October Novel Prep Challenge

I have pain in my wrists and the backs of my hands. I am guilty of four of the five repetitive tasks that were on the sign in the doctor's office when I went in to be tested for CT (typing/mouse/computer use; playing guitar - which I do professionally, so we're not talking about hobby level; knitting, which I've done less and less since it hurts so much and the other repetitive tasks are so much more important to me; and turning screwdrivers - more at the hobby level, but I am a degreed engineer and therefore ridiculously attracted to challenging fix-it projects, plus I am a small business owner with no budget for a maintenance person, so I do all the fixing myself.)

I tested negative for CT. Not even the slightest indication that it was starting to form.

Instead, I was diagnosed with tenosynovitis in my wrists. This is like tendonitis, which is inflammation of the tendons, except tenosynovitis also includes inflammation of the tendon sheathes - the tunnels through which your tendons travel. There's no treatment for it, no prescription or surgery. It's just a condition you live with. But ibuprofin helps a lot because it reduces inflammation, and I have wrist braces like these  . When my condition flares (every few months, and particularly when I'm doing things like the Prep), I find that sleeping a night or two with the braces on really helps. It's not just that they force your hands into the right position; it's also how the braces wrap around your forearms. I pull them really tight, which massages the muscles. Somehow, I find that my wrists and hands feel great for days after just one night wearing them.

To Dawn's point, I've been doing a lot of handwriting during the Prep, and I find that my writing hand ACHES after doing it awhile. I have to stop and shake my hand out. That doesn't happen when I type, which I can do for hours and hours with barely a break. I don't remember writing causing my hand to ache when I would journal or write stories as a child, before computers. I wonder if we've just adapted to typing; our hands are used to that sort of labor, where twenty years ago, they were used to handwriting instead.

Regards,
Michelle