23 year old Vegetarian with Dequervains Tendonitis

by Karissa
(Texas)

During the first week of July 2012 I noticed a pain in my left wrist when I played video games or tried grabbing/picking up items/children (I work in a preschool with 1-year olds).

After a month of the pain getting worse I did some research on my own and ended up discovering it was tendonitis. So I figured it was time to take a trip to see the doc. I was then diagnosed with Dequervains Tendonitis in my left wrist the beginning of August 2012.

My doctor gave me a brace to wear, which prevents movement of my wrist and thumb, 24/7. He also told me to ice my wrist each night for 30 minutes or until I became numb, whichever came first.

Lastly, I was prescribed an anti-inflammatory to take daily for 4 weeks. Let me add this real quick. I've also been taking 800 mg of Ibuprofen/1,000 mg of Tylenol a few times a day for probably way too long now (this scares me cause I'm worried I could be harming my body with all of these pills). Which has had no help other than dull the pain a little.

Let me jump ahead 4 weeks...
So there has been no improvement at all after doing what my doctor said. I decide to go see an Orthopedic doctor to see what he has to say...

This is where I wish I ran across your page sooner than I did... He gave me a Cortisone shot and told me to come back in 2 weeks. Obviously, there had been no improvements. So when I went back for my follow-up, 2 weeks later, he gave me a second Cortisone shot. Which of course, has provided me with no improvements. He also told me that if this second shot doesn't help then I have to have surgery. Which is just not an option for me.

Which leads me to today. I got the second Cortisone shot one week ago. I've been doing my research and even my Chiropractor is working on my wrist now. He's even talking about doing Acupuncture. I've started doing the Ice Dip and as soon as I can get to the store I'm going to stock up on the Dixie Cups and start the Ice Massage.

Now for the reason I'm writing this. I was reading the pages about nutrition and I am about 100% sure I am deficient in everything you listed. I don't really get any sun. I'm pretty sure the only sun I get is when I'm driving in my car. I also have muscle spasms in my legs. I don't think I eat much of anything that has vitamin c. After reading everything you had to say about these vitamins and minerals, I plan on hitting up the local farmer's market this weekend to pick up some nutrient rich foods. But this is where I have run into a problem. I have been a vegetarian since November 2004. Which is why I can't eat the Bone Broth. Is there any other form of collagen that is more vegetarian friendly?

I am more than ready to get this on the right track and taken care of. I have had to stop doing too many things I love for too long. I have had to stop running/lifting weights even though I have a 3 mile run with 12 obstacles in November. Because of me not being able to workout, I have gained 10 pounds. I have had to stop doing the one thing I love more than anything; video games.

I am even in the process of applying to a university to become a video game programmer. Then lastly, I can't pick up the kids I work with. This has made my job way too hard and makes me feel terrible since the other teacher I work with has to do more since I can't.


Thank you so much for this website. If it wasn't for it, I have a feeling I would be going in for surgery in the few weeks.



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Joshua Answers:

Hi Karissa.

Yeah, it always boggles my mind when people have done everything their doctor prescribed, none of that helped, and then the person then went and got surgery.

Why? None of the other things the doctor prescribed helped? So the doctor's track record was 100% wrong. So then why trust their prescription for surgery will work?

Anyhoo, so that's great you're now looking for actual answers.

Ice Dipping as described on the How To Reduce Inflammation should help you out quite a bit. If it doesn't, that points to nutritional issues.

If you're short on nutrition, that can cause pain signal, regardless of what the physical structures are doing.

The Pain Causing Dynamic is made up of many different factors, DEFINITELY including nutrition.

I think you implied that you've been on Anti-inflammatory drugs like Ibuprofen for longer than just the prescribed 4 weeks.

Why is that?

And yes, it's absolutely something to be worried about, the long term effects of anti-inflammatory use.

I think you should fix the problem instead of, at best, mask the pain while the problem gets worse.


As far as vegetarian collagen, your body can make it from any protein. Pea protein powders may be a good option for you.

Personally, I'm a fan of therapeutic supplementation. And for you, that might mean a relatively short duration of organic pastured eggs, bone broth, etc. You gotta do what you gotta do for your body to work optimally so you can do what you want to do in life.

Personally I prefer fast recoveries instead of slow recoveries.

It's up to you, of course, and/but vegetarians/vegans are notorious for various specific nutritional deficiencies.

Want to pick up your kids, play video games, etc? Then give your body what it needs to operate, as soon as possible and as much as possible.


More questions, more answers.




Joshua Tucker, B.A., C.M.T.
The Tendonitis Expert
www.TendonitisExpert.com





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