Hi Audrey

In Reply to: recently diagnose, any helpful tips? posted by audrey stevens on January 26, 2004 at 21:36:13:

Ohhh nooo, I am SO sorry the pain is severe! Something that worked for me when mine was in the acute stage... try a paraffin bath. Can be very soothing for a little while. Something I also found extremely important at that time was whole-body relaxation. I tend to tense up with pain. The tightness reeeally made my pain worse. Try deep breathing, soak in the tub, listen to mellow music... etc. Maybe something like the paraffin bath can soothe your hands until the Advil can kick in since that is more often the problem with OC pain relievers. They just don't work fast enough when you're dealing with serious pain (make sure to have something on your stomach with all pain relievers since they are SUPERTOUGH on the stomach!).
Like dmm, nowadays I ice when the pain starts. It will take down the inflammation and swelling, which of course causes pain. No more than 10 minutes on, once every couple hours is safe. If you don't have ice packs, a bag of frozen peas works well. Wrap it in a tshirt to keep the ice from direct skin contact but still keep the temp next to your wrists.
Unfortunately, my acute pain didn't stop until I learned the hard way... to immobilize!!! I had to stop aggravating it. You'd be so surprised at what small movements can inflame when you're dealing with the nerves. I hope you can take it easy!
Sending love and healing light!
ChinaCat