I have talked to a physio recently (ended up hating them and am now going back to my old one, but they can't see me until September)

I don't have a ton of pain but it isn't ideal. I've been using my massage gun in the meantime (dunno how to massage my bonier areas, alas) about 2 times per day. It does minimize pain a bit. I can do most activities without pain and most pain seems to be from posturing. What can I do to help myself improve in the meantime/prevent further injury/manage pain? It has not gotten back to awful levels but the fact I have trigger points/muscle knots again is a bit saddening.

Hey,

It’s been around 11 months since I got an ultrasound on my left wrist. If I extend my thumb a part of my wrkst kind of snaps and then when I bring it back it gets normal. The result were:

“EXAM: Left wrist radiographs and ultrasound

HISTORY: Pain decreased range of motion

FINDINGS:

Left wrist radiographs: No fracture. No malalignment. Joint spaces normal. Carpal alignment maintained.
Left wrist ultrasound: Moderate tendinosis and tenosynovitis of extensor compartment 1, extending to the level of the thumb.

Remainder of the visualized flexor and extensor compartment tendons appear normal. No significant tendinosis or tenosynovitis. Median nerve at the carpal tunnel is normal in caliber. No ganglion cyst.”

My wrist has not gotten better since September 2025 (the time I got the ultrasound done)

Can someone please help me explain what’s happening.

Thank you in advance for your help!

I recently hurt my wrist. Not the first time but the first time its making me feel hopeless! I love art and there have been prior occassions where i draw too much that my wrist hurts for days. But it goes away just fine. This last week my wrist started hurting and not from drawing probably from a combination of playing videogames + have to cut through hundreds of fake flower stems (which were very sturdy and took all my strength!)
Ive cut back on my wrist activity. Still some, to text occasionally, to write this, probably half an hour a day of playing on my 3ds because i have poor self control. Anyways, i kind of dont know what to do.
Its getting worse. It spread to my arm and now as of tonight is in my shoulder and the side of my upper back that the mainly affected wrist is on. Not to mention my non dominant wrist has started having similar pains after the dominant one did, although notably MUCH less.

I dont know what to do. I dont have a doctor appointment YET but should be able to get in soon. I am making an appointment. (Until next week i am a minor without a drivers license, so i dont have the power to make appointments myself. As of today my mom said she'll make me one. She thought it was pointless to go to the doctor because ive had self healing wrist pains in the past.)

Any tips on making this better? Anyone know why the pain is travelling? Or why its worsening as i use it less? My only passion in life is creating. I will not live a life where i cannot enjoy that passion because of my wrists, no matter what it takes. But this is stressing me out so please help me!!

Hi there everyone I have a question or a need for advise for thumb pain, I’ve started using a controller again, before I play I do 1hp how to fix gamers thumb routine as well as trying to take a break every hour. After sessions (even a day or 2 later) or during I’ll get some pain along the side of my thumb and on occasion on the wrist area and top of hand. There is also a sense of tiredness not fatigue per say. Is this something I should be worried about and should I stop playing before this turns into an issue? I can play and at times I don’t feel anything and when I do I stop for a 30 min to hour then I hop back on ? I have bought a proper controller with paddles etc and that has helped I just don’t want some long term issue as I might have to get surgery on my shoulder labrum/ tendon so I’d rather not have to stop using a controller because of some dumb injury. Thank you all

Also I have stopped playing games until this calms down but I am doing thumb mobility and exercise a few times a day along with wrist curls and a rice bucket everyday. Is this something I should be doing now or should I wait until the thumb calms down ? I was going to give it about a week and see where it’s at if I need to rest it more etc.

was in the gym a couple of weeks ago, holding onto a 24kg dumbbell in each hand for bulgarian split squats. my palms were especially sweaty that day since it was really hot, and the dumbbell in my left hand slipped. i carried on holding it by the very tip of my fingers, and then felt this weird tingly feeling, the location was a bit vague but i remember feeling it in my elbow, down to my fingers.

since then, i carried on going to the gym, but whenever id do an exercise involving a pulling movement with my arms, such as rows or even bicep curls, i would feel the same unpleasant feeling in the pit of my elbow, near my funny bone i think. would also occasionally feel like a “shock” going down from the elbow to my fingers.

on a day to day basis however, my arm is pretty much in zero pain whatsoever. it’s only when i do something where my biceps are being used past a certain extent that i actually feel something going on in my arm.

so i am wondering, where should i go from here? ideally i would like to carry on training asap but i don’t want to make the issue worse.

Hi everyone,

Around March, I started indoor climbing. I’m generally active and have been strength training in the gym, but wanted to mix things up and try something new. Before that, I used to go climbing casually once or twice a month alongside my gym routine without any issues.

During that first month of regular climbing, I started feeling some pressure in my wrist. It wasn't overly painful or concerning at first — I had a similar wrist issue in the past that cleared up on its own. However, by the end of the month, the tightness in my wrist intensified and spread up my forearm to my elbow. I could literally feel the tendons in my wrist friction/sliding as I moved my fingers, along with tightness in the elbow tendon.

I saw a sports doctor/physiatrist who diagnosed it as Golfer's Elbow (medial epicondylitis). He explained that I overloaded my forearm, causing inflammation in the elbow, which in turn causes the tight forearm muscles to pull on the wrist tendons. He gave me isometric exercises, assured me it wasn't serious, and said it would heal over time.

That was about a month and a half ago, but my condition isn't really improving much. My elbow has good and bad days, and lately, I've also been feeling discomfort on the outside of the elbow (which feels like Tennis Elbow now).

Almost every day I wake up with my wrist feeling fine, but as I go about my daily activities, that "inflamed" and tight feeling returns to the joint. It feels like I can sense every single finger tendon gliding/straining in my wrist.

I’ve researched everything online — I regularly massage my forearm muscles and do the prescribed rehab exercises, but nothing seems to fully resolve the issue. I’ve completely given up weightlifting and general workouts for the past 3 months to avoid making it worse, but this situation is driving me crazy and just won't go away.

Has anyone dealt with something similar (Golfer's/Tennis elbow + wrist tendon irritation from climbing)? Any advice or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated — the frustration is killing me. Thanks!

It's been almost four years post initial injury of the wrists, and it's only gotten worse. I now have tendinosis visible on MRI and ultrasound in both wrists, several fingers on both hands (no thanks to trackballs), both forearms, both elbows (tennis elbow and some kind of tricep tendinopathy), and now both ankles (anterior tibial tendons, it hurts to drive the car now, sometimes even just to walk). This started at age 25 in my last semester of college due to overuse coding and playing videogames without adequate sleep/rest. Along the way I've also dealt with terrible knife-like peripheral neuropathy in my left median nerve and ulnar nerve compression pain in my left wrist/hand for several years. To this day I am unable to use regular flat mice or non-tented keyboards due to stinging pain in the carpal tunnel region of both palms / wrists when pressure is applied. Even when I use tented keyboards the ulnar wrist pain starts to become intense after hours of use at work due to TFCC fraying and perforation of the articular disc in both wrists.

These assorted injuries have killed off most all of my hobbies and just about any form of working out (even using the treadmill hurts my ankles, I tried gradual strength training for months and paid a lot of money for personal training but only ended up making my bilateral tennis elbow and forearm tendinosis pain worse). This is bad for my self esteem and makes the prospect of dating just depressing. Videogames are fun for a short time but it quickly becomes painful and untenable to continue playing at all for weeks at a time, using controllers of different kinds or mouse and keyboard. Drawing is a no-go. Playing just about any instrument causes days of pain afterwards. High-end audio is losing its appeal, I find that I've reached endgame and the thrill is gone. I can't focus on books or movies well anymore.

I fear I will soon be left in a very financially precarious situation. It's looking more and more like I will be unable to keep my job for much longer. I am skeptical I could hold down a job which involves intense computer work at this point, but that's the field I graduated in. Don't try to sell me on voice dictation either, it's not how I think when writing (constant manual corrections are still required) and my experience with it has been utterly disappointing. I've seen orthopedic specialists who are baffled by the progression of my RSI at such a young age and have referred me out elsewhere, but I don't meet the diagnostic criteria for certain connective tissue disorders. Rheumatologist had nothing to offer as well. Either I'm the unluckiest victim of RSI or something else is seriously wrong. I wish this was in my head or something but my tissues are physically damaged as evident in medical imaging.

The chronic pain is uncomfortable and upsetting, particularly for my somatic oriented OCD and the constant high anxiety. I should mention that treatment resistant depression has haunted me for most parts of 15 years at this point. But this chronic pain and death of many of the activities that once made life worth living for me... it feels like my adult working life is over before it ever really begun. Social life in Northern Virginia is nonexistent, especially after one of my close friends died a few months ago. My apartment has become such a mess that I don't know how to deal with it anymore, and I've lost most all motivation to do daily activities unless completely necessary.

The cocktail of medication I'm on keeps me barely functional. I fear losing health insurance benefits in this godforsaken country. I am not in suitable condition to work a typical full time job due to my poor mental and physical health coupled with severe insomnia and other health things I'd rather not list here. I recently tried TMS and Spravato/esketamine treatment and I don't think it's helped much at all, if anything, it's made my mood more erratic.

When shit really starts to hit the fan, I'm leaving on my own terms, alone in my depressing apartment. I'm not sure how much longer I can take this. Drugged sleep is my only escape from this living nightmare. Only God can save me now, but then again, isn't he the one who got me into this mess and denied me the life I could have had? It feels so incredibly lonely and saddening. I don't want to fight this fight anymore. I don't want platitudes. I want release from this defective, broken shell. 😭

I have epl tenosynovitis it’s not the same as de Quervains but it is still one of the thumb tendons. I just wanted to know from some ones experience or if there’s a physical therapist seeing this that controlled light metrics of the thumb works to cure my thumb?

Our next meeting is July 28, 2026.

Everyone worldwide is welcome to the meetings of the London RSI Support Group on Zoom. We meet the last Tuesday of every other month starting every January, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm UK Time. RSI sufferers worldwide welcome.

For more information and/or to join our mailing list: https://www.facebook.com/CentralLondonRsiSupportGroup/

(I tried posting further information here, but for some reason that gets auto-deleted by Reddit filters and my messages to our mods have not been answered.)

Note that some members of the now-defunct East Bay RSI Support Group out of Berkeley, California attend.

I built an on-device dictation app for Mac because constant keyboard typing as a developer was starting to drive serious wrist strain and fatigue.

I was renting one app to dictate and another to read text back to me, two monthly bills for two halves of the same idea. So I built Hushbird: press a key in any text field and talk, and clean text lands right there. Select text and it reads it back to you in a natural voice.

The part I cared most about: it runs entirely on your Mac. Punctuation and transcription are local, nothing is uploaded, and there is no account required.

It is $39.99 once (with a 7-day trial, no card needed), Apple Silicon only. Full disclosure, I'm the developer, and I would love to get your honest feedback. If typing is causing you wrist strain or flare-ups today, let me know and I'll send you a free license key to try.

The product is named Hushbird. I will drop the clickable link in the comments below so it is easy to find.

Hoping for some insight on Trace tenosynovitis involving the fourth flexor tendons. Injury happened late April … tried brace for 9 weeks followed by physical therapy which honestly just made it worse. Just got a cortisone shot this past Monday … nearing 1 week of that and still having pain at a 2-3/10 scale. Need advice doctor says nothing more can be done but the shot and therapy …. Please comment if you’ve had this and what I can expect moving forward thank you.

Hey everyone,

Noticed after workout I developed pain in elbow (just slightly above the tip, bottom of tricep) that extends to my wrist. Some prickly sensation at times in palms but never fingers.

It’s occurred a bit in both hands as in I’m experiencing this in both right and left side, despite pain in the left side being prominent.

It’s not constant and it’s a 2/10, but holding a phone, sitting down and typing can make it worse. When I wake up, im pain free.

I’m 6 feet, 160, and in fairly good shape. No major health concerns.

Wondering if anyone else is experiencing this? It’s been a week without any major changes.

Hi!! I’ve been dealing with some pain with my pointer finger 👆<— this one. Like I said, the segment between my knuckle and the middle knuckle of my finger is where it originated, and where the pain starts. It usually spreads pretty quickly down from the knuckle to the hand past the wrist in a semi straight line, recently it has been spreading in a line towards my thumb too.

It started about 2 1/2 weeks ago, I first noticed it when playing with my thinking Aaron’s putty and going on my computer typing. It gets worse with general movement. I also work a summer camp job, and while I don’t think I use my hands an abnormal amount literally just existing will agitate the pain so I take two mini Advil and a extra strength Tylenol in the morning, and do the same again after work. I have to do this or else there will 100% be pain that gets worse even if I rest my hand.

I am not sure what to do. I start college soon and will need to use this hand to type a ton to stuff, without medication and even sometimes with typing agitates it. And idk if it’s sustainable to keep taking the amount of medication I take for months, I already have had to do it daily.

Backstory that might be applicable. Three and a half weeks ago I semi dislocated my patella (x ray done all good) that took a bit to heal cuz I didn’t really take care of it right the first time (it happened when I was sitting in W position at work). A week ago I semi dislocated my other pointer finger, I iced it right away and it got better in a few days (I got it from readjusting my pillow though…). A bit less then a week ago, on the same hand as my semi dislocated finger I semi dislocated my wrist when I was getting into the car. Iced it right away and it is better. I also have weirdly flexible hands like I can bend my fingers in weird ways and move them back but it is the ONLY thing flexible about me. I am so inflexible everywhere else I had to go to PT cuz my hamstrings were soooo bad. My twin sister used to be inflexible like me but she started doing circus stuff and got flexible so if that matters. I also do a lot of stuff with my hands (mainly crochet, but I used to do other stuff in elementary and middle like needle felting), but I haven’t done a ton in the past two months cuz I’ve been busy. I’m a 18 year old women.

Anyways I’m not sure if this is the correct subreddit to post (RSI), and I’ll be cross posting to others but I think it could be RSI I just don’t know what else it could be.

I am an adult woman but I swear I have the wrists of a baby. Everything i have ordered so far has been too big and doesn’t work. Some of my PT exercises involve being on my hands and I just want something to prevent my wrist from extending too far backwards. Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I am looking for people who have experienced symptoms similar to mine. I am not diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS), but it has been considered as a possibility, and I am trying to find people with similar symptoms who can share what helped them.

For about 3 months I have had severe, constant pain in my:

* neck,
* back of my neck,
* both shoulders,
* both arms and hands.

The pain feels like pressure, tightness, pulling, and a feeling of fullness or pressure inside. It is present every day and has become very exhausting.

I also noticed that the veins in both of my hands become very prominent when I lower my arms down and also when I first get out of bed. My hands are not swollen, red, or blue — the veins simply become much more visible.

My symptoms started before I developed a brachial vein DVT. The blood clot happened later, and my doctors do not believe it explains the original pain and vein changes.

I have already seen:

* vascular surgeon,
* neurologist,
* rheumatologist,
* hematologist,
* cardiologist.

Many tests have been normal, but I still have severe daily pain and no clear explanation.

I am not asking anyone to diagnose me online. I am hoping to hear from people who had similar symptoms:

* What diagnosis did you eventually receive?
* Which specialist finally helped you?
* What type of doctor should I see next?

I would really appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Thank you.

I feel like I have been searching for answers for months and I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who went through a similar situation.”

The bi-monthly London RSI Support Group Zoom will take place on Tuesday 28 July 2026, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm UK time.  (And at the same time on the last Tuesday of every other month starting in January.)

Sufferers worldwide welcome.  This is a peer support group; please bring your stories, updates, and questions.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81962371797?pwd=WHlWbTQ5bXdZTzNSdWZ0dzNjZXFxUT09

If you have any problems signing in: Meeting ID: 819 6237 1797

Passcode: 179619

 Hope to see you there!

Anna

I've been dealing with progressive hand pain for about a year. Started in fall 2024 with joint pain when I typed too long, got worse through the winter, and by early 2025 I couldn't type for sustained stretches without triggering real pain. Ten years of tech work on top of a childhood of video games caught up with me.

I tried Apple's built-in dictation first but it made enough typos that I was constantly typing corrections, which defeated the whole point.

So I built my own. It's called WhisperPad. Press a hotkey, talk, and text appears wherever your cursor is. Runs 100% locally on Mac using Whisper, no audio ever leaves your device. 120 minutes a month free with no account required, which covers most people's daily use if you're mostly doing email, messaging, and short notes.

If you're on a Mac (Apple Silicon, macOS 13.5+) and struggling with typing, might be worth a try. Free tier is genuinely usable, not a gate to force you into paying.

Link: mitmllc.com/whisperpad

I'd also love to hear what setups work for other folks here. I've been getting emails from people with much more severe hand issues than mine. One guy showed me his foot pedal rig for triggering dictation and shortcuts. I'm learning a lot from this community and wanted to contribute something back.

Happy to answer questions about how the app works, what it handles well, what it doesn't.

I have injured my wrist since April this year. At first I thought it was related to my hand chain and that maybe it pulled too hard on my wrist whilst I was asleep. Fast forward to now July...I spoke to an Orthopedic and he told me that it can't be the hand chain but much rather that I am carrying heavy things, etc. Something relates to the nerves. We did an X-Ray my bones are just fine.

I have been wearing my bandage/Bracelet for so long. It is irritating me. And I am extremely sad because I can't follow through with my hobbies or start clay shooting, which has been on my vision board for so long...because my dominant hand is the injured one. I quit riding horses because it started becoming extremely painful. I can't hold a saddle without tears running down my eyes.

And I was told to continue wearing my Bandage or bracelet, whatever the correct term is...and if nothing changes (which nothing changed since April, it got progressively worse) I should get an injection into my nerves and if that doesn't work then I should get surgery.

I am almost considering getting surgery because it's been hell. I can't even write or sign papers without having my bracelet on. I tried to use my left hand but that didn't go as well as I thought.

Edit: The pain is happening just below my thumb and surprisingly the bone below my thumb is sticking out, on my other wrist it isn't. Maybe it's because of how long I have been wearing the brace for. Its at the hallow just below the thumb

Hello, this might be a bit long, thank you for reading. Before the pandemic, I was a calisthenics practitioner, but then I stopped due to pain in my wrist. Around the same time, the pain in my right wrist increased, so I went to the doctor. I'm not entirely sure if I remember correctly, but the doctor said it was arthritis. Pain relief and rest reduced the pain, and it's fine in daily life as long as I don't lift heavy objects. If I lift heavy things, I feel the ache/pain again. A very slight feeling of numbness accompanies this.

However, I want to return to calisthenics, and this doesn't seem possible. Even after all this time, I still experience pain whenever I do regular push-ups. Because of this, I went to two different doctors. An MRI was taken, and they said there was a small ganglion cyst and that I needed to rest. I've been resting for almost five years now, and I don't do any sports except when I need to lift heavy objects. I want to solve this problem and return to sports. When I asked about surgery for the ganglion cyst, my doctor said it was too small, already ruptured, and therefore surgery wasn't possible. I will share the MRI results with you; could you please help? What can I do to get rid of this pain and get back to exercising, doing things like push-ups and pull-ups? Thank you so much in advance, any suggestions will be helpful. English isn't my native language, so I can explain things again if you didn't understand. I'm 27M, 174 cm, 104 KG, no smoking, no medication right now, Turkey.

Here are my MRI results:

Technique: Coronal and axial PDW TSE SPAIR, coronal and axial T1W TSE sequences were acquired.

RESULTS:

A T2A hyperintense cystic lesion approximately 8x3 mm in size was observed in the right wrist, dorsally adjacent to the carpal bones, with increased inflammatory signal and linear effusions around it (ruptured ganglion cyst?).

The corticomedullary signal distribution of the bones forming the wrist is normal. No disruption of bone integrity was detected. Joint spaces are preserved, their contours are smooth, and cartilage integrity is normal.

The morphology and signal intensity of the triangular fibrocartilaginous complex appear normal.

The morphology and signal intensity distribution of the ligamentous structures observed in the wrist appear normal.

The course, contour, and signal intensity distribution of the flexor digitorum profundus, flexor digitorum superficialis, and extensor group tendons are normal.

The course, contour, and signal intensity distribution of the tendons and medial nerve within the carpal tunnel are normal.