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CONNECTICON THIS WEEKEND!

carpal tunnel of fun

Oh nooo! Hang in there Yuko! I'm ordering you robot hands from Amazon.com and I've got prime so they'll be here in 2 days. Kidding aside, carpal sucks and Yuko is getting plenty of rest and doing all the doctor-prescribed hand exercises. This strip reminds me of another one that I really like.

Connecticon is this weekend! We're going! It's Friday through Sunday in Hartford, CT. We'll have books and prints and maybe some other stuff? See you there!

Oh yeah, the 2nd Benign Kingdom collection is up on Kickstarter! Fall 2012 features 4 all new artists:

The video is pretty cute, check it out!

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Noo, Yuko, hang in there! Having had the same thing happen last year, I know wrist pain is nerve-wracking and frustrating. So is it legitimate carpal tunnel or just RSI?
That's fantastic lefty work, though.

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You should go see a chiropractor. They work on more than just your back!

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Uhhh. I dunno about that. If you look up Chiropractic, it's actually crazy quack science all tied up in spiritual beliefs. At least if you get a doctor who believes in "Straight Chiropractic", anyway. Thankfully there are less of them now. If anyone's going to go to a Chiropractor, at least make sure they're a "Mixer Chiropractic" because they adhere to scientific facts for some of their practice.

Chiropractic is passed off as good medical science and managed to get in our heads that way. I had no idea the crazy beliefs it was founded upon and still practiced with until I looked it up. Also, they are not doctors and did not go to medical school the way other doctors have.

And finally, scientific studies are either inconclusive as to the effectiveness of Chiropractic, note that the effect may be a placebo effect, or find that it is no more effective than other standard medical care.

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I've been going to a chiropractor for years now. No, they are not medical doctors, but they ARE highly trained healthcare professionals. In fact, chiropractic is the third most sought-after healthcare group, behind medicine and dentistry. If you look at their curriculum, they spend as many (if not more) hours in the classroom as MDs.

What a lot of people don's realize is that medical doctors are trained in illness and the medicine to treat it, while chiropractors are trained in the musculoskeletal system and how to repair/relieve dysfunction so that the nervous system can work properly. Both are completely different ideologies that would theoretically treat completely different problems, were the public well informed enough to choose. Certainly there is a time and place for each. Chiropractic has come a long way since D.D. Palmer smacked Harvey Lillard in the head with a book and restored his hearing, but a lot of useful things have been discovered by stranger means than that.

Yuko, I have had problems with my wrists in the past, and have sought chiropractic care for them with a lot of success. I would definitely look into it as an option. Sometimes the cost can be less than an insurance copayment, and if it works it's a more permanent fix than taking medicine to cover up symptoms.

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Well I informed myself, and the belief that all disease originates from a mis-aligned spine, and flexing it will magically make everything better is not my idea of good science. But that's the basis of Chiropractic. Just because they study something for 8 years does not make it good science or make them medical professionals.

I never said to treat with medicine/pills, and not all doctors treat with medicine/pills. Physical therapy (stress balls, as others mentioned, falls under this) is a much better, much sounder based practice than Chiropractic that has definite results.

Yes, I am basically saying that I think your faith is misplaced. Now that we've stated our opinions I think we can't convince each other to change and should let it go. I mostly like informing those who don't know (and most Americans in my experience, don't)

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I think it's great that you took the time to inform yourself, and I recognize that chiropractic is not for everyone. I don't think Yuko's problem (or everyone's problems, for that matter) originated from a misaligned spine, and that is definitely not a belief that all chiropractors share. One of the main goals in adjusting the spine is to allow full mobility so that a body can work to its full potential and thus avoid disease, but chiropractors are also taught exercises and lifestyle changes to recommend to their patients. These services, of course, apply to the mixers you mentioned earlier.

Certainly, not all cases warrant manipulative therapy. Manual soft tissue techniques such as Graston could also be used as treatment (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17224356). In my case, my lunate (one of the carpal bones) had a habit of slipping down because of all of the wrist extension I tend to do in my ADLs, and it was putting pressure on my median nerve (the nerve affected in CTS) and producing my symptoms. I found a lot of relief from having my wrist manipulated.

I appreciate your opinion, and you're right, we have both had different experiences with chiropractic and will probably never agree. Thanks, though, for stating your opinion respectfully. Happy wandering! :]

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It is a good idea, just ask these guys! http://www.lefthandedtoons.com/

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You could write backwards, as Leonardo did.
Left-handed, then even wet ink isn't an issue.

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I find if I have carpal tunnel squeezing a stress ball repeatedly as I rest helps a lot. They're tiny and cheap and you can bring them everywhere. Also, crossover dribbling drills with a basketball really help with pain like a gentle stimulating exercise for that area. A crossover is dribbling the ball from one hand to the other.

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A simple hand and wrist massage will work wonders for you. I can also send you a couple of wrist exercises if you'd like for the Repetitive stress in your wrist :) They're scanned copies.

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Actually, if you're suffering from wrist pain, you might get more relief from having your forearms worked. Most of the muscled controlling your wrist and hand are actually in your middle and upper forearm. If you go to a massage therapist that knows what they're doing and you have your forearm worked, it might help ease the tension on your wrist.

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Do you try accupuncture yet? I heard it's good.

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My carpal tunnel can get pretty painful as well. Any chance you could share those prescribed exercises for those without insurance or money?

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If you did actually draw that last panel with your left, that's pretty impressive. Be careful, however. I remember a series of Charlie Brown comics about how he was getting headaches and dizziness from trying to write with his right hand when it turned out he was left handed. And I get all my medical advice from 40 year old Charlie Brown strips.

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wow. that's pretty darn decent for going left-handed. I'm so severely right-handed that I can barely hold a pencil with my left, not to mention draw!

Although... for some reason, whenever I _am_ forced to write left-handed, half the letters come out backwards...

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CTS *sucks*, it sucks so bad. I've personally never had it (partly because I am really, really careful, and partly because I hold my pen really weird and thus move my arm differently than most people) but a friend of mine has it, and it suuuuucks.

She got it in her right hand first - and, like Yuko - switched to her left hand. It worked out fine - until she got CTS in her left hand too.

Be careful and don't push yourself, is what I'm saying.

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Maaan... I'm still pretty jealous even of your wrong-handed drawing ability. You know that drawing/writing is all in the fingers, and a little in the wrist, rather than in the arm/elbow/shoulder, right? (Seems to be the biggest mistake people make when writing wrong-handed is they use the whole arm to try and form letters) ... which is one of the reasons you end up with CTS rather than tennis elbow.

If you're NOT already using that tip (probably are?), you might well end up effectively ambidextrous should you do so...

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Years ago when I had carpal tunnel, nothing was helping and the doc started talking about referring me to a surgeon if things didn't get better in a few months. He wanted me to try taking a B vitamin first, said there were some studies that sounded promising and to give it a few months to see if it worked.

And it totally did, not 100% but a few months later I was dramatically better. There have since been more studies that say B vitamins don't do squat for CTS, but anytime I run out and don't bother to buy more my wrist starts to hurt after a couple months, so I keep taking them. If nothing else they're cheap and harmless, so maybe worth a try.

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A coworker of mine said the same thing - she started to experience the onset of carpel tunnel and started taking large doses of B vitamins and they apparently helped a lot. Not sure which of the B vitamins it was or if it was a bunch of different ones. I'd like to see more research into it though.

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Man Yuko, I feel for you there! About a month and a half ago, I have suffered a carpal tunnel injury. It has been agony but I'm getting better, too, so honestly, seeing this comic from one of my favourite comic artists, has really cheered me up about the issue. (Although I feel so bad for you geez this is the biggest risk for artists huh?)

Hang in there, and I'm glad to hear you're getting better with it, no matter how slowly! I just had to leave a comment, rooting for you! If not, well dang, those are some pretty sick (as in awesome) uni-left-acorns.

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that's pretty good for your wrong hand. I've been trying to learn to write with my right hand(I'm a lefty) so I can be ambidextrous but the attempts are a combination of pathetic and discouraging.

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A little tip to help when in pain:
If you learn how to draw or write well with the 'wrong' hand, your ability to draw and write well with the 'right' hand will improve aswell.

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That is awesome!

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I would be in favor of seeing lefty-only JW for a while!
Take all the right-rest you need, don't overdo anything. Use the excuse to make Ananth (or like, whomever!) draw :P

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I work in a sports medical office and we get plenty of people who get carpal tunnel due to putting too much strain on their wrists whether its by playing tennis, football or any other hand-held sport. We even get a few artists from time to time!

What I have suggested to my patient's is to exercise their hand using a device called the dynaflex powerball. It's a small baseball-sized item that focuses on working out the tense areas in your muscles. It uses gyration to gradually stretch your arm muscles and it actually is quite therapeutic! Many of my patient's use the powerball for their wrists with the added benefit of working out those arm muscles.

They sell the item in most (if not all) sports stores and they are usually less then 30 dollars. I suggest looking at youtube videos if you want to get an idea of what they look like and how they work.

Please don't work too hard! Be safe!

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And after you overuse your left hand you can learn to draw with your feet.

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Oh, no, Yuko, not you too?! Carpal tunnel suuucks. O recommend doing the exercises even after you feel better for a little bit, because it's really easy to backslide.

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Get better soon. Carpel tunnel's a bitch.

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Looking back, it's pretty impressive how far you took the left-handed drawing thing... You got pretty damn good at it!

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i've been reading these all night, and the comic you link to at the bottom is the one i started with tonight (224)

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