Dealing with Tendonitis

Hello there!

I'm 23 and in the past year I had tendonitis twice! In both hands! Any of you who have it or had it, know it's painful. When I first got tendonitis, I didn't know really what to do to help. I didn't even know what it was until my mother-in-law told me. All she knew to do was to rest them as much as possible and hot and cold therapy.

How did I get tendonitis?

Well, in 2020 I got into a new hobby, crocheting. Yes, I know, it sounds funny and ridiculous but I got tendonitis by crocheting, plus all the other activities I do. My mother-in-law teasingly nudged me because I would crochet nonstop! I couldn't stop! I am very crafty, so I could have been already getting tendonitis, and crocheting may have quickened the process? I thought it was something not as common as other things, because I never heard of anyone having it before. I was wrong; I didn't realize how common it really was! Why don't we hear about it more often? I had mentioned something to my friends and family, and there were others in the same boat as me! Some have given me advice, and some I learned on my own. Today, I am going to tell you what I found very helpful with tendonitis, and what is not helpful. Hopefully, my advice can help someone else in pain.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, this is not medical advice. I am just giving advice on what helped me, which might help you.

Tip: Tendonitis is very close to carpel tunnel. It can very well turn into carpel tunnel too, if you continue to do the repetitive movements in your hands without proper care. No one wants carpel tunnel, it's worse than tendonitis!

#1 Rest!!! Rest those hands dear friends, Rest!

I cannot express that enough! Rest is very, very important to the healing process. Do not over do it! Anything you do with your thumb will do more harm. The main source of tendonitis is the thumb. My doctors told me that. If you have a full time job and can't take weeks off, just rest them as much as you possibly can. Rest your hand or hands and you will recover faster from it. But of course when you are in pain that's all you want to do.

Tips on resting them more...

1. Get a driver. If you can, have someone else drive you to work and pick you up. I am a taxi driver for the Amish and believe me driving is a huge stress on your hands. I stopped working for a few days then tried to drive one day, and driving made it worse.

2. Every moment you’re not doing anything, lay the back side of your hand/s on your desk. It relieves some of the pressure off your thumb. Maybe when you’re doing nothing at your job for a few minutes or an hour? When you don’t need to use your hands (like for reading or something), rest those hands!

3. When sleeping at night lay your hands open and elevated a bit. Rest your hand/s on top of a pillow. I found it helped with the pain and swelling.

4. Get a helper. Ask a family member, a friend, or if you have the money, a maid. Get a helper to help you out with chores. If you work all day and haven't given your hands or arm a chance to rest, you need a helper! If you feel you don't have the strength to open a simple jar or a bottle of pop, have someone open it for you. DO NOT force your hands to open it! You will do more harm than good. Ask someone to open certain things for you! It may hurt your pride, but that's better than dragging out the healing process longer than necessary.

5. Call more, Text less. Texting is another major cause of tendonitis. When you text with your thumb very much, it can cause a lot more pain. Call more and text less. Besides, I am sure the person would rather hear your voice.

#2 Get chiropractic care

Yes, your hands can be adjusted.

Why? You may ask. Because, when I first got tendonitis that's what helped! Do not try to adjust it yourself. You need a person who knows what they're doing! My chiropractor adjusted my thumb, the main source of tendonitis. It's like a huge relief off your thumb. When I got tendonitis the second time, I could tell my thumb needed to be adjusted. If your thumb is out of place for too long, about a half an hour to an hour after being adjusted it can be a little painful... Mine was quite sore for a while, but it helped a lot! Within a day or so I was 98% better.

Tips on chiropractor...

1. Find someone certified! There are people out there who may not be certified... Yikes, they could do more harm than good.

2. Drink lots of water afterwards! After your adjustment you might feel pain, especially in your hands. For me sometimes the pain is worse for a few hours or even a whole day. Then it gets better. But I have recently learned that it does that because when you get adjusted your bones release toxins in your body. To help drain the toxins out is to drink lots of water after your adjustment.

#3 Massage your arms!

The first time I went to my chiropractor for my hands I also got a therapeutic massage just for the tendonitis. There were 2 things she used that I would advise you to get ASAP! I bought both on Amazon, and I was very pleased!

1.Soothe (Cramp & Inflammation Relief Magnesium Cream 4oz)

All you need to do is massage it on your sore muscles on your arms. Warning!! It’s a little on the expensive side but totally worth the money! When it arrived I put it on and I had almost instant relief! I was so amazed! It can cause a tingle or burning sensation if you are deficient. I also noticed if I had an open scratch, it had the tingling or burning sensation. Therefore, I would avoid any open scratches. It's really not bad, just a weird feeling. This is a 10 out of 10, in my opinion!

2.Cold Massage Roller Ball - Hot & Cold Therapy Relief for Sore Painful Muscles & Joints Great for Back/Neck Pain

I found that the cold therapy works best with tendonitis. Before I bought this product I tried doing the hot and cold therapy with water. Personally for me the Hot therapy actually made my hands hurt worse. So I never did try the hot therapy with the Massage roller ball. For the cold therapy all you do is put the ball in the freezer for 2 hours and it says it will last for 6 hours. I personally love this massage ball, much better than a Percussion Action Massager for anything only because the vibration hurts my hands. I would rather stock up on the massage roller ball. I'd give this a 9 out of 10.

So how to massage for tendonitis...

It's very easy all you need to do is roll it up and down your arm from the tendon to your wrist. You also would want to roll it in circles by your thumb. A diagram will be below to show you where exactly to massage at.

# 4 Hand supports or braces

Now, I didn't get a chance to try a hand brace, someone in my fb group just recommended it . I was better before I could get one. The person who recommended it said it can be uncomfortable at times when you're doing stuff. But when you're not doing something just let your hand rest a bit from the brace. I had bought 3 kinds of supports, and I liked them all. There was one thing that I sort of disliked about them. We will talk about that in a bit. I will tell them in order on which one I got first.

1. The first time I got tendonitis I was just looking for anything to wrap around my wrists. And I bought this... ACE Adjustable Wrist Support. I liked it because you can adjust it however you wanted it. But I was always afraid I had it to tight. But the tighter I could get it without my hand going numb the better my hand would feel. Though of course, it didn't take the pain 100% away. It was like 50% easier to do something. Then again, sometimes to tight hurt worse. I'd give it a 5.5 out of 10.

2. The second time I got Tendonitis I bought this... Hempvana Arthritis Compression Gloves. Yes, I know I didn't have Arthritis but I wanted to see how well it would help and honestly I really liked them! Tendonitis will make your hand and arm swell a bit and the gloves helped that my hands anyways. They also helped with some the pain I had. I was very pleased! Highly recommend getting this! I give it a 7 out of 10.

3. The last support I got... Thumb Wrist Support Brace (2 pcs),Elastic Gel Arthritis Fingerless Glove with Magnetotherapy, Waterproof Wrist Compression Sleeve Splint for Sprained, Tendonitis, Carpal Tunnel Hand Joint Pain Relief That's a mouth full!! Haha! I liked this one too. But I didn't get to use it as much. My hands healed by time it arrived. Fair warning though, its super difficult to get on, this is one of my dislikes about it! I would suggest having someone help putting them on. It's very easy to clean and easy to do house chores. They also are very sung which is very helpful! It'd give is a 6.5 out of 10.

There was one thing I got that didn't help at all!

Do not waste your money on this! OR anything similar to it! I really highly recommend Soothe that I mentioned earlier. I'm telling you soothe, it's like an instant relief!

Anyways, that's all I have to offer for advice. Tendonitis is awful to deal with, and if you have it I sure do hope this helps with a fast recovery! Thank you for reading my article! Please give it a like if I gave you helpful advice! There is also a tip option if you would like to give me a tip. That is totally up to you! I thank you, have a blessed day!