Thread: Do i have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

as a pianist i face this issue constantly

first off DO NOT play through any pain or you will cause permanent damage.

its your tendons. they are scraping against each other when you type. this eventually wears them down. you may have nerve damage too. but if there is no real pain you are in good shape and it is reversable.

drink alot of milk. ice your arms if it gets bad. try to keep your wrists higher when you type, and minimize wrist movement as much as possible. when your wrists are resting on the desk as you are typeing or moving the mouse, it forces the smaller tendons to rub against each other and wears down.

it doesnt sound too bad though. just be sure to catch it in the early stages before it gets worse.

I don't have pains, just numbness which i read is also part of CTS. My hands are always low when i type or game, most of my arm is left in the air with only my elbow putting the pressure on the chair arm, and my lower palm holding my hand at the very bottom part of the keyboard. I sweat like a pig on my palm, sometimes my hands are completly soaked in sweat literally. My hands are also always warm or hot even on cold days.

I'm not sure that it is, it may be a different form of strain-related illness. From just a quick look at Wikipedia's Carpal Tunnel Syndrome page, hand spasms seem inconsistent with CTS, but the parasthesia (numb, tingling) is.

I'm not a doctor, and neither is Wikipedia. You definitely should see one. In the meantime, try to avoid any behaviors that might provoke it. fzongqvxp's suggestion of ice might help if you run into it.

I'm not sure if this matter or not but sometimes i get pains in the area between your thumb, and pointy finger. I doubt it's related, though.

if you arent experiencing any real pains its not that much of a problem


and CTS is definately not what you have. you want to look into tendonitis.

Talk to a doctor about it. they can give you the best advice

Originally Posted by LucidFlanders

I'm not sure if this matter or not but sometimes i get pains in the area between your thumb, and pointy finger. I doubt it's related, though.

That is probably unrelated, but is likely to also be a repetitive strain injury. Do you do a lot of work with a keyboard, or is it mostly just from gaming?

I'd still get it checked out. Ice it if it pops up again.

Try using wrist braces. They have helped me out a lot.

Also, someone told me that exercising the wrists by squeezing a ball helps. So when the pain in my wrists starts to get bad, I will spend some time doing that. And it does really seem to help clear it up.

Man it is really numb right now, and pretty weak.

I am on the computer alot, i practically live on the computer. Besides work, and go to a buddies house sometimes i am on my PC gaming or surfing the net/typing on message boards. I use the keyboard alot.

As for in between my fingers, it's more of a pinch that stays for a little while.

try to move your fingers as little as possible while typing.

and definately ice your arms, but soak them in hot water after that.

You might want to give the computer a rest for a while as well.

DO this:

Originally Posted by grasshoppa

DO this:

All i hear/feel is cracks in my wrists.

Ouch, that shouldn't be happening. Make sure your wrists are loose when you do it and don't "force" it just do it lightly. I think some of the other posters may be correct when they say that you may have something other than CTS, sounds really bad!

The slower and lighter i go, the more deep the cracking sounds and feels like. I get this sometimes in my knee's, but i also had major knee surgery (right knee) that never healed right when i was 18. I can't crack my knuckles like alot of people can.

Take ibuprophen and stop for a while. ibuprophen is an anti-inflamatory, so it'll bring down the inflammation and stop your tendons from rubbing against the tunnels.

Maybe it's just all in my mind....played aion beta for a week and had a cod4 break my hands and arms were fine, the first day i go back in a week to cod4, wrists go numb, and feel heavy as hell.

Sounds terrible! Is there a difference in the games or gaming styles (shooter game by itself, on-line, or with others present etc).
I have major anxiety issues, and even though I'm medicated and fairly problem free, playing on-line with others causes my hands to sweat and go numb. My anxiety manifests physically as "adrenaline surges" primarily around my mouth and nose and hands. After the surge I go numb and without meds I become cataplexic (lose the ability to hold my head up, entire body goes numb, speech is slurred, then I fall asleep).

If I play a relaxing game (like Puzzles), I don't have that problem at all.

IF it is "all in your mind", it doesn't mean you're not experiencing REAL problems.
I'd see a doctor first, though, to rule out other things. If it's a problem with your hands themselves, ignoring it may make it much worse.

Whatever the cause, I hope you quickly find answers and relief!


I've been wondering about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome myself lately. I've been having a bit of almost constant discomfort in primarily my left wrist/hand. The pain seems to come mainly at the center of my wrist at the top of my arm and extends to the middle of my hand about even with the first joint of my thumb).
I lack the words... so picture a waitress carrying out a tray of food where the tray balances on the center of her hand. In THAT position I notice the most pain. But more and more I feel it if I even make circles with my wrists.

The kicker though is that I'm right handed, so a repetitive movement disorder just doesn't seem to fit.
I do have Ehler's Danlos Disease (Type 3 most likely), though. Low grade arthritis has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.
Most doctors have never heard of it though and there's really nothing that can be done that I've stumbled upon so seeing a doctor for it seems like a waste of time and money.

FPS use much more mouse movement then an MMORPG does. With an FPS my hand is always moving, with an MMO i move it sometimes, the other times i use 1,2,3,4, etc and WASD. I used to always play fast paced FPS so my hand was in use more often, including finger tapping for side dodges or whatever. I also hand sweat when i'm doing things in the real world, the numbness is non existant.

you might, by a brace to wear on your hand while you are on the computer or playing a video game for a while. This keeps your hand from getting strained.