DeQuervain's Syndrome - A real pain in the thumb

Atari killed my thumbs.

I came to this realization yesterday afternoon when I was on a walk with a coworker. I was explaining to him the problem I have with my thumbs - DeQuervain's Syndrome - and I started thinking back to when I first noticed it. My thoughts took me back to my childhood, when I would play Atari (and later Commodore 64, which used Atari joysticks) games for hours on end.

It made more sense when I thought about the ergonomics of the old Atari joysticks - one stick, one thumb button on the upper left corner.

Why?

You see, I have it worse in my left hand. The trigger hand. Pressing that trigger thousands of times a day did more damage than I thought.

Do you have it too? Here's a simple test. Hold your arm out in front of you with your thumb facing up. Now make a fist, but put your thumb inside your fingers. Now tilt your hand forward. If you feel pain and pulling on the top part of your hand (the part being stretched), you probably have it.

What is it? Well, I'll let Wikipedia handle the specifics, but essentially it's a problem with the tendons that run from your thumb to your forearm. Basically, we clench our hands all day long. We grip things. We pick things up. We type on keyboards. We play video games. Nearly every motion involves tightening the muscles in the lower part of your hand below your thumb. If you do too much of this, the muscles get tight and pull on those tendons. The tendons, in turn, get irritated, along with the sheaths through which the tendons move. Irritation leads to pain, which leads to weakness, which means you've got DeQuervain's.

I have it, which sucks, especially when I play my guitar. I don't have a problem when I play anything where my thumb rests on top of the fretboard. But when I have to play anything where my thumb is on the back of the neck applying pressure, like barre chords, it hurts like a bitch. Not at first, but after a few measures it hurts so bad I have to stop. Back when I was in my one-and-only band, some songs would kill me. Distant Early Warning from Rush was the worst. I had to change my fingering - for example, for F major, I would use the fingering for a non-barre F chord with a C root and then wrap my thumb around the neck for the low F. If not I would be in tears by the end of the song. I think this added to my on-and-off playing, as sometimes it would get too painful to play, so I'd stop for a few years.

Now that I'm playing more often, it's happening again. This time, though, I'm going to fight it. I found some stretches and massage techniques online that I've already started to use. I'm also doing some exercises, but I don't have any resistance yet. I plan on getting one of these to add the resistance.

That DeQuervain bastard don't know what's gonna hit him.

If anyone else out there is battling or has won the battle with that Swiss prick, please comment below. I'd love to hear your story.