Relief for chronic wrist pain from nerve damage

December 12, 2016 8:56 PM

My relative has chronic wrist pain from nerve damage. She already has a wrist wrap for work and things involving her hands. She says heat help her wrist feel better and has been putting her wrist under steam from a tea kettle. Is there a device made specifically for this purpose? What other methods and/or devices are there to help ease the pain in her wrist?
posted by cokelessrome to Health & Fitness (14 answers total)

As far as heat goes, I like the cloth-bag-full-of-rice approach. Put it in the microwave with a mug of water and heat it up. It stays warm for quite some time; I've abandoned hot water bottles forever.
posted by BrunoLatourFanclub at 9:09 PM on December 12, 2016

Hand warmers are a thing. Though if you want something fast, cheap, and safer than using steam, fill a sock with rice and tie a knot in it, and microwave that for a minute or two. Avoid synthetic fibers, or at least keep a really close eye on the microwave. (Probably best to keep a close eye on the microwave regardless.) Makes a very good heat-transfer device. Shake it around to make sure that there aren't any too-hot spots that could burn the skin.

If nerve damage is an issue, it's really not a great idea to use something as hot as steam to help, since you can get burned before realizing it. Plus there's the inconvenience of standing over the kettle.
posted by asperity at 9:09 PM on December 12, 2016

Best answer: She might like paraffin wax baths. They are a lovely most heat, but are a lot less likely to burn. You can get temp controlled baths and all the equipment readily for under Google will bring up selection of price points, but they are all pretty samey. Just make sore top get the right wax. As a sufferer from a different sort of hand pain they are wonderful.
posted by wwax at 9:22 PM on December 12, 2016 [4 favorites]

I'm not a doctor, just have pain in the wrist and elsewhere, some of it nerve-related. From what I've experienced and read, there is not enough statistically sound research into different conservative treatment / pain relief methods, and too much variability in people's injuries and pain, to say with any kind of certainty whether any particular method of pain relief will or won't work in your relative's particular case. She has to just try things, unfortunately (which can get expensive, I know).

Is this nerve damage from tendon pain that went bad, an impinged nerve, pain after surgery, pain from a disease condition? (Not that it's easy to determine, it often isn't, but has a real attempt been made to figure it out?)

For nerve pain related to tendon damage, what's helped me most has been avoiding reaggravating things by resting as much as possible. This involves wearing a well-fitting brace (i.e. a hard splint, with metal shaft, or plastic when it starts feeling better) and taking regular breaks from work that aggravates the pain. I've tried and discarded a couple of braces that made things feel worse, because they pressed on painful parts - maybe a better-fitting one would help. (An occupational or physical therapist can make a custom brace, too.)

Also, making my environment, and objects I regularly use, as *easy* and comfortable to use as possible. That involves looking at everything from my purse (how much it weighs, where it sits and how that affects how I use my hand, how easy it is to open and safely close), to kitchen knives, to, obviously, work settings and computer setup.

Electroacupuncture has helped me a lot, with pain reduction.

For nerve pain that's just nerve pain, unrelated to tendinopathy or some kind of compression... I wish I could say. (I asked a question about it, in relation to Cymbalta, which is sometimes used to control chronic pain - the answers may be helpful. I'm looking for a good TENS machine right now; some people have benefitted from that. Some people achieve relief through those tingly creams and ointments, which I think must work by distracting people from the nerve pain.)
posted by cotton dress sock at 9:57 PM on December 12, 2016

cotton dress sock is right on it. I have a set of wrist braces that I slept with, when my RSI was bad. They fit perfectly; my PT made them out of heat-formable plastic. They helped, a lot. Then I gained fifteen pounds, and they no longer fit perfectly, and they aggravated the problem instead of helping. Fit is incredibly important with these things.
posted by BrunoLatourFanclub at 10:02 PM on December 12, 2016

has she tried doing some exercises with resistance bands, it worked wonders for my elbow.
posted by any major dude at 11:24 PM on December 12, 2016

I found that I preferred rice/bead heat packs for heat therapy and clay based packs for cold therapy because the rice ones are moist and the clay ones retain cold better and are more moldable than most options. I've also used water baths in a tub like this that was just large enough to submerge my arm from fingertips to elbow.
posted by asphericalcow at 11:34 PM on December 12, 2016

no-one has mentioned TENS, which might be another option.

also, just generally taking care of yourself (get you blood levels measured, see if you need any vitamins, etc).
posted by andrewcooke at 1:07 AM on December 13, 2016

Best answer: paraffin baths are great for arthritis pain in the hands but i have no idea if it would be effective on nerve pain. but i think it's definitely worth a try.
posted by poffin boffin at 1:21 AM on December 13, 2016

There are non narcotic medications for nerve damage. Has her doctor discussed those with her?
You can try capsaicin cream. Some people like icy hot or blue emu cream.
posted by SyraCarol at 4:45 AM on December 13, 2016

Learning to use dictation software is worth the trouble so that she can rest completely when needed, especially if she has a desk job. The gold standard is Dragon Speaking Naturally, but they are also increasingly being built into software. There's Siri & Dictation/Voice Over on Apple products, and things like Google Docs now have it too. But Dragon isn't very expensive and would be a required accommodation for her employer to provide if requested.
posted by veery at 6:08 AM on December 13, 2016

KT Tape is AMAZING! I've used it for a ruptured ulnar nerve (totally healed now). My husband uses it for his chronic wrist pain with great success. I have recommended this to so many people and to a person they have come back and thanked me.
posted by WalkingHorse at 7:06 AM on December 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

I've had wrist pain for many years (just had surgery on both actually). One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is to make sure she is supporting her wrists adequately while she sleeps. Often our nocturnal activities will aggravate wrist pain and that will cause more discomfort carrying into our daytime lives. While sleeping she may be putting her wrists in positions, such as curling them inward or crossing them or bending them, that restrict function and can cause more long term nerve damage. Wrist braces help enormously with this and I can recommend this Futuro brace in particular as the most comfy one I've ever used (buy 2). I've also used used wrist compression bands during the day at times that my waking pain level was particularly bothersome and found them to be somewhat helpful while I was doing things with my hands like knitting, sewing, or writing. Hot wax immersion baths are really soothing also, as mentioned above. But by far the night brace made the biggest impact in general.
posted by cuddles.mcsnuggy at 11:52 AM on December 13, 2016

Response by poster: Thank you all for the suggestions. I have looked into the paraffin baths and it seems like a great idea so I am going to get one for her, and hopefully it will help.
posted by cokelessrome at 6:00 PM on December 20, 2016