Wrist Tendonitis? Mechanic and Motocross Induced Carpal Tunnel? Neck Injury?

by joe quaresma
(pismo beach, ca)

hello, my name is joe. im 28 years old and ive been a mechanic for 10 years.

i also race and ride ditbikes 3 hours every week without resting. 5 weeks ago my right wrist was a little sore before taking off from them staging area so i took off and just forgot about it, about 35 miles into it, i noticed it starting to hurt more.

i finished the next 25 miles and by the time i got to the truck it felt very sore. the next week at work i noticed it wasnt going away. my job as a fleet mechanic requires a lot of moving, flexing and grabbing with my hands.

the pain is worse when pinching with thumb and index, which i use a lot of. twisting, articulating of the wrist also hurts.

the pain is felt mostly at the base of the thumb, under the tendon, and its a sharp shooting pain that is usually on the palm side.

turning screwdrivers, pulling tie down straps for the bike, even turning the dial dor my vent in my truck(index fingere rolling horizontal wheel to the left, very slightly pulling back of finger) trigger the effect.

its most noticable when using the thumb. it seems a little weaker (thumb) i drop stuff a little more often. if i worked with the hand all day it made that whole area sore by the end of the day, just tired and dull type of ache.

i went to a urgent care 2 weeks later, they think it might be tendonitis, give me a brace, tell me to rest it, nsaids, you know, the same thing ive seen everyone else say on here.

then i went to the hand surgeon they told was the best because i dont like not knowing for sure and he basically tells me the same thing. so i work with only my left hand as much as possible.

then a week and a half ago my left wrist started doin the same thing in the same spot.

weeks of trying to let them rest, i mean both hands?

so i went to the hand surgeon again, we took xrays, they came up negative. he gave me cortizone shots in both and told me rest them 2 weeks.

he doesnt have any answer for me.

the finklestein test was negative on both too.

ive had a the same type of numbness in the left hand associated with cts, but i started getting that after i had a compression fracture in my L-6 and L-7n i believe about 2 years ago which also affected most the muscle in my left arm.

i also broke my neck in 2000, i have a titanium rod and screws, along with a bone graft i think the C-4,5,and 6. ive had no real problems from the neck. the compression fractures choked some of them nerves for the left side and still have pain from it that i can deal with.

i just need my hands to work for now. ive had no problems from the neck or back that bothered my right hand though.

i also have some soreness on the backside of my arm of the muscle below my wrist(thumb side).

they feel fine right now sitting here doing nothing. im just worried about it coming back and not going away, for already after the cortizone i hurt the right one when turning that vent with the index finger.

any insight or anything at all would be insightfull.

thank you for your time.



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Joshua Answers:



Hey Joe.

So if I read all that right, you broke your neck, cervical surgery and titanium, and use your hands/forearms A LOT as a mechanic and motorcycle racer.

Isolating the neck, shoulders, and entire arms, you have a huge Pain Causing Dynamic.

Your nervous system is on high alert protecting your neck injury, and you have all the aspects of a Tendonitis dynamic from neck to hands.

The neck obviously has damage, the arms may or may not depending on where you look. But all along the way you have increasing tightness, connective tissue shrinkwrapping, and Inflammation.

Plus there's probably long term pressure/friction irritation from all the pressure of your wrists sitting on your handlebars.

You're read through other conversations, you probably know all that.

Let's hit the nutritional aspects first.

From all that injury and muscle tightness, I bet you're Magnesium deficient. Check out the Magnesium for Tendonitis page and the Magnesium Dosage page that it links to.

Supplement as directed. It's cheap and will be very helpful.


2. It turns out that Inflammation Causes Vitamin B6 Deficiency.

Read that page and start supplementing. Again, cheap and if that's part of the problem, effective.


3. Increase your protein intake. Dense protein like protein isloate drinks, and Bone Broth as the best Tendon Supplements.


4. Not nutritional, but start Ice Dipping the arms as directed on the How To Reduce Inflammation page. But up the # of dips up to like 30+/day for the first week.


5. Again, not nutritional, but I suggest the 'The Tennis Elbow Treatment That Works' DVD.

It is the bulk of what you need, and I can fine tune that so it will start helping your neck and such.


I HIGHLY suggest the above 5 options. I could give you a billion things to do, but I think you should -START- now with these, and we'll go from there. Read up, go shopping, and get to work.


Does that give you a good place to start?

More questions, more answers.




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