To any nurse, doctor, or p.a?!
Question: I have dequervains tendonitis. what causes the top of forearm to swell, and what can i do? can i put on an ace bandage for the swelling, and wear my thumb-wrist splint on top? or would that be 2 much? thank you.
Answers: I have dequervains tendonitis. what causes the top of forearm to swell, and what can i do? can i put on an ace bandage for the swelling, and wear my thumb-wrist splint on top? or would that be 2 much? thank you.
For DeQuervain's Tenosynovitis the thumb-spica splint is recommended. A compressive bandage would probably not allow this to sit properly on the wrist. If you have a properly fitted and padded thumb-spica splint it should be adequate.
Compression is recommended for sprains and strains but not necessarily a tendonitis and not a tenosynovitis.
Adding the compression bandage might even place additional pressure on the inflamed tendon sheath increasing the severity of the condition. The idea of the splint is to rest the wrist, if you are not resting the wrist then you need to decrease the use of the hand. Once the inflammation is decreased then therapy can help the condition. Anti-inflammatory agents or corticosteroids might be helpful.
Ice would only be considered helpful after the initial injury, once the condition is well established as a DeQuervain's normally is then heat would probably help, unless you are engaged in therapy or have exercised the wrist.
for any tendonitis in general it's RICE:
rest
ice
compression
elevation
don't compress it to where it hurts, but if it feels better with the bandage and splint then go for it. just make sure you're still getting good blood flow to your fingers (not turning purple or white).
The best thing to do here would be to have your condition assessed by your Doctor. It sounds as if you need a combination of anti inflammatories and support. If you apply to much support through restrictive bandages you risk limiting the circulation to the point where you may do more harm than good.