Originally posted by cocoNUT
Hi all!
I'll be starting at COMP this Aug and am really excited to learn OMM... BUT I'm a bit worried b/c I've got "weak" wrists... maybe the beginnings of carpal tunnel (maybe too much time spent on SDN and the internet) ... how much of a handicap will this be for me?
I had Carpal Tunnel for a few years before coming to med school that sort of toned down after I left work and my horrible desk and computer based work.
It flared up again terribly in my second year after many nights of rewriting notes and sitting with horrible posture. I was really pretty firghtened because a doctor's life is her hands (unless she's a psychiatrist, ugh, no thanks). I went to the OMM clinic here on campus, was given treatment and exercises to do, and I am SO MUCH BETTER! I am really amazed. I have occasional pain, but nothing even close to what I had. I sometimes get my classmates to work on it, and do my exercises, and I think I am ok for the long haul.
My advice to you: Go to a D.O. NOW who specializes in OMM. If you ar close to an Osteopathic school, it will most likely have a clinic associated with it where you can either go or call and they will give you a DO in the area who can help you.
If you can't do that now - go to the clinic as soon as you start school.
Here are some exercises for your weenie wrists (I have them too - weenie wristed people unite!)
wrist curls: with a light weight in the grasp of each hand (no more than 3 lbs) and your elbows at your side bent at 90 degrees,
1. Curl your wrists from a neutral position (ie in the plane of your arm) up toward the sky. repeat 8 times.
2. Next - keep your wrists in that neutral position and curl them toward one another (ie bring your pinkies so they get closer to your belly button). Repeat 8 times.
3. Rotate your forearms in so that your thumbs are now on top (palms are facing each other). Curl your wrists back toward you so that your thumbs get closer to your body. repeat 8 times.
4. Finally, rotate your forearms so that you see the tops (not the palms) of your hands. From neutral (ie - wrists in line with your forearm) curl your wrists up, so that the tops of your hands get closer to your body. Repeat 8 times.
Do these a few times a week. I would start out with really light weights first - like a can of soup or something.
If you get pain in your wrists after typing, writing, whatever, push the palm of your hand up to a wall so that the tips of your fingers point straight up and your straight arm is 90 degrees from your body. Push against the wall and feel the stretch. You can also turn your body away from the wall to get a better stretch. You can continue by pointing your hand down and stretching, then doing hand up and hand down again but with the back of your hand pushed up against the wall instead (this one feels weird to me, I don't do it).
I have more stretches, but am not gifted enough to exlain them without pictures.
I hope your weak wrists get stronger! I feel your pain!
kristin
AZCOM
class of 2005
