I gave him the fully complex of possible problems. He shot X-rays of my neck and shoulder. Those turned out negative. He went through a series of joint manipulations on my shoulders, elbows, and wrists. He found some sensitive spots in the shoulder motion, but this didn't alarm him.
The official diagnosis was Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in both wrists. It's worse on the right than the left. He handed me a pair of wrist splints, and instructed me to sleep with them on. I was skeptical. I didn't think these splits would do anything to prevent the numbness.
I fell asleep on my couch at around 6:00pm yesterday. I slept through until 2:00am. That was a brick solid 8 hour block. My fingers were a bit numb, but my arms were fine. This was nothing like the past several weeks. I was drastically better off. I was up for two hours, and then I went to sleep for four more hours. I caught up quite a bit last night. It was good.
The sleep without numbness is plenary evidence that Bachner was right about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome being the efficient cause of the problem.
The real difficulty is that he wants me to shutdown my exercise program for 4-6 weeks. This is the only way to promote natural healing, and prevent inflammation. This is a bitch, but there is no real choice here. If I intend to improve this winter, and be prepped for the Spring, I have to shut it down for a Sabbath month. I have to let the soil go fallow for a time, so I can be ready for a new growing season.
