just ignore and let this one die

OK...I'll bite!

I charge for writing angry attorney letters. Kindness is free. Vitriol is expensive.

In your hip pocket, I give you a charge. Totally different concept.

So, here's the deal. Since this thread seems an apt place for a little whining and rambling. I think I broke my thumb at some point. Not really my thumb, but the bone that goes from your wrist to the base of your thumb. I don't really remember when. I had a few accidental smashings a couple months back, or it could be some sort of stress fracture. It's killing me, though and it literally hasn't stopped hurting for weeks. Most of the pain is in the knuckle joint. I just figured it was some soft tissue damage and that thakes weeks and weeks to heal, so I'd just grin and bear it.

Now I'm noticing that all of the bottom knuckles on that hand are really stiff. The ones where your fingers attach to your hand. They don't really hurt, but I can really feel the stiffness when I make a fist.

What on earth is causing this? Yes, I know, asking for medical advice on the internet...etc. This is pretty clearly not a medical emergency, though. It's just something weird and not worth paying a doctor to check out.

/me tries to imagine carrying Trout in her hip pocket, with little success.

Still, it'd be nice. I could have a Portable Dance Partner. An instant shoulder to cry on. A ready source of lindens at all times. Someone to carry the packages. Yes...a Popeil Pocket Man is definitely a product I'd be interested in.

As long as I didn't have to feed him, buy him drinks, or take him out for walks twice a day. And I'd want him to not be damaged or shrink if I forgot and put him through the wash.

Damn...an hour to quitting time and No SL. I'm already starting to fidget.

You should get it checked out Trout. My wife was thrown from her horse 4 or 5 years ago and injured her finger. She didn't think to much about it but the pain didn't go away. Then her finger started to swell up so bad that we had to have her wedding ring cut off. She had broken it in 3 places.

It is worth finding out as it can give you alot of problems later on.

the real question here is, is he solar or battery operated?

or wind-up?

Even better ... blow-up.

ugh!

my old dog once bumped his butt into my right hand (I'm right handed) and forced my thumb flat in to my palm... i heard the knuckle crack right where the lower thumb knuckle meets the long bone going to the wrist. it swelled and bruised, so i went straight to the doc. they told me something was probably broken somewhere in there, but simply sent me to the local pharmacy to buy a thumb splint, which i wore for about 2 weeks. after those few weeks all bruising dissipated, swelling went "mostly" down, and i could dump the splint.

however, i was left with pain and a crippling lack of motion for over 6 months. i babied that little thumb for a whole year, because even after the regular pain stopped, if i bumped it i was immediately reminded to be cautious. it was really a pain because i am right handed, had small kids to deal with and carry, 42 outside stairs going up in to my house, winter snows to shovel and snowblow, firewood to chop and haul around.... and i was really limited and almost disabled from daily necessary activities because of it.

i don't know if this will help you or not, but i recommend going to get one of those splints until you can see a doc, and seek relief from ibuprofen (of you can take that) as needed.

sorry Trout. Sucks! go see the doc!

Wait until they see where the inflation valve is.

Damien - Nothing seems out of alignment. The hand works ok, it's just the pain in that joint and now the general stiffness in the other joints. It's not like I'm in agony either. it hurts just enough to be really annoying but not enough to slow me down.

3ring - I'll look for a splint this weekend. Thanks for the advice.

Noted.

Well, to me, those two statements are contradictory. If it is killing you and has been continually hurting for many days, then YES it is worth paying a doctor to check out.

*hugs*

/me jumps up and down waving her hands - I want one too.



/me passes you a good stiff drink to later.

Serious answer - if it affects the thumb and base of the fingers (particularly the index and middle), then the problem is not at the knuckles but in the wrist. Could be Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Lil is right - get it checked out.

Trout...do you use a Blackberry? Do you do a lot of texting with that thumb?

My medical degree is pending, of course , but it sounds like something similar to carpal tunnel syndrome.

Do you do any profit-sharing schemes?

Nope - I hate texting, so I never do it. I've sent, maybe 5 text messages in my life. I have an older cell phone - no Blackberry or anything. I'm sort of a Luddite when it comes to cell phones. I just want to be able to make phone calls and turn it off when I don't want to be bothered.

I type a bit, but not nearly as much as a lot of other people, and I don't really do any sorts of repetive motion types of work. The effect is between the base of the thumb and the wrist, and the knuckles of the other fingers are only stiff - no pain. Sort of like when you go out in the freezing cold in winter and your hands get really cold - it's hard to make a fist because they get stiff. Like that.

I should have said, it's irritating the bejesus out of me. The pain isn't "killing me". It's just a constant annoyance that is starting to get under my skin. It hurts just enough to bug me, but not enough to be really painful.

and there is only one cure for the pain of that, which is not medication i'm afraid. =/

Yes. I share all my profits with the student loan folks, the bank that has the loan on my truck, VISA and Mastercard, The grocery store, my landlord, the utilities company, Comcast, etc...

The more you describe it, the more it sounds like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. CTS does not have to result from repetitive motions - could be nerve damage, myo sheath damage, or just soreness from sleeping on your hands.

that sounds like arthritis, not what my thumb issue was. my thumb hurt all inthere where you are describing, but it also very specifically hurt on that base thumb knuckle. there was no doubt what arae was most traumatized. you know, viruses can cause wierd arthritic issues that do not ever go away for some people. rhumatoid arthritis or lupus or some other wierd thing .... i don't know what i'm talking about, just that i've heard of 'something'.... i know you hate to spend money on a doctor, but more and more i think you should go start that process, if nothing more than to relieve my mind... err... your mind. LOL