posted
Me too. I have lost some muscle in my hands and I can not hold my fingers out straight. I got some putty from a physical therapist and I work with that while I am watchinh TV
Posts: 9 | From Albany, NY USA | Registered: Nov 2004
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Dawnee
Unregistered
posted
Yes.. my LLMD just told me my joints in my hands are already deteriorating.
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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I have several fingers that will not go straight, as if wrapped over tennis ball.
Many of these had trigger joints for some time, some still do.
hands are also numb but still that needles and pins numb that is also very painful. I had to give up the last love of my life year ago: guitar.
Lyme, babesia and HME/ehrlichia dx in '97. Chronic Cpn dx '08.
The longest abx treatment was mono-treatment for 2 months with doxy was about 5 years after dx. (because we "don't have lyme" in my state). Now I have a few more choices, but much to figure out regarding budget.
I've done the best I can with what I have and some complementary treatment has helped neuro symptoms, but not the hands so much.
Typing seems very destructive on the hands.
I have custom made wrist/finger braces but they don't help a lot with the finger tips, still help with the joints.
Kitchen chores are very hard. I pay for help with laundry, lifting. While treatment is vital, so is protection.
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Some might find SILVER RING SPLINTS of help. They have a nice web site and many styles.
The Silver Ring Splint Co. manufactures finger splints that are both more effective and far more attractive than anything else on the market.
Massage helps sometimes, seems to cause a week's worth of damage other times. Wrist braces help tremendously during sleep or anytime when lifting.
Ice helps me but best if not too painfully cold.
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[ 21. August 2008, 02:33 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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lymeladyinNY
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 10235
posted
Many of my symptoms come and go - they come on strong and then I live with a lesser version.
When my hands first started bending and curling it was severe. At one time my two hands were balled up into tight fists and I couldn't do anything with them.
Now, after months and months of treatment, my hands occasionally twist and bend but a daily thing is my right middle finger. It bends and touches my palm whenever I walk around. I can still type and pick things up with it, but if I'm not doing anything with my right hand, that finger always bends.
I'm hoping that for you, the severity is only temporary like it was for me (temporary meaning it was several months of balled fists).
- Lymelady
-------------------- I want to be free Posts: 1170 | From Endicott, NY | Registered: Sep 2006
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posted
I am a newbie to this site since I was only recently diagnosed with LD, but I have been somewhat successful in treating my muscle and joint LD symptoms for years. Like you, my hands and forearms would cramp and burn, especially when I would try to stretch them. I kept telling my doctors that I felt like I had some type of low-grade systemic inflamation. A simple "wrong" movement or exercise would result in weeks of sharp pain. It mainly affected my forearms and hands and my calves, shins, and feet. I was diagnosed with shin splints, turf toe, carpal tunnel, epicondylitis, and, finally, multiple myalgias(which means you're having pain in lots of places and they don't know why). I had right elbow surgery for epicondypitis, but the surgeon found nothing wrong with the elbow tendon; the problem was that my pronator muscle and its fascia were inflamed, and the fascia was adherred to the muscle, which I now know is typical of LD.
Anyway, there is a great book on treating muscle injuries called "The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook." The simple principle is that many joint and muscle problems are the result of injuries to the muscles which cause scar tissue and adhesions to develop. The scar tissue acts like a "splinter" in the muscle, keeping it inflamed and unable to heal. The author shows you how to massage and work the affected muscles to break up the adhesions, knots, and trigger points. He also explains that often the pain you are feeling in one area is referred to that area from a different muscle. For instance, cramping of your hands is often due to problems with your forearm muscles. The $20 I spent for this book is the best investment I have ever made. I was actually able to get rid of some old, nagging injuries which were not LD related.
If you decide to go to a massage therapist to help you with your muscle pains/trigger points, make sure they are truly familiar with trigger point therapy. I went to 3 massage therapists who really did not know what they were doing before I emailed the co-author of the book and got the name of a local therapist who had actually trained with the authors. The last therapist helped me tremendously.
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