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Not sure where else to post this so I guess blogs.
Moved into College about a month ago and have been trying to adjust to the new desk where my computer is at. When I play long games of starcraft, towards the later parts of a game my left arm starts to go painfully numb and I lose feeling as the game goes on. The thing that makes me wonder though is that I never had this problem while playing starcraft at home. When at home I would rest my entire arm on my desk, however at college my desk ins't as large so my elbow is hanging off the edge of the desk. I'm also in a lower position in relation to my desk than I was when I was at home.
I fear for the worst that I may have developed carpal tunnel. Any Idea's?
Thanks,
Kuri
 
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If your elbow is hanging off the edge you are most likely just cutting the circulation off. Just move your arm around from time to time and it'll stop happening. The reason it didn't do that at your old desk, is you had room for your whole arm.
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if you are actually scared, see a doctor. no other option.
if it goes away after just changing your posture then nbd
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Hihi,
Sorry to hear about this. ): Your symptoms don't necessarily mean you've done damage to your body yet- it could just be simply fixing your posture. Left untreated, however, it will damage your wrists. I can give you some general tips about helping your arm tho. I myself had/have RSI trouble, which can be a predecessor to carpal tunnel.
First of all, I'd see a doctor asap. They can perform a few easy tests to see if it is full-on carpal tunnel or just the beginnings of it (aka they can catch it in time). From there, they'll probably suggest a hard wrist brace for a month as well as physical therapy (or a simple change in posture, if you're so lucky!)
If it's not convenient to do so or if you don't have a specialist in your college area, check out this thread: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=134466
Start doing those exercises and pick yourself up a stress ball, as I've found ten squeezes on it by far the most comforting exercise that was suggested to me. Additionally, set yourself a timer of forty minutes or so and take a ten minute break. For every 2-3 hours, take a thirty minute break. It sucks when you're really getting into the groove, or if you have to do homework and SC2 on the computer, but a lot of people swear by this in reducing their symptoms.
Oh, and look at wrist rests for your keyboard (and mouse, but I didn't like the mouse one so try it if you want). It sounds like you went from using your entire arm to move to just using your wrist, which is the main problem. Getting a wrist rest can help you force your arm to move around the keyboard rather than just your wrist. Also, your arm elbow needs to be at a 90 degree angle to your keyboard with your wrist floating (that's where the wrist rest will help as well). If your wrist needs to bend to type, it's bad.
Sorry for the TL;DR but I hope it helps. The symptoms won't go away for a good three months if you actually have damaged your wrist, even if you do everything right, but catching it soon like this will reduce the probability of surgery later.
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In my (physical therapy) opinion, unlikely to be RSI. Likely just the arm half off the desk impinging on a nerve like your leg falling asleep.
Elbow hanging off = likely some ulnar nerve impingement somewhere along the line, or potentially medial antebrachial cutaneous nerve.
Change your position permanently so your elbow isn't hanging off the desk..., Do some nerve glides, massage your muscles, stretch out things,
If that doesn't work, see a orthopedic doc
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On September 19 2012 12:38 eshlow wrote:
In my (physical therapy) opinion, unlikely to be RSI. Likely just the arm half off the desk impinging on a nerve like your leg falling asleep.
Elbow hanging off = likely some ulnar nerve impingement somewhere along the line, or potentially medial antebrachial cutaneous nerve.
Change your position permanently so your elbow isn't hanging off the desk..., Do some nerve glides, massage your muscles, stretch out things,
If that doesn't work, see a orthopedic doc
I get this sometimes too. I find that if I raise my chair, stop slouching and push the keyboard deeper into the desk so that my elbow can also rest on the desk, it doesn't occur.
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Thanks for all the replies guys!
I'll try to readjust my arm position and do some stretches and see how that goes.
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the week after diablo 3 was released i couldnt feel a thing in my ring/pinky fingers. took about two weeks for me to regain feeling there.
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This used to happen to me whenever a game went over 10 mins. I got a lower chair and that solved the problem, unless I play in an odd position.
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If you can't push the keyboard more into the desk put everything on the edge of it. Leave the minimum you can to support your hands. If you are using mech keyboards change to a slim scissor switch keyboard.
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EPT
