[Eli14]

So I was playing drums a few minutes ago and when i brought my right hand around and hit the china, the nerves in the left side of my hand just shot up with pain. So I decided to stop and went inside, then I noticed the same side of my hand started to go numb and currently is as well. I was just wondering if you think I should ice it? Any suggestions? If it's still numb in the morning I'm going to talk to my aunt who is a doctor, I was just trying to get some input now if anyone has any. Thanks.

[Jason]

Do you warm up and stretch before you play? How is your setup? Is it ergnomic friendly?

[Buzz762]

Where exactly does it hurt?
Does it radiate to any other place?
What exactly do you feel--any pain right now, or is it just numbness?
Does moving your hand in any certain way make it better or worse? -- Try flexing your wrist forward slightly, and then curl your fingers towards the palm of your hand gently and then try it with extension (bend the wrist down and do it, then bend it up and do it) Does doing either of those two things hurt or make the tingling or numbness more intense?
On a scale of one to ten describe the severity of it...
Was this the first time that's happened?
What sort of wrist motion were you making when you first encountered the pain?

What you're describing sounds a lot like a condition I've got, but I can't really tell you more unless you answer those questions. Your aunt will probably ask you all the same things during her assessment, too.

In the mean time, really all you can do for pain like that is RICE therapy: Rest it, ice, compression (though for this sort of thing, it's more to just help you to keep from moving the wrist), and you can probably forget the elevation part of it. It could be something a bit more serious, as far as hands go.. so get it checked out if it continues or becomes a problem. I've taken ibuprofen for similar pain and it seemed to help, but, once again, not knowing your condition, I can't really say it would help or not.

Hey, if all else fails: get this and spread awareness of wrist problems! I'm still waiting for mine to arrive.

Edit: In addition to doing the wrist flexing and extending, I found some more things that might help you be more able to accurately describe the pain:



And Tom brought up a good point.. did you mean the ulnar or radial side of the hand? Ulnar is the side with the small finger and radial is the side with the thumb.

And Tom, there's also an ulnar tunnel syndrome, which effects the other side of the hand

[TomAwesome]

Just the left side of your hand? You might have a pinched nerve or something. I had a run in with Cubital Tunnel Syndrome a while back, which is similar, but that affects the other side. By the left side of your right hand, you mean the side with your thumb on it, right? If so, it's probably not CTS, but until you figure out what's going on, try not to tense up the muscles in that arm/hand or bend your joints (probably particularly your wrist, elbow, and/or shoulder) more than you can help.

[Uber Mega]

What everyone else said

Two possibilities...Carpel Tunnel Syndrome or Repetitive Strain Injury, it depends on your answers to Buzz762s questions though.

Like others have said, rest is the key...keep all tension off it.

I have RSI in my right hand, it's not pleasant

[Buzz762]

Originally Posted by Uber Mega

What everyone else said

Two possibilities...Carpel Tunnel Syndrome or Repetitive Strain Injury, it depends on your answers to Buzz762s questions though.

Like others have said, rest is the key...keep all tension off it.

I have RSI in my right hand, it's not pleasant

There's a lot more than two possibilities for symptoms like that. There's an awful lot of pretty important tissues running through your wrist.

I've got ulnar tunnel syndrome in my left hand. I can't play a goddamn seven string anymore because of it


Also, for the original post: Ice could help reduce swelling and may relieve the pain and numbness/tingling.

[TomAwesome]

Originally Posted by Buzz762

And Tom, there's also an ulnar tunnel syndrome, which effects the other side of the hand

Pfft, what do you know? You're just a med student
Well, since Cubital Tunnel Syndrome affects the ulnar nerve, what's the difference between that and Ulnar Tunnel Syndrome?

[Buzz762]

Originally Posted by TomAwesome

Pfft, what do you know? You're just a med student
Well, since Cubital Tunnel Syndrome affects the ulnar nerve, what's the difference between that and Ulnar Tunnel Syndrome?

The area of the nerve damage.

I've actually heard both used to describe the condition where the nerve is pinched in the elbow, but I hear UTS moreso in reference to the wrist than to the elbow.

[TomAwesome]

Ah, that makes sense. Mine was(/is) from the elbow. Thanks!

[Eli14]

Hey thanks guys, yeah Buzz, it was the radial side and she did ask me the same questions, but she said it sounded like i pinched my median nerve slightly or at least a branch of it near my thumb and on top of that I strained my "flexor pollicis brevis", i believe is what she called it,(as you can tell I'm not very medically inclined). She told me to wait at least 2 WEEKS to get back to playing again or at least 1 week with brushes. She said it could have been worse if I kept on going with it like that, but that it wasn't a very serious injury. I decided to ice it after I posted my question and still did for most of today so it hasn't bothered me as much but when she was making me move my thumb around I really wished it was still numb.

I have had my China cymbal a little too far back so I have since moved it so I don't have to twist my hand to hit it, which I should have noticed before.

That "Wrist Strong" bracelet is pretty cool, I might just get it anyway.