TargetTalk

I recently went to my Dr. because my right hand started to experience numb-ness & pain. He said that I may have Carpel Tunnel Syndrome and referred me to a Hand Specialist (whom I have not seen yet). The only thing I can think of that has caused this is my recent activity of A LOT of pistol shooting.

Has anybody heard of this before? What is the cure? Any home treatments that you can recommend?

... Lance

Yes.

It could be that you are locking up your elbow and tensing your muscles. That combination could be pinching a nerve to your hand. Try unlocking your elbow, not bending it, but just unlocking it. And don't tense up your arm muscles so tight.

Seeing the doc is also a good idea. Home remedies may mask the problem. If you indeed have an injury, STOP and recover, or things could get really bad.

gud luk
Gary

Lance,
I would advise stopping shooting or at least cutting it down, until you see the specialist. Treatments include anti inflammatories up to surgical intervention. For surgery I believe they cut the carpal (muscle or ligament) which is putting pressure on the nerve, thereby reducing the affects. As I understand it most cases don't need surgery but lets the specialists decide what to do with it.

Rob.

My personal $0.02; for what it's worth.

Both Carpal Tunnel and tendonitis (any location; primarily elbow), as well as rotator cuff injuries are all too common for shooters.

Most arise as a result of overtraining without a solid foundation of "general" physical training in advance of very narrowly "focused" shooting.

It's hard- but trust me, it's a lot harder if you wait until after problems arise. Discipline is the key. If you are on a four-year training cycle, right now you should be doing a lot of aerobic and strength training exercises and NOT a lot of shooting.

Just like an MLB pitcher has a "pitch count" that is monitored very closely by the team trainer, a shooter must monitor his or her own "shot count" to avoid overtraining on the very narrow range of physical stresses that shooting and/or dry firing represent.

It sucks- and aerobics and weight training (very low weight, high reps, focused on supporting muscle-tendon infrastructure) is BOR-RING. However, overuse injuries can show up WITH A VENGEANCE at the absolute worst time in your training plan.

O.K., so stop shooting/dry firing IMMEDIATELY. Go see your gatekeeper and get the referral to a physical therapist. Once there, immediately bring up the subject of "What Exercises Can I Do To Prevent Overuse Injuries During This Very Specific Activity (shooting)."

Any good PT will immediately issue you some TheraBands and about 100 pages of shoulder, elbow, forearm, wrist, grip, etc. exercises that will strengthen the muscles used to support the act of (repetitively) raising the gun and squeezing off a shot (over and over again).

THEN

You will need to "suck it up" and spend the 45 minutes or so a day to ACTUALLY DO the exercises.

Yeah, eventually you can begin shooting again BUT your time spent doing PT will remain a sizable chunk of your total training schedule.

Been there, done that, oh well. The alternative is to burn out and quit.

Just my NSHO.

Steve Swartz

If you do have CTS, you've been working on it for a lot longer than your training spurt. The most common cause is the device that lets you post messages to this forum. The numbness should be in your thumb, trigger finger, middle finger, and the thumb side of your ring finger. If that little pinky is involved, you don't have CTS. The best test for CTS is a nerve conduction study, painless and definitive.

Take Advil (or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Rest your wrist. You aren't going to do a lot of damage by continuing to shoot with CTS, but you may have another condition and damage you may do.

The good news is that NSAID's, splints, and cotesone injections generally provide relief in early CTS. The bad news is that it returns in the majority of cases with surgery being required in the end.

I will probably have at least one wrist cut next month after wrestling with CTS for 10 years. It has come to the point that I can no longer feel the steering wheel after driving for more than 5 minutes and my trigger finger now goes numb while shooting (free pistol is a bitch). During all this time with drugs and splints and exercises, shooting has been more therapeutic than damaging to my wrists.

Larry

Instead, you might have a pinched nerve in your cervical spine. Bad posture, tight chest muscles, weak upper back muscles, etc.

Nevertheless, listen to the advice above re stopping shooting and seeing an orthopedist (who might also refer you to a neurologist).

funtoz wrote: The numbness should be in your thumb, trigger finger, middle finger, and the thumb side of your ring finger. If that little pinky is involved, you don't have CTS.


Larry

pain/numbness in the little finger area is usually due to ulnar nerve damage - this can be in conjunction with carpal tunnel nerve damage, the two are not mutually exclusive. The nerve conduction study is the way to go.

While the mouse and keyboard can contribute, the main causes I have struck are vibrating machinery (impact wrenches, etc.) - I feel sorry for those people using the stump muncher machines for any length of time...

Regards to all,

Spencer
(one of the unfortunates that has trouble holding a knife and fork)