best we could given our inexperience and the limitations of the studio we used (a decade ago) - trying to cram drums, bass, keys, ALL THOSE guitars!, power drill, not to mention the string and brass sections! etc etc all onto 16 track analog...... well, we tried our best! ......Should have recorded it live in a scoring stage really! ... maybe for the 25 year anniversary retrospective release ......

.... anyway back on topic...

[zobomix]

Hope you don't mind if I chime in. I am actually going through prolotherapy because I have a bad right hip, so it's different from carpal tunnel syndrome. I would see a DO (Doctor of Osteopathy) because they are required to study the musco-skeletrical structure more in depth than an M.D. In fact, you'll find more DOs doing prolotherapy than MDs. That's not to say an MD can't be as skillfull as a DO.
I threw away the mouse and I am now happily using this trackball. Very comfy.
http://www.clearlysuperiortech.com/

Hope everything goes well with you.

[wheever]

I've had Carpal tunnel for 20 years. I got it from building my own house, carrying stupid amounts of weight on delicate musician's hands. (Prior to this, I was a literally world-class guitarist in NYC. Sometimes we make stupid decisions when we're young, right?)

Anyway, I'd been contemplating the surgery for a while, but I know a couple of people that have had bad results from it. Then about a year ago I heard that cortisone injections were as effective as the surgery, with fewer risks. So I went and got myself shot up.

It works! Within 10 minutes or so, I had pretty much all the feeling back in my fingertips, and my hands felt more agile than they had in years! I'll never be as good a player as I was in my 20s, obviously, but it brought my playing back hugely.

So the deal is, you get them every 3 months or so. Takes about 10 minutes, and if your neuro is good, it doesn't really hurt. There is really no downside, because unlike injections for other types of tendonitis, you're not getting injections into a tendon, you're getting them into the carpal sheath, so there are no worries about weakening a tendon.

Now, that said, I seem to respond really well to cortisone. Your experience might differ. But for me it's been a miracle. I'm going in tomorrow for injections and I'm actually looking forward to the needles.

I hope this helps someone out there!

Andrew

[Matcher]

well it's getting harder and harder to listen to today's music these days. I have not been interested in anything new for a long time now, with the exception of Simon Postford and the intricite programming done with SHPONGLE (that guy takes synth programming to a higher level as close to Nietzche's 'overman' as you'll get)

Shpongle has always been one of my favourite artists. The man behind it is Simon Posford, and he's got other projects too like: Celtic Cross, Younger Brother, Hallucinogen and Eclipse. There are three Shpongle albums, in case you didn't know. If you like Shpongle, I'm almost certain you'll like OTT's Blumenkraft and maybe BT's This Binary Universe, they're worth checking out for sure

[jgest]

well it's getting harder and harder to listen to today's music these days. I have not been interested in anything new for a long time now, with the exception of Simon Postford and the intricite programming done with SHPONGLE (that guy takes synth programming to a higher level as close to Nietzche's 'overman' as you'll get)

Shpongle has always been one of my favourite artists. The man behind it is Simon Posford, and he's got other projects too like: Celtic Cross, Younger Brother, Hallucinogen and Eclipse. There are three Shpongle albums, in case you didn't know. If you like Shpongle, I'm almost certain you'll like OTT's Blumenkraft and maybe BT's This Binary Universe, they're worth

checking out for sure

I own EVERY thing simon has been involved with I just can't get enough. Younger brother while not promoted as other projects is a great album. I hear a new hallucinogen is in the works. Hallucinogen in dub (remixed) never did it for me......Actually I just love trance it takes synthesis programming to a whole new level.

[jgest]

Hope you don't mind if I chime in. I am actually going through prolotherapy because I have a bad right hip, so it's different from carpal tunnel syndrome. I would see a DO (Doctor of Osteopathy) because they are required to study the musco-skeletrical structure more in depth than an M.D. In fact, you'll find more DOs doing prolotherapy than MDs. That's not to say an MD can't be as skillfull as a DO.
I threw away the mouse and I am now happily using this trackball. Very comfy.
http://www.clearlysuperiortech.com/

Hope everything goes well with you.

thanks for the info. Your right about DO they are more knowledgeable on the matter. Best wishes for a healthy recovery.

[jgest]

I've had Carpal tunnel for 20 years. I got it from building my own house, carrying stupid amounts of weight on delicate musician's hands. (Prior to this, I was a literally world-class guitarist in NYC. Sometimes we make stupid decisions when we're young, right?)

Anyway, I'd been contemplating the surgery for a while, but I know a couple of people that have had bad results from it. Then about a year ago I heard that cortisone injections were as effective as the surgery, with fewer risks. So I went and got myself shot up.

It works! Within 10 minutes or so, I had pretty much all the feeling back in my fingertips, and my hands felt more agile than they had in years! I'll never be as good a player as I was in my 20s, obviously, but it brought my playing back hugely.

So the deal is, you get them every 3 months or so. Takes about 10 minutes, and if your neuro is good, it doesn't really hurt. There is really no downside, because unlike injections for other types of tendonitis, you're not getting injections into a tendon, you're getting them into the carpal sheath, so there are no worries about weakening a tendon.

Now, that said, I seem to respond really well to cortisone. Your experience might differ. But for me it's been a miracle. I'm going in tomorrow for injections and I'm actually looking forward to the needles.

I hope this helps someone out there!

Andrew

Your right about stupid stuff we do when we are young. While never even close to a world caliber player (compared to some) I agree tat much of the physical labor I did in my 20's-30's was quite counter intuitive to my guitar playing. I know prolonged cortisone for other injuries is not a long term viable soulution (without serious tissue damage), but I was not aware that this did not apply to the carpal sheath. Thanks for that info.

[monkey man]

I own EVERY thing simon has been involved with I just can't get enough.

Dang. I've played that track I've got to shreds, hoping in vain, it seemed, to somehow get my mits on more.
Of course, I wasn't even sure of the name, and don't have a track title.
It just says, "Shpongle".

I'll be scheming a way to pry some of that stuff from your midst, er, mits, Josh.
Listen out for an uncoordinated knock at the door.
"Knock, knock"... you'll have to excuse me; that'd be me now.

[Matcher]

well it's getting harder and harder to listen to today's music these days. I have not been interested in anything new for a long time now, with the exception of Simon Postford and the intricite programming done with SHPONGLE (that guy takes synth programming to a higher level as close to Nietzche's 'overman' as you'll get)

Shpongle has always been one of my favourite artists. The man behind it is Simon Posford, and he's got other projects too like: Celtic Cross, Younger Brother, Hallucinogen and Eclipse. There are three Shpongle albums, in case you didn't know. If you like Shpongle, I'm almost certain you'll like OTT's Blumenkraft and maybe BT's This Binary Universe, they're worth

checking out for sure

I own EVERY thing simon has been involved with I just can't get enough. Younger brother while not promoted as other projects is a great album. I hear a new hallucinogen is in the works. Hallucinogen in dub (remixed) never did it for me......Actually I just love trance it takes synthesis programming to a whole new level.

Back in the days when I listened to trance, I never really found anything that matches The Lone Deranger. Infected Mushroom, Quirk etc. had some nice pieces too, but there was too little that I liked to keep me in the genre. Now I listen to more stuff like Underworld, Boards Of Canada, Crystal Method, The Art Of Noise etc. Kraftwerk's Minimum Maximum live album has great sounds too. I just can't get enough of BT's music, there's so much depth in it in many ways.

[jgest]

I own EVERY thing simon has been involved with I just can't get enough.

Dang. I've played that track I've got to shreds, hoping in vain, it seemed, to somehow get my mits on more.
Of course, I wasn't even sure of the name, and don't have a track title.
It just says, "Shpongle".

I'll be scheming a way to pry some of that stuff from your midst, er, mits, Josh.
Listen out for an uncoordinated knock at the door.
"Knock, knock"... you'll have to excuse me; that'd be me now.

pm me with a mailing adress and i'll make you a disc of some stuff (not for public performance.....just a disclamer)