Tendinitis - your advice

[Tone]

Hello fellow congueros,

I think I am developping the dreaded tendinitis in my right wrist (my strong hand).
What can be done apart from rest. Any suggestions for classic ways and alternative medecine?
Can acupuncture help? Massages?

What has your story been?

Many thanks

tone

[Thomas]

I can recommend the chinese meditation practice "Falun Gong" also known as "Falun Dafa". Belive it or not, but it solved the problems I had with my lungs (chronic bronchitis). I know a guitarist from New York who had big troubles with his left hand, so he had to give up playing. After practicing Falun Gong, he could again play without any limitation. Here's his story, very amazing: http://www.myspace.com/benfreed

It's totally free, Infos about it can be found at http://www.falundafa.org/eng/start.htm
And for free classes in London: http://www.falungong.org.uk/mod.php....6bf8d64

All the best,
Tom!

[windhorse]

Deep tissue massage, and/or accupuncture should do the trick. A friend of mine tried everything,, but only when he applied DMSO (it's used on horses) did his finger pain finally go away. I would only use DMSO if NOTHING else works. It's heavy duty stuff - a super-lipid - and in the right circumstances (like if there were arsenic or mercury on your hand) can be deadly.

Lastly have a close look at your technique by an expert, in the mirror, on film, or however you can to see if there's something subtle you need to change.

Best,
Dave

[Diceman]

Hi Tone,

Sorry to hear that brother. I have not suffered tendonitis as a result of playing, but my experience of it was my achilles tendon from playing squash.
After trying many alternative treatments (and playing), it was only when I stopped playing (squash) that my tendon healed.
I will ask a sports scientist friend and get back to you.

suave
Diceman

[niallgregory]

Hello fellow congueros,

I think I am developping the dreaded tendinitis in my right wrist (my strong hand).
What can be done apart from rest. Any suggestions for classic ways and alternative medecine?
Can acupuncture help? Massages?

What has your story been?

Many thanks

tone

stop playing for as long as it takes to heal .Sounds like a pain in the ass i know but its the only way .

[Diceman]

Hi Tone,

Sports scientist friend says that it is more than likely the sheath of the tendon that is inflamed, not the actual tendon, and that it does respond well to certain injections to reduce the swelling and get things moving again, if you dont mind taking the more conventional medicine route.
All the advice so far is good, and whatever route you take, you will have to stop playing hard, and it is also a good time to review your technique.

Check this out- [URL=http://www.drumdojo.com/useful/cts/cts.htm]

Good luck brother
Diceman

[Amber]

Hi Tone,

last year I suffered from a very bad tendinitis in my right hand. I tried some things but at last it became so worse that I went to an ortopädic specialist. He told me that acupunctur in this case will not help and that I should follow his advices in order not to make that thing a chronic problem. This is what he told me:
Park the hand 2 weeks in an orthopädic splint, no shorter, no longer.This is the most important. Cool the hand with ice, but don`t bring the ice in direct contact to the skin, wrap the icepack in a towel . Cool as much as possible. Take ibuprofene against the pain, this works against inflammation also, but be careful, this substance can arouse problems with your stomach.Start with 2 or 3 a 600mg for 1-2 days, then reduce it to 1 for 5 days.. Well this helped me and fortunately I didn`t had any problems since. Hope this information can help you also a bit, good luck!
Amber

[Tone]

Hi Guys,

thanks very much for the advice. I am not sure I am quite ready yet to join a new religion for the sake of my wrist just yet, specially if it is going to land me in jail in China!
I had a deep massage and acupuncture today, it felt very good then but the funny feeling is still there. I am not in great pain but I really don't want to make it worse so I have stopped playing altogether.
I will kepp with this for a few weeks and if it doesn't get better I will resort to the more drastic measures, drugs and possibly splint. Lets hope not.
Diceman, your birthday is coming up is it not? I am off to Asia next Weds for a little while. Have a good one.

Oh yeah, and France is coming back strong in the world cup. we'll get Brazil next Saturday. Inch allah.

Thank you all.

Tone

[Amber]

Dear Tone,

use the splint NOW! Believe me, this works and if you don't play why not start imidiately? And cool with ice. My tendinitis within 3 days was so bad that I crawld in the bathroom in order to look for pills because of incredible pain! Be careful! Don't make it chronic! Amber

[Diceman]

Thanks Tone,

Have good one and look after your tendons.
See ya when you get back

Suave
Diceman

[yoni]

Hey Tone,

If I can add something before you fly off to Asia... What Windhorse said about checking your technique could really help. Even if you're playing with good technique but slamming too hard and long, that can still mess up tendons. Dums can be tough, no doubt about it!

I was doing single rolls to death a couple years, trying to get the kind of speed and sustain Gio has, before I saw him and realized he was doing doubles much more than singles. The double takes long to learn but when it kicks in it takes less effort to sustain than the single, and maybe is easier on the wrists. Well, that technical plus helped my wrists in a big way.

But while tendons are still inflamed, rest is key. First and last time I had tendonitis was about 10 years ago, just before a tour to South America, and boy was I in a panic. My ex-wife sent me to a Russian healer guy who had me wrap my wrists in gauze soaked with Dead Sea mud and my own pee. Yuck! (I think I wrote of this here once, sorry to re-gross-out anyone). He also did some weird incantations and breathing over me, and I normally laugh at that kind of stuff, but I was desperate. Thankfully, I did heal quickly enough in time for the shows.

I don't know about far eastern religion, but maybe Thomas is on to something. Far eastern dietary practice, like macrobiotics, does make sense to me. It's based on eating simple foods local to your area, with more vegetable protein than animal protein. Diets of many societies still living close to nature would also be considered macrobiotic (an unfortunate word which sounds more like an illness or something). In Japan it's based on what they call law of the universe - yin and yang, which are expansion and contraction, and the balance we subconsciously strive for between the two. Swelling, or inflammation, as in tendonitis, is considered a yin condition, caused by too much yin in diet - stuff like sugar, alcohol, too much spice, and other things that cause expansion... as opposed to things like salt, which cause a contracting effect on the body. Cold also has a yang (contractive) effect on us, thus also good for reducing swelling.

So maybe all that salt in the Dead Sea mud helped my wrists at the time, but who knows? Probably a combination of things can help. I have found raw garlic to help "clean the blood" some. But my girlfriend isn't too crazy about it.

I remember tendonitis and I feel for you bro! It will probably clear up soon, though.

All the best,

Yoni



Edited By yoni on 1151653365

[Thomas]

HiTone, hi all!
You can be sent in a chinese labour camp or a jail for everything in China, just write a post like I do. So it's no criterion to distinguish good or bad.
But in ancient chinese culture (like yoni explained), the people tried always to live in harmony with their environment, and that included the right food, right attitude, moral values, etc.
The western medicine also discoverd that when an illness appears, its 70% psychosomatic and only 30% biological.
But anyway, nowadays there are so many ways to cure an illness,
no matter what you do, I wish you all the best!
Tom!

[Tone]

Dear Tone,

use the splint NOW! Believe me, this works and if you don't play why not start imidiately? And cool with ice. My tendinitis within 3 days was so bad that I crawld in the bathroom in order to look for pills because of incredible pain! Be careful! Don't make it chronic! Amber

Hi Amber,

can you give some deails on the splint. what is the exact right size?
Do you have picture?
Thanks

tone

[yoni]

Tone, I think the splint Amber means can be found in many pharmacies. It's like cloth with a stiff metal strip in it that can be bent to other positions if needed. It closes with velcro straps. Now I remember I used it to rest my wrist when I had tendonitis, and lots use it for carpal tunnel syndrome. If they have different sizes, you'll know which feels right for you. Good luck.
Yoni



Edited By yoni on 1151852503

[Amber]

Hi Tone,

what I mean is exactly what Yoni describes. If pharmacies don't have it you will find it in an orthopaedic shop/medical equipment shop..sorry I don't know the correct English word for this.. But I think this will do and I wish you the best ! And also nice time in Asia...
:p Amber