Coping

I'm having a problem. It's with my right wrist. If only it were my left or I wasn't so crafty, it wouldn't be as much of a problem. I have a ganglion cyst on my right wrist that comes and goes. It appeared last July and grew in size and pain until my husband finally said enough is enough and made me go to the doctor right after we moved. All in all, ganglion cysts aren't that big of an issue. No one knows why they start but they grow in size with heavy lifting, repetitive tasks, etc. Hmm... packing and moving and a penchant for handcrafts like crochet, sewing, and knitting... yeah, I can see why this happened to me.

Anyway, my doctor drained it. The needle was large. He told me it was something to try but probably wouldn't make it go away. It didn't, but I'm not really that into surgery. It was still there, a tiny little knot on my wrist. I was careful with it though. If it started hurting, I wrapped it in an Ace bandage and took it easy. Throughout the fall and into the Christmas season, everything was fine.

It came back though. Over the last few weeks, I've had problems with the pain almost every day. I'm sure it might be related to my quilting escapades but other tasks have exacerbated the situation as well. It's to the point that emptying the dishwasher makes it start to hurt. I've got to live my life though so I've developed methods of coping thanks to Google and Walgreens. This storm shall pass and I'll be better able to handle any future storms after this.

Compression is the key. When I'm crafting, I wear this attractive beauty that applies gentle compression during my repetitive movements such as hand applique and knitting.

The picture doesn't do it justice. It's actually a brighter blue if you can imagine that. Who picked that color? Not me. It was the only color they make.

For everyday use and especially when grading, entering grades, typing, etc., I wear this fabulous almost flesh-colored glove thing. It has an adjustable wrist wrap that adds a nice bit of compression. This is also the only one I can sleep with if it's hurting at night because my hand tends to swell with the others. 

This white wrist support is useful when my hands might get dirty or if I'm doing a lot of lifting (like putting plates away from the dishwasher). White was a bad color choice, but again, the only color available.

If none of these things work and the pain truly starts, I'm back to the Ace bandage. That makes me feel injured, so I try to avoid that. People ask about a brace but a bandage makes them question your well-being. This is hard enough to explain as it is.

Overall, I'm a little paranoid about my wrist. I find myself putting on the glove or the wrist support just because I'm nervous it will start hurting and I have X, Y, and Z to do later on. Of course, when I decide to take it off and using my Smart Slate makes it hurt after one set of flashcards, I think my fear is reasonable. I'm doing okay though. I'm coping. Thanks for all the advice Google. I couldn't have done it without you.