Dequervains Tendonitis is Tendonitis of the thumb. No more, no less. It's a fancy name for basic tendonitis.
So if your doctor gave you a De Quervain diagnosis, don't worry about it. It's nothing special. It's not a disease.
If your thumb pain is severe, or even debilitating, and you have Dequervains Syndrome, great.
Let's fix that. It's totally reversible. Even if your doctor has failed to help you for months or years. Even if they've said that you need dequervains surgery.
"I was diagnosed with De Quervain Tendonitis. Help!"
I'm not sure that there really is a Dequervain's 'Myth' per se...but people regularly contact me here on the site, worried that their diagnosis from the doctor means that they have a disease, something horrible, something hard or even impossible to fix.
Certainly something mysterious and frightening.
As I've said, Dequervain's is just a fancy term for 'in your thumb'.
Dequervains Pain Syndrome....is 'pain in your thumb'.
Dequervain's Tendonitis...is tendonitis of the thumb.
Dequervain's Tenosynovitis....is tenosynovitis in the thumb tendon(s).
There's nothing special about Dequervain's anything.
De Quervain is the swiss doctor that put a name to inflamed thumb tendons back in 1895.
My point is, don't be scared by your fancy diagnosis. No big deal. You have the same tendonitis and/or tenosynovitis dynamic that everybody else has..this one just happens to be in the thumb.
If you've been given a diagnosis of Dequervain's Syndrome, what that means is that your Doctor has no idea what's wrong. You'll be given a prescription for rest and a splint and 'rest'.
The term 'Syndrome' is a label for a collection of symptoms. It means that the cause of your pain is a mystery to the doctor.
If they can't even definitively differentiate between Tendonitis (See: What Is Tendonitis) or Tenosynovitis then it's safe to say your doctor doesn't know exactly what's going on.
So, find a different doctor (or not) and get a diagnosis with one of the two issues below.
Dequervain Tendonitis is thumb tendonitis, pure and simple.
It is considered a repetitive motion injury and follows that dynamic of symptoms and etiology.
Meaning, you used your thumb a lot. For a job or hobby or both.
Muscles get tighter and tighter, connective tissue shrink wraps down, a Process of Inflammation kicks in and slowly gets worse. Repeat.
That's the Pain Causing Dynamic at work. That's what Dequervain Tendonitis is all about.
Too tight, for too long, causes pain and problem.
It really is that simple. Sure, it is super complex too, but I stick with simple, since you don't care WHY it hurts, you want it to STOP hurting.
De Quervain Tendonitis is a function of chronically tight muscles that are working 24/7. Then the whole thing gets easily irritatable.
That's why you can rest for a while, won't hurt, then do most anything and it will start hurting again (usually going from nothing to extreme pain in a heart beat).
Rest never fixed anything.
Nor can Wrist splints and braces help De Quervains tendonitis.
Anti-inflammatory drugs like Ibuprofen never had a chance.
If you don't address the CAUSE of Dequervains Tendonitis, it's VERY unlikely to go away all by itself, much less with all the stuff your doctor has prescribed (that didn't work).
What are the symptoms of Dequervains Tendonitis?
** Pain in the thumb (anywhere form thumb tip to below the wrist)
** Muscle pain, Burning pain, shooting pain, pain when using thumb
** Loss of strength, reduced ability to grip
** Twitch, spasm, cramp
** Reduced range of motion
Hey, look at that, the same Symptoms of Tendonitis as every other kind of Tendonitis!
What therapy helps Dequervain's Tendonitis?
Chances are, everything your doctor prescribes won't help, and it's highly unlikely they'll fix the problem.
Why? Because what your doctor gives you doesn't target the CAUSE of the problem.
The problem is made up of multiple factors, and if you don't deal with what needs to be dealt with, it won't get dealt with.
You have to EFFECTIVELY deal with:
** Inflammation
** Hypertonicity (too tight muscles)
** Constricted connective tissue (too tight connective tissue)
** Nutritional deficiency
** A freaked out nervous in high defense mode.
Go here to find out more about Reversing DeQuervains Tendonitis.
To purchase the ebook right now, click on the 'buy now' button below.
Return to the top of this Dequervains Tendonitis page.
Go to the main Tendonitis page.
Go to the www.TendonitisExpert.com page.
Share Your Story
|