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Biotech

Journal heliocentric's Journal: The things I do to my wrist(surprisingly these relieve pain) 14

Journal by heliocentric

Warning, this JE contains some painful descriptions. While this is partly to share what I do it is also to solicit input on some of my questions I pose. It is also NOT a recommendation to anyone and I do not encourage anyone to attempt what I do. I didn't just sit down one day and decide to electrocute myself; it has taken me years to get to this point. Oh, and sorry it is long.

First a little history. When I was a kid my hands, mostly my left, began to hurt. I saw a few doctors and it was thought I had mild carpel tunnel syndrome. Later it was found that I am missing all cartilage from my left wrist and some of the bone from the arm and the hand portions are wearing away. I also have no synovial fluid in that joint.

As you can imagine, this is quite painful, but luckily my pain comes and goes. I may be in terrible pain for three days and fine again for a week or two. I've gone as long as a month or so I think between bad times.

Also, my hand is hardly attached at the wrist. If I lift a gallon of paint my hand separates. Depending on the weight/force I can separate by as much as a quarter of an inch. This makes it easy to dislocate, which is VERY painful. A few times I've had to pull my hand off of my arm and set it again. Sometimes I'm fortunate to have others present to pull my hand, as the gesture of my arm across my body to pull my hand isn't conducive to setting it straight.

Following are the treatments I do, roughly starting from weakest to most severe.

Medication.

First off, Tylenol and anything over the counter doesn't do a thing for me. I have some celebrex, and this can work for mild pain, but it often takes a while to kick in and it is expensive and hard to judge when to take more. It also conflicts with other pain meds and I have to be off of it for a while if I'm going to take other things to avoid interaction issues.

Then there are the strong meds, such as oxycontin. I take enough to make Rush Limbaugh's horse giddy, and this obviously isn't a good idea if I'm going to drive. But it is fun to post a JE.

I hate medication as I fear addiction, and it isn't cheap, especially when medical insurance is flaky.

Pressure (low).

To me constricting pressure on my wrist is comfortable. I enjoy someone with a good grip to squeeze it and gently let go when they tire. I once blew up a blood pressure cuff applying pressure. I mean blew up as in I exceeded the recommended pressure limit and it exploded.

Brace.

I have a wrist brace that I wear, often to bed. This holds my hand in place. I tie it on tightly and this provides some constant pressure. This is good for minor aches in the joint. It is also used in conjunction with other means listed below.

Cream.

The normal pain creams don't do a thing. The only thing that does anything, and even then only slightly, is the capsicum cream. I use the HP kind (High Potency) as it contains the highest concentration available over the counter. However, I have to abuse the directions. They say to not wrap the area and to not get it wet. I wrap my wrist in the brace and when it wears off I wash the area for another cheap high. This is the sort of stuff people write about actually burning their skin.

First question - It is my understanding that mace and other pepper sprays use very highly concentrated capsicum. I'm wondering if there is an efficient way of applying this so I don't get overspray (like in my eyes, or on surrounding food, etc...). Thoughts?

Electrocution.

One time I was doing one of those high school hand crank generators hooked up to some copper pipes to show how people conduct electricity, and strangely this relieved the pain in my wrist. I went out and obtained a TENS unit and I'm in love. This relives pain while in use, and it gets that deep itch that I just can't explain. It is like someone cut my hand off and I have an itch on the end of my stump... but I can't reach it. Sort of like phantom pain that amputees talk about, but in reverse.

The problem I have here is that my TENS unit is my life. I live in total fear of breaking it, and it already looks like it was in a war. The lead wires are unique to this model and I can't find a replacement, and I think they have a conductive problem near the unit and this requires the wires to be in a certain position to work.

Also, I use the re-usable pads. They are made of conductive rubber and are getting quite old. Sometimes the leads fall out. Also, I need some means to hold them on, namely the brace from above. This limits my ability to do things when I'm TENS'ing. I'm looking into the stick-on type, available cheaply from eBay. Question - are they any good? What should I look for?

The other small issue is I shave my wrist to enhance conductivity. This looks kind of silly, but who cares. An issue is that I had to stop using it when I sleep. Last time I did that I burned myself. Electric burns are bad, especially when you can't put cream or pressure there any more to help the underlying pain. Not fun.

And, my TENS is a portable unit. This means it works via a battery instead of being plugged in. I use the TENS on the highest settings (there are three knobs) and in time the juice runs low. Things can get expensive when I have really bad pain. I think about hooking a power supply up to it, but I know I'd use one of those adjustable kinds and the thoughts of upping the power would be too great. Something about exceeding the intended voltage/amperage limits of safety scares me (when I'm lucid without pain) and I worry about ruining the TENS.

Pressure (medium)

Sometimes I'll put some rubber bands around my wrist, pull the hand off, and let the bands hold it off. This is enjoyable, but I don't like cutting off circulation to my hand for too long.

I've also been known to take the leg of a chair (preferably a sofa) and while I lay on the floor I will lift up the chair with my legs and rest the chair leg on my wrist. I often then press down with my legs on the chair to apply more pressure.

Pressure (high)

This is the ultimate. The scariest. I put my hand in the brace, often with cream on, typically just after a TENS zap that didn't cut it, and I may even be hopped up on meds. I then take two C-clamps and I put one in the vertical and one on the horizontal axis and I successively tighten them down. I've even gone so far as to do all of the above AND put some rubber bands on (under the brace) and clamp away.

I have the clamps on as long as I can stand it. Typically this is about 5 minutes. I then take them off and enjoy the high of absolutely no pain. This high lasts for a few minutes (about 10) and then I clamp again. After a few sessions the pain remains overall low enough that the other treatments can work and I can stop clamping.

Dream

Remember the scene in Robo-Cop when the dad from That 70's Show goes "Ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne" and blows Alex J. Murphy's hand off? Yeah, that's a dream for me. I have honestly had thoughts about what life would be like with a prosthetic hand; the trade-offs to no pain versus lack of mobility and dexterity. Yeah, often the pain is that depressingly mind controlling-ly horrendous. I'd buy that for a dollar.

Suggestions?

You guys got any ideas for (relatively) safe ways of applying pressure, enhancing my electrocutions, or enhancing my drug use? Herbal or magnetic hucksters need not apply.

Update

Here are two pictures of the clamping.

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The things I do to my wrist(surprisingly these relieve pain) More

The things I do to my wrist(surprisingly these relieve pain)

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  • I go through bouts where my wrist starts to flare up, and in all honesty, I've found that wearing the brace for everything for a couple of days tends to help isolate it enough for the swelling / pain to go down. This is especially true of driving and typing / mousing.

    Not a perscription, just a suggestion, especially since you already have the required hardware (sans clamps).
    • I try the braces, in fact I once wore one for nearly a month straight, but the end I was begining to go out of my mind due to the constant pain. This was when I moved on to bigger things. The braces for a day or three still work for relatively minor pain. I'm hoping yours stays at that level for you and that you don't have to take drastic measures as I have.
  • ...while my own wrist hurts. I haven't had that in years, but reading your description sounded awfully painful.

    Oh, and amputation never solves anything. You have pain in your virtual hand when it gets amputated. It's called "phantom limb" if I recall correctly. So it might have worked for RoboCop, but it wouldn't work for you... even if you got the strongest bionic hand man could make, you'd still be feeling pain.

    • Dr. Ramachandran, Phantoms in the Brain, outlines his treatment- the first ever cure for phantom limb. It involves remapping the brain. It includes a great description of what it is and how it works, as well as some explanations for sympathy pain and synesthesia (one of my neurological peculiarities.)

      Helio- word to the wise, the capsicum may be causing some of the itch, and the itch most likely falls under 'restless limb syndrome.' i know because i've got it, and it can be caused by pain memory- the nerv

      • the capsicum may be causing some of the itch, and the itch most likely falls under 'restless limb syndrome.'

        Ahh sorry, my fault. I failed to mention that I've had the phantom itch for years now and I've only been trying the cream for at most 6 months. Good thinking, thanks!

        Now, the pipe clamps... this is a new idea! I will definately give this some thought. It looks like a good way to apply even and controlled pressure... hmmm.

        That's what you need, right, a wrist brace that you can tighten as much
    • You have pain in your virtual hand when it gets amputated. It's called "phantom limb" if I recall correctly.

      I thought I mentioned that somewhere in the JE, oh well. The pain I get is deep inside and there is no way to rub it or scratch it when it feels like an itch. The thoughts I have are along the lines of, "What's worse?" in comparison to the phantom pain of true amputees versus the phantom pain I get now AND the other pain. Trust, when I'm lucid I see the error of my ways, but after a 4 day bender
  • "Electrocution" means "death by electric shock." If you are still alive, then you have never been electrocuted.
  • Oxy is an addictive drug, even for our fat bastard Nazi overlords.

    Can you buy the capsicum, and then spray it into a regular atomizer bottle? If that doesn't work, can you replace the nozzle with one of those nozzles from a can of WD40 that has the red straw? How about chilling the container to limit the spray pressure? That might also give you some 'icy-hot' effect.

    Aren't those little TENS units on eBay relatively inexpensive? Buy one and try it. I'm lucky in that if I need one (and I never have) I can g
    • Aren't those little TENS units on eBay relatively inexpensive? Buy one and try it.

      See above that I have one. Also, eBay has halted the sale of them because people are required to have prescription to obtain one.
    • Can you buy the capsicum, and then spray it into a regular atomizer bottle?

      Well, if I could obtain it in a liquid form I wouldn't be looking to spray. Rather I would apply as-is, but I haven't been able to find it sold around here. I have seen some listings on eBay [ebay.com] that interest me. Perhaps I may try something from there sometime. But, I would definately dilute it a lot to start, and work my way up. This is powerful stuff we're talking about (heck, read the warnings that seller has, and I don't think
  • No suggestion unfortunatly.

    But man, I have to say after reading that description it makes my measly arthritis in my neck and back look like childs play. Even at its worst when I don't want to use my right arm due to the shooting pains, its nothing like that. Not even in the same ball park. Hell that's not even on the same planet.

    Though my shoulder and neck started aching in sympathy apparently. :)

    Wow. I knew damn well what I dealt with isn't bad, but now even at its worst after reading through this I
    • But man, I have to say after reading that description it makes my measly arthritis in my neck and back look like childs play. Even at its worst when I don't want to use my right arm due to the shooting pains, its nothing like that. Not even in the same ball park. Hell that's not even on the same planet.

      I am certain your pain, no matter the level, is nothing to take lightly or to enjoy by any means. What you have sounds a lot like my father's neck. He takes celebrex (he slips me some, that's how I have a
      • I am certain your pain, no matter the level, is nothing to take lightly or to enjoy by any means. What you have sounds a lot like my father's neck. He takes celebrex (he slips me some, that's how I have a stash, shhhhhh) and it works great for his level of pain. His gets worse when he looks up, is this similar for you?

        Mine is not that bad... Not yet anyway. Though my doctor keeps telling me that exercise will help avoid more pain. He also has me taking calcium suppliments, which feels a little silly at

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