This is in the tissue of the hand, and of the arm just below the wrist joint, not the wrist joint itself. Happens when I move my hand wrong, or overuse the hand. It might well be carpal tunnel or another overuse injury, as it is my dominant hand.
I need to do a followup visit with an orthopedist for other stuff in the near future and it’d be convenient to just consult him about this as well. But, would an orthopedist be the right speciality for what appears to be muscle or tendon problems? Or some other such as a physiatrist?
Note that if I don’t consult the ortho, I will see my primary care doc before doing anything else.
My GP referred me to an Occupational Therapist – a physical therapist with specialized knowledge of fine-motor issues, as seen in hand/arm pain. (My pain was primarily elbow and lower-arm pain). In addition to treating your pain, they can identify what is causing it and help you to modify your work/writing/computing environment to prevent reoccurance.
I’ll probably start with the ortho since I need to see him anyway and I can probably get in to see him in the next few weeks (want to get as much medical stuff taken care of before 12/31 since I’ve hit my out-of-pocket for the year and it’s all free-to-me).
Just a warning, if this is in any way relatable to an occupational injury, you will want to talk to your employer to file a work comp claim BEFORE seeking treatment. If you type at work for a significant portion of the day, make sure to do this. If you see the doctor on your own and then he tells you it’s probably work related, they may refuse to see you (if they don’t take work comp) or they may refuse to see you without a claim number (even if they do take work comp). And if you see a doctor before reporting a potentially occupational claim to your employer, it will be marked as questionable and harder to cover.
Or don’t tell your dr it’s even potentially work related if you want to get it covered under your personal insurance.