61 year old cyclist with painful throbbing wrist..tender mcp joint

by Doug Miller
(Owen Sound, Canada)

I injured my thumb while moutain biking in the summer...sprained it as I have done before...I nurtured it but found it slow to heal...by November it seemed fine ..no pain although a bit uncomfortable gripping the bike for extended periods. 2 weeks ago I went on the first xc ski of the season.

The strap that wraps around my wrist seemed to start the wrist problem all over again. I now wear a splint for some relief from the aching. Xrays revealed nothing...the doctor suggested I have some arthritis.

No stabbing pain but rather a throbbing ache...mostly at the mcp joint and sometimes at the base of my thumb. No numbness, pain or tingling in my fingers. I ice it regularly for some relief.

Otherwise I am strong, healthy, no conditions and eat a healthy diet.

thanks in advance for your advice.
Doug



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Joshua Answers:

Hi Doug.

I REALLY doubt that you have arthritis. That's a go to phrase for doctors too lazy to really apply some investigation and some thought and some continuing education for themselves.

I mean, maybe you do, I certainly can't tell from here, but I'm unconvinced.

And even if you DO have arthritis, why do you have it RIGHT THERE? Why now all of a sudden? Etc.

Pain happens for a reason. That seems like common sense to me, but doctors tend to overlook that law of cause and effect.


General practitioners, and surgeons, just have no idea about Tendonitis...how it works, why it's there, etc.

So here's the thing: Your Wrist Tendonitis problem didn't start all over again, because it never went away.

Just because pain goes away doesn't mean that the physical mechanism gets better. See: Pain Causing Dynamic

Rest does not fix, cure, nor even help a tendonitis dynamic.

So, a few questions:

1. Tell me more about the pain. Details.

2. History of pain and/or injury?

3. How exactly did you hurt your thumb mountain biking?

4. What does 'as usual' mean, in that instance.

5. Aside from a splint (see: Wrist splints and braces) what are you doing for self care?




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