Tendinitis Titus absolutely loves his job. He is an architect who dreams up the building layouts for a construction company. His favorite task is drawing, and he gets to do it a lot! He’s drafting and sketching all day and the drawings fill his entire office.
But lately, Tendinitis Titus has not been enjoying his work as much as he used to. About a month ago, he suddenly started feeling pain and tenderness in his left wrist. Luckily, it was a Friday, and by Monday Tendinitis Titus’s symptoms were gone. Since he was able to perform his work as usual, Tendinitis Titus didn’t seek treatment for the wrist pain. But now, a month later, the pain and tenderness returned in the same spot. Tendinitis Titus was worried something could really be wrong, and he decided to make an appointment with the Hand Surgery Specialists of Texas, a hand care clinic recommended to him by his coworker, Jack, whose ulnar neuropathy was treated by the doctors.
“Well, Titus,” the doctor prompted, “tell me about your symptoms.” Tendinitis Titus explained how he had experienced pain and tenderness in his left wrist about a month ago and how these sensations had disappeared and he had been able to return to his normal activity after a couple of days. “But now, the pain and tenderness are back. I am left-handed and I draw a lot at my work so I am getting really desperate,” he told the doctor.
“Don’t you worry, we will get your hands back to work,” the doctor reassured Tendinitis Titus and decided to conduct a physical exam to find the exact spots of pain and tenderness, and to diagnose Tendinitis Titus’s condition properly. Based on the physical exam, the doctor told Tendinitis Titus, “you are suffering from a tendinitis of the wrist. There are thick tissues in your wrist called tendons that connect your muscles to your bones.
Tendinitis occurs when the tendons swell, causing the pain and tenderness that you described. It is very typical for tendinitis to flare up and then get better again, which is exactly what happened to you. The symptoms may disappear for a period of time, but they usually return in the same area unless the condition is treated by a hand specialist. Your tendinitis most likely developed from the repetitive motions of drawing that your job requires.”
Tendinitis Titus looked horrified, and questioned, what if he couldn’t continue to draw? That was the one thing he could do better than anyone! The doctor seemed to know what the look on Tendinitis Titus’s face meant because he added, “I am glad you didn’t wait any longer to make an appointment, now we can treat your wrist to help keep the symptoms from flaring up.”
The doctor gave Tendinitis Titus a corticosteroid injection to help reduce the swelling that was causing him pain and discomfort. He also instructed Tendinitis Titus to use a cold compress to help with the swelling, and to wear a wrist splint until the pain was gone. “We will also build a physical therapy program together with exercises that help prevent the symptoms from returning again,” the doctor added.
Now, two months after his initial visit at the Hand Surgery Specialists of Texas, Titus is feeling phenomenal. The pain and tenderness disappeared from his wrist quickly with the help of the corticosteroid injection, cold compress, and splint, and they haven’t returned since. Titus has made the physical therapy activities a part of his daily routine so doing them regularly has not been a problem. Titus’s only problem now is that he’s creating his drawings so quickly, they’ve overfilled his office, and his sketches no longer fit!
Titus is back to his normal activity, but are you suffering from similar symptoms? Don’t wait until your symptoms flare up again, like Titus initially did. Make an appointment with us today and be prepared to say, “Bye!” to your hand problems!
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