My comic is on hiatus till my hand works again! Anyone else here suffer from cubital tunnel syndrome or carpal?

[KiabIce]

Good and hope you don't ever get it! It sucks when it's your drawing hand too.

[Mallory]

I've had bilateral neuritis in both median and ulnar nerves for 4 years, which also resulted in bilateral RSI. I'm slowly working on my comic regardless (~2 hrs of work/week), but it mega sucks. Mine has finally been traced to originating in a spine injury I never caught so I'm on a very slow mend but it's been ruining my life for 3 years now.

[byelacey]

About a month after quarantine started I started having these issues. Maybe due to less exercise making my muscles weak, hah. The first time around I was off of drawing for a solid 3 weeks, then slowly worked my way back up to a regular schedule. Pushed myself a bit too hard a couple of weeks ago, and now the pain is back so I'm back to little/no drawing and using CBD lotion, a wrist brace when I sleep, and a compression glove when I'm awake. Bodies are a sham!

[KiabIce]

Hey there I hope you heal up soon! I understand how unfortunate it is we get pain or weakness in the hand we draw with. Its frustrating bit at the same time teaches us how fortunate having a working drawing hand is and to not take it for granted. Thanks for sharing your story.

[KiabIce]

Oh my well that's good you don't let your condition control your art. For me I have done that its been 2 months I've had cubital tunnel syndrome and made barely any art. The only thing I did was paint with my non dominant hand and make abstract art (all my doctors idea) and don't think about the result instead just paint in the moment.

[lynestjules]

I'm sorry that you have to go through this. I was hit with carpal tunnel syndrome on my primary hand and tendinitis on my left hand just a few weeks apart, about 10 years ago. I had to stop working for almost a year. Took me almost 6 to 8 months to be able to hold a pencil again.
I can't have surgery, because there's a high change it will make things worst in my case.
Best advice I can give you is to step away from art for now. It's going to take the time it needs. It's unfortunate, but that's how it is.

I now have to be careful on how much work I do and I now use my left hand for the mouse at work and my right at home.

[Shanny8]

In the same zone. I pushed myself a little too hard some weeks ago on the Captain Marvel piece and my elbows/forearms/wrists have been hurting since. Started back wearing my compression elbow pads...I may be slipping on my wrist braces next.

I've been taking time away from drawing, and when I am attempting to scribble stuffs I dont spend much time on it.

[ronlogan]

Hello. I use oil, which helps me a lot for pains in different parts of the body and for sleepless nights. People make a lot of things from cannabis, and it also helps save the planet because it helps us conserve resources. I also buy Breezen.eu Best CBD products, they help me a lot with relaxation and sleep. This is a very cool product, I recommend it to everyone, the prices are also good.

[starless]

I'm a year late for this topic, still here're some tricks that I do to prevent the wrist pain.

I'm right handed but I use the mouse with my left hand. I also build my forearms and wrist muscles by using a grip strengthener.

Try holding a pen ergonomically like Taylor Swift do. It helps stabilize your wrist's angle and movement.

[Lirina]

Ruined my wrists with spending too much time playing video games when I was younger Now whenever I use them for too long, they start hurting again... Though I find minding my posture helps a lot

[rajillustration]

Yep, I got it real bad. Honestly, I had to go to a doctor, and I waited way too long to do it. By the time I arrived, I couldn't use my hand to open doors or stir a pot, it was that much pain. So like, don't be like me.

I had to make some serious life changes, and work with my physical therapist to improve my workspace and my life habits. I also had to learn how to exercise. Despite doing swimming as a kid, I just...didn't know how to do home exersizes that were effective. Luckily, about the same time that my physical therapist told me that I had to learn to exercise or I would never improve, a friend of mine who is a personal trainer needed a guinea pig for her new home workout program. So I volunteered, enthusiastically, and while it was only a month I had her help, she gave me a lot of recourses for workout routines that I used along with my physical therapist's stretching routines.

I also had to give up some things: I no longer knit or do crafts and I play a lot less piano and video games so that I can draw every day. It's OK, I barely had time to do them anyway, but it meant I had to close down my crafting blogger dreams. My physical therapist told me that short women (and I'm 5 ft tall) have a propensity to get carpal tunnel more often (also pregnant women, fun fact) so if you are in that range of short girl, it basically means you have to be always diligent about taking care of those carpals.

(edit, realizes what year it is) Holy crap this a necro'd thread, didn't realize. Well, I hope your CT got better, girl!

[Caro]

Last year I had to take six months off of work because of wrist issues and my doctor told me if I kept going at the rate i was going at then surgery might’ve been the next option. But after discovering ice baths (10 seconds in ice water, 30 seconds out, repeat 10x (((i think i cant remember the amount of repetitions now))))) combined with the stretches i was given, wrist brace while sleeping and any time i wasnt drawing, less screen time (clicking around on my phone contributed), i stopped having serious issues after a couple weeks after six months of just waiting for it to get better and only relying on stretches.

now i only get a lil pain here n there because i stop of it feels too tense and I stretch everyday.