Animation Tendonitis, rest hasn't helped, can't work
Hello. Thanks for the information on your website it's great. I wanted to share my situation with you to see if you think this will ever calm down. My History: I'm a 24yr/o animator and last year at the end of University I ended up getting some bad wrist pains. They were dull aching pains and the doctor told me it was tendonitis. It was caused from drawing too much (did thousands of drawings in a few months).
I often did 10 hour days just drawing constantly. Because it was my final project I had to carry on with the pain until I couldn't any more. Then I switched to drawing with my left hand and got the same pain there.
A few months after my course finished the pain went away. So I probably initially had it for 2 or 3 months.
For about 6 or 7 months I was fine and didn't get it again. I'd had a job coding websites for 4 months and at that point I joined a gym. After about 1 month of using a variety of weight machines for 30mins twice a week, the same pain came back in both wrists. When using a mouse & keyboard however I now get it at the base of my thumb too.
I don't know if the pain came back because of the job, the gym or a combination of both. But since coming back it's been at least 4 months. Because of my job it hasn't got any better (using a mouse aggravates it). I stopped using weights as soon as the pain appeared. I lessened my hours to 2 days a week initially and have now had to quit my job to give it time to heal.
--- What aggravates my wrists ---
My wrists don't usually hurt unless:
I'm drawing, typing or using a mouse.
I can usually use a mouse & keyboard for an hour without the pain coming. It doesn't make a difference if I have a break after that... 1 - 2 hours a day is usually maximum.
Drawing though it only takes 20 mins for pain to come. Which sucks because that's what I need to do the most.
--- Things I'm trying/ thinking of trying now ---
Apart from the first which is your main suggestion I'd like to know if you think the following are helpful?
- I'm going to try ice dipping/ massage as you suggested.
- Taking Proteolytic Enzymes - I've heard good things about these?
- Taking multivitamins
- Taking Starflower Oil (Can't stand cod-liver)
-
Using wrist splints when in pain
- Using a mouse pad
- Having 100 days rest for collagen to rebuild (I read somewhere that's how long it takes?)
- Starting Physiotherapy
- Drinking more water (I don't drink much)
- Using timing software to moderate & suspend my computer use
--- Main question ---
Anyway I hope you can help. I just want to know how bad you think my case is and if you think it will go away if I do the things I listed above for long enough?
----
Joshua Answers:Hi Animator.
1.
Tendonitis doesn't 'calm down'. Pain might go away, but the mechanism/dynamic is still in place, quickly or slowly getting worse.
See:
What Is Tendonitis?2. That's because of the
Pain Causing Dynamic.
3. Regarding your main question, I think your case is just like everybody else's case. That's just how Tendonitis works, whether it's
Wrist Tendonitis or at any other location.
4. Taking 100 days off isn't going to help anything.
Rest doesn't help or fix tendonitis. And, it's unlikely that you have any 'injury' that more collagen is going to fix.
5. Also check out
Magnesium for Tendonitis,
6. And get my
Reversing Wrist Tendonitis ebook while you're at it. :)
7. I don't actually know what Starflower oil is, but yes, it's got to beat Codliver oil (which is not a healthy choice these days for a variety of reasons).
8. More water, yes. Enzymes can be good, yes, if you actually have scar tissue for them to eat up, and if they're taken on an empty stomach.
9.
Wrist splints and braces are fine to get you through the day, but not as a long term option.
10. How's the ice dipping been going?
----------------------
Please reply using the comment link below. Do not submit a new submission to answer/reply, it's too hard for me to find where it's supposed to go.
And, comments have a 3,000 character limit so you may have to comment twice.
----------------------- Joshua Tucker, B.A., C.M.T.
The Tendonitis Expert
www.TendonitisExpert.com
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