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Pain, Pain, and did I mention Pain


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21 minutes ago, Dillion Brian Grant said:

Lol, he's really good I can promise that

As long as he specializes in orthopedic surgery, then that's great. I wouldn't waste my time talking with a general doctor or general surgeon. Been there done that, and it get expensive fast.  Go straight to the proper source. 

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4 hours ago, Dillion Brian Grant said:

I didn't intend to take what he says and that be all, I was mostly intending on asking him who would be a good person to talk to

You don't want an orthopaedic surgeon, you want a hand specialist ... if the problem is in the hand or arm that is.

My brother in law is an OS ... he is good at a lot of things but hands is not one of them. 

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If the numbness is in just the pinky and ring finger then it is the ulnar nerve, which passes through the elbow joint.  That wouldn't normally account for the grip pain.  It could also be a blood flow issue for the shoulder down that is exacerbated by your hobbies.  Both are from my own personal experience, not internet medicine.  I point them out just to highlight the importance of looking at the whole arm and not just the hand.  Orthopedic surgeons tend to cut first and ask questions later.  It's important to go with an orthopedist who specializes in sports medicine.  They are used to dealing with people who plan to push themselves and work through injuries.  Doctors who aren't used to that type of patient tend to just tell you to stay off it for six months then come back because most patients are comfortable with that.

 

Good luck!

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Typically it is the pinky, ring, and middle finger that go numb, with the entire hand being in agony 

11 hours ago, Lou L said:

If the numbness is in just the pinky and ring finger then it is the ulnar nerve, which passes through the elbow joint.  That wouldn't normally account for the grip pain.  It could also be a blood flow issue for the shoulder down that is exacerbated by your hobbies.  Both are from my own personal experience, not internet medicine.  I point them out just to highlight the importance of looking at the whole arm and not just the hand.  Orthopedic surgeons tend to cut first and ask questions later.  It's important to go with an orthopedist who specializes in sports medicine.  They are used to dealing with people who plan to push themselves and work through injuries.  Doctors who aren't used to that type of patient tend to just tell you to stay off it for six months then come back because most patients are comfortable with that.

 

Good luck!

 

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Again, a personal history note: I used to have a lot of hand pain -- sometimes the whole hand (numbness and pain, especially when cold), sometimes as @Lou L describes from the ulnar nerve. I spoke with a neurologist (whom I was seeing anyway about my sleep disorder), and he discovered that it was neuropathy caused by a vitamin B-12 deficiency. All kinds of things that can go wrong with us, I suppose.

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21 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

And what was the root cause for one of us may NOT be the root cause for another. However you can triage it and if possible causes might be linked to worse outcomes move it up on the worry list!

Very true!

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A repetitive stress injury usually requires a lot of the "repetitive" part before it manifests itself.  Since you pick at a guitar, I would look at that as the culprit and the smithing as the part that added just enough extra stress to make things start popping on you.  At your age, you shouldn't have anything wrong.  However, if you've been picking and grinning for several years, you can expect that to put a huge strain on the growing body.  Contorting your hand/wrist/arm to work up and down the neck isn't easy on the joints and tendons.  In youth, it's especially troublesome over the longterm because you're still developing.

I pinched a nerve in my shoulder/neck area a couple weeks back and it's been playing games in my left arm ever since.  Right now, my whole arm is on pins and needles as I type this.  When I sit in the easy-chair to watch some tv, the tingling goes away but there's still some ache in the arm.  When I sleep, I can't sleep on my left side at all, and trying to sleep on the right does really wonky things to the injury.  

All that to say.... if it's hurting now, it's only going to get worse as the years stack up on you.  I'd recommend you stop doing anything with that arm that isn't absolutely necessary.  And if you get an MRI or the like, make sure they take "pictures" of the hand in various positions to see if there's impingement when you move.  It doesn't take much to put pressure on a nerve, vein, ligament, etc!

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On 10/8/2017 at 9:30 PM, Marc1 said:

You don't want an orthopaedic surgeon, you want a hand specialist ... if the problem is in the hand or arm that is.

My brother in law is an OS ... he is good at a lot of things but hands is not one of them. 

Orthopaedic surgeons specialize in different parts of the body, so yes he does want an orthopaedic surgeon 

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14 hours ago, VaughnT said:

A repetitive stress injury usually requires a lot of the "repetitive" part before it manifests itself.  Since you pick at a guitar, I would look at that as the culprit and the smithing as the part that added just enough extra stress to make things start popping on you.  At your age, you shouldn't have anything wrong.  However, if you've been picking and grinning for several years, you can expect that to put a huge strain on the growing body.  Contorting your hand/wrist/arm to work up and down the neck isn't easy on the joints and tendons.  In youth, it's especially troublesome over the longterm because you're still developing.

I pinched a nerve in my shoulder/neck area a couple weeks back and it's been playing games in my left arm ever since.  Right now, my whole arm is on pins and needles as I type this.  When I sit in the easy-chair to watch some tv, the tingling goes away but there's still some ache in the arm.  When I sleep, I can't sleep on my left side at all, and trying to sleep on the right does really wonky things to the injury.  

All that to say.... if it's hurting now, it's only going to get worse as the years stack up on you.  I'd recommend you stop doing anything with that arm that isn't absolutely necessary.  And if you get an MRI or the like, make sure they take "pictures" of the hand in various positions to see if there's impingement when you move.  It doesn't take much to put pressure on a nerve, vein, ligament, etc!

Well actually yes I have been playing a few years maybe 3 or so, but the pain was am issue even before then, just in general I've had this pain for about 5 years but it gets worse every year 

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Gets worse every year. Need to say any more? Modern medicine can do miracles but you have to make use of it.

I saw the doctor about my heel yesterday he sent me for Xrays. Today's verdict is stay off it, keep it wrapped and if it doesn't get better come back in.  Well. . . that's what I was doing already, next call will be to my bone doctor if it doesn't improve. My saw bones may be an orthopaedic surgeon  but he knows people and isn't afraid to refer. Better yet, he likes me, has a hand forged table of mine in his office. :)

Frosty The Lucky.

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16 hours ago, Frosty said:

Gets worse every year. Need to say any more? Modern medicine can do miracles but you have to make use of it.

I saw the doctor about my heel yesterday he sent me for Xrays. Today's verdict is stay off it, keep it wrapped and if it doesn't get better come back in.  Well. . . that's what I was doing already, next call will be to my bone doctor if it doesn't improve. My saw bones may be an orthopaedic surgeon  but he knows people and isn't afraid to refer. Better yet, he likes me, has a hand forged table of mine in his office. :)

Frosty The Lucky.

Lol nice, and yeah I get the whole medicine  can help thing, but medicine ain't cheap lol

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