I'm falling apart.
 

As I get older, I am noticing more and more chronic issues with my right arm. I have "trigger thumb," tennis elbow, arthritis and tendon issues. From my wrist to my elbow hurts all the time.

I have gone to the doctor and gotten a cortisone shot, but it doesn't seem to have helped much. My doctor says a brace will help with my different issues, so I have been trying them out. But while they help, I have yet to find one that is truly comfortable to wear all day, every day, so here I am.

Does anyone have a good wrist brace, preferably without the attached thumb, and a good brace for my tennis elbow that they would recommend I try. Because of my allergies, I need to avoid anything with a "gel" pad. If I don't, my arm will hurt for that too.

Any recommendation would be appreciated. :)

Gosh, I'm so sorry, Lorie. :( I don't have any knowledge about such things so nothing to recommend. I hope someone here does, though.

I have signs of the beginning of carpel tunnel in my wrists, tennis elbow on my right arm (dominant) and beginning of arthritis in my shoulder joints (both arms). I wear a brace at night so my right wrist doesn't bend. I don't wear a brace when I'm working on the computer.

Did your doctor recommend or refer you to physical therapy? I did go to PT for 2 sessions and did my own at home exercises. This helped with eliminating most of the pain.

Yep, I have exercises that I do to try to help, but they are not as effective as I had hoped. I still do them, but my dr. also recommended finding a brace that works for me. Apparently, I need the support. I need a lot of support in a lot of areas. LOL

Thank you, Char. :)

Aging definitely has it's challenges. I'm not familiar with any of those specific issues so I don't' have much to offer. Hopefully the exercises will continue to provide some relief and you'll get some good recommendations on the braces.

I've bought a number of wrist braces and one elbow brace over the years and pretty much only liked the first wrist brace I bought, which disappeared and I've never found it.

Sorry to hear this Lorie! I've struggled (and thankfully healed) from tennis elbow from playing softball, but now that I'm older and my job is so hard on my body- I've been experiencing some issues too. My hands often go to sleep at night due to how I sleep so I have to wear wrist braces. I am on the hard core ones now, but started with some like this since I was getting hives from the metal in the traditional braces. It's basically a compression sleeve, so not as much support as the brace with the metal bracket, but a lot nice on skin as well as all day wear.
https://target.scene7.com/is/image/T...lt=80&fmt=webp

Also- for my tennis elbow- there was not really any good brace options. What worked the best was voltaran cream & scrapping my forearm muscle nightly with a jade scrapper. It just takes forever to heal!

Gosh Lorie, I'm so sorry to read your post! I don't have any suggestions, but will say that growing old is not for sissies!!

I have carpal tunnel also. I have never gone to the doctor for it because for now, it will flare up badly & then go away for a while. I probably should see someone for it because I am on a flare up now. I just stretch it and wear a nighttime brace when it flares.

where does one opt out? I am a sissy... LOL

I hope you find some relief soon, Lorie. Getting old is for the birds!

Sorry to hear all those troubles, Lorie. I hope you find some reliefs soon.
I swear that there are billions of things that can 'attack' us, even without us doing anything. I have been having non-period bleeding and cramps these few days and it's freaking me out. Ugh...
Big hugs.

What does the "trigger thumb" feel like? I've had pain in my thumb for a couple of years but haven't figured out why. I've had an x-ray and arthritis or any kind of break has been ruled out. The doctor says that it is likely some sort of repetitive motion injury. I've been using this thumb immobilizing splint at night and found that it has helped a lot with the pain. Aging is hard!!

https://i.imgur.com/Wgwv29H.jpg

Thank you. The exercises are always helpful, but because it is arthritis and cumulative damage, I don't think they will solve it for me.

As for braces, I have tried at least 5 for my elbow since the doctor told me to get one and none of them were good for me. Either they didn't work like I needed, still had pain and weakness, or I was allergic to something in them.

I am trying a new kind, and I am happy to say so far so good. It is working for the support and the pain, and I have not had a reaction to it. Plus, it is not as bulky as the other ones. It is only day 2 with it, but I hope it does the job because I am tired of looking at and spending money on them.

I had a thumb brace that was working better than any other one until my dog, Jelly, ate it. It was expensive, so I thought I would try "cheaper" ones, but with no success so far.

I am thinking I am going to have to drop another $100+ to get the one that worked and then make sure not to leave it on an end table at night where Jelly can reach it. She is a stinker about chewing things.

Thanks, Amie. I have the compression sleeves and they are nice, but not enough to help with the pain. I take my braces off to sleep, but maybe I need to stop doing that. But I dread the thought of wearing them all the time.

Thanks, Jill. It still amazes me the things that change or have built up to impact your health as you get older. I mean, even the texture of my hair has changed, and not for the better. Not for sissies is right.

I thought carpal tunnel and that maybe I would need surgery for it, but of course it can not be that simple. My "trigger thumb" is actually in my ring and pinky fingers. They will freeze or lock into place after I work on the computer for awhile, especially when I design. My thumb pain happens at the base and is actually called De Quervain's Tenosynovitis. The two together with the tennis elbow can be unbearable at times.

You should go get yours looked at while you are still young because it will only get worse over time. I ignored mine for quite a number of years, but the pain reached the point where I couldn't ignore it. Don't let yours get to that point.

Unfortunately, the only opt out is death. If we are lucky, eventually, we will all need to put on our big girl panties and deal with it. It's quite an adventure with lows like chronic pain and highs like not caring what people think and grandbabies. LOL

It sure is. I am trying to do it gracefully, but I have never been very graceful. LOL

Big hugs to you as well. You should probably get a check up to see what is going on. After all, you need to take care of yourself, so that you can take care of everyone else.

Trigger Thumb is from repetitive movement and the main symptom that separates it from other tendon issues is that it the digit will "freeze" in place. When mine happens, my ring and pinky finger get stuck at the joints and stretching them back out hurts like heck.

I should probably start wearing a brace to bed too, but I hate having one on all the time.

What has worked best for my thumb is this brace:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...PL._SX522_.jpg

It provides the most support at the base where I need it.

I recently purchased a vertical mouse to help with my thumb issues and I have to say that I love it. In fact, I love it so much, I ordered one at work too. :)

Thank you. It has stopped after taking some Chinese remedies my mum suggested, but, if it ever returns, I'll have a proper check up then. :hugs:

I can recommend these two great Physical Therapists, Bob & Brad. They have tons of exercises for all types of pain and parts of the body. I always recommend them to everyone I know, once they mention they're in pain. A few years ago, I couldn't move my left shoulder, it had locked and I couldn't raise it above me eye level, but I tried out some exercises they recommended and now my shoulder is doing great.

https://www.youtube.com/@BobandBrad

Hope this helps.

Hi Lori

I don't know if you have it where you love but here whe have instrument makers they can make braces out of silver. And also istrument makers that can make wrist braces just the way you want and need them.

I am currently testing new silversplints voor my hand and thumb my instrument maker made out of plastic first