MYAARRRGH! SKELETOR!

This might help, but soak your hand in super cold ice water for about five minutes, and then place it in hot water, the hoter the better.

Cold water will tense the muscle all together, and the hot water should release the tension. It works for me when my hand has that problem.

After you have the Hand of Vecna, you'll soon start searching for the Eye....

Be careful! Don't overwork it!
But maybe you should take a break, Yuko, and give Conrad another chance to make a comic :)

Oh no! Get better soon, Yuko!

Also, congrats on comic no. 400, guys! Hot damn, that's a lotta comics.

Just this year I had screwed up the tendon in my shoulder and had to stop doing everything with it, but after 6 weeks of physical therapy and a lot of effort I can now return to doing what I love. Hope it doesn't come to that with you, but man shoulder is no where near as bad as your hand, at least I could still draw, good luck with the doctor wish you good news.

Badmartialarts, that was awesome geekery there!

Carpal tunnel surgery is tiny and is all done through a small incision.

BEEN THERE.

As a designer, going constantly from keyboard to mouse to wacom tablet for brutally long sessions. After a while started to develop a case of RSI in the wrist of my right hand.

Had to wear one of those bionic hand brace things for nine months till my fingertips stopped tinging. Nothing to screw around with for us creatives!

Scary! (not to mention painful) But I DID get better. A different style keyboard, taking breaks, helped a lot. And with the new the Mac Pro I am using a trackpad and not a mouse!

Izzat a Homestar Runner reference I see?

Rest that hand, also. Make Ananth draw a comic. :)

Been reading your artwork for at least 10 years or so now (trying to remember the site that used to be where you put it up) - I honestly would prefer to have one of my favorite artists' wrist not suffer from carpel tunnel (and possibly compromise the drawings).

If you need to take a break from drawing, I hope your fans would understand similarly.

Maybe you could practice drawing swords like Razorback, Chance's sword, with your other hand:

http://www.otakia.com/44458/dicotakia/personnage/chance-destaing-freaks-...

There are worse things to practice on. And it would be like fighting the bad guys with your other hand.

Hope the appointment goes well!

I had to completely do away with mice on my computers. I even bought a Wacom Bamboo to bring in to work to use. If I use a mouse for even an hour these days, my hand feels crippled.

Even so, I still have to wear a brace from time to time and force myself to give it a rest. Hope you're able to take a break and heal a bit before it gets too bad.

Best wishes Yuko!

Last year I had the same sort of troubles. I tried several different options for it and had varying results:
The braces helped with the pain but they caused my wrist to start thinning out after a while and really ended up making thing worse.
Got these nifty heat/ice packs that are kinda like bracelets, and just wearing one of those around my hand while I worked helped out.
My best solution was just taking a 2 pound weight (or any object close to that weight that was available) and lifting it in different ways using only my wrist.

Feel better Yuko!

Long time reader just messaging to say hope Yuko's hand is alright and is a pinched nerve or mild carpal tunnel and that your home is doing well.

Best wishes

That Pesky Walrus

I know it restricts your hand movement a little bit when drawing, but I found a nice wrist brace or splint helps a *lot* with aches and pains. You want a balance of support and softness so your wrist doesn't weaken, and rubbing an anti-inflammatory ointment on it before resting then bracing it works wonders.
Inconvenient now, but your wrist will be grateful for it in the future. If pain persists you'll likely have to get a cortisone injection, which isn’t fun at all.

Go to the doctor if you can, the sooner the better.
I started getting wrist pains and left it for a year before I saw a doc and now another year later and it's only kinda starting to SLIGHTLY get better.
And this is 4 cortozol shots and a wrist splint later.

Start your own at home rehab with stretching and 10 minute soaks in water that's at least 40C. Be careful not to over stretch and take breaks every hour of drawing.

Completely random: Thank you SO MUCH for offering girl sizes in XS - it's a tough giant t-shirt world out there for teeny folk like me...

Have you looked into hand exercises?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hUyMNyrOHJQ

Be safe, Yuko! I got tendonitis when I pushed my drawing hand too hard. Then I tore my tendon. It's the worst pain imaginable. So take it easy! X_x

Please, Yuko, take good care of your hands. You need it, definitely, much more than anyone else....

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Wow, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that gets hand cramps when drawing. Hope your hand will be okay.