Posted by Sedruce at 10:04pm Aug 20 '09So. Last night, I noticed an ache in my left elbow. It gradually escalated to a pain that made it extremely uncomfortable to use. I went to sleep, and when I woke up, it felt fine.
I brought an ace bandage with me to work anyway, just in case...glad I did.
Lest than an hour into work, I began to notice the ache. Another hour later, it was downright painful. By lunchtime, I could barely use it. After lunch, I was biting back tears any time I had to lift anything with that arm, or turn anything (I have a 50ml glass flask I mix solutions in, which I usually turn over and pour out with my left hand--that became unreasonably painful to do).
You know those two dimples on the outside of your elbow? The pain for me is located in the one that's on the thumb side of the elbow if I stand with my arms at my sides and my palms facing forward. It shoots mostly up the arm, but down through the forearm a little too.
Any ideas? This is fucking hellish, especially considering my job. I think it could be a repetitive motion strain of some sort...pumping the acids (which I do with my left hand--lift the pump half an inch to three inches, push it back down...and a few of the pumps are very sticky which makes it difficult to do) and dumping racks of gold (which involves twisting my arm to pour the acid out of the tubes) are by far the most painful things to do, and I do those constantly.
I kept my arm wrapped to keep it a bit stabilized and slightly compressed. It felt a little better than leaving it unwrapped.
So, Doc 4k. What do I do? Should I wait this one out for a while? Should I see about getting to the first care clinic after work tomorrow (which is the only reasonable way I know of to see a doctor on super short notice without taking time off work, which I can't afford--which is also why I'm freaking out that it's a repetitive motion strain, I can't afford to take any time off work to recover!!!)? Should I just shoot myself in the face and get it over with, since this is obviously a very very advanced form of cancer that will kill me in a very painful way over the next four months? :P
I brought an ace bandage with me to work anyway, just in case...glad I did.
Lest than an hour into work, I began to notice the ache. Another hour later, it was downright painful. By lunchtime, I could barely use it. After lunch, I was biting back tears any time I had to lift anything with that arm, or turn anything (I have a 50ml glass flask I mix solutions in, which I usually turn over and pour out with my left hand--that became unreasonably painful to do).
You know those two dimples on the outside of your elbow? The pain for me is located in the one that's on the thumb side of the elbow if I stand with my arms at my sides and my palms facing forward. It shoots mostly up the arm, but down through the forearm a little too.
Any ideas? This is fucking hellish, especially considering my job. I think it could be a repetitive motion strain of some sort...pumping the acids (which I do with my left hand--lift the pump half an inch to three inches, push it back down...and a few of the pumps are very sticky which makes it difficult to do) and dumping racks of gold (which involves twisting my arm to pour the acid out of the tubes) are by far the most painful things to do, and I do those constantly.
I kept my arm wrapped to keep it a bit stabilized and slightly compressed. It felt a little better than leaving it unwrapped.
So, Doc 4k. What do I do? Should I wait this one out for a while? Should I see about getting to the first care clinic after work tomorrow (which is the only reasonable way I know of to see a doctor on super short notice without taking time off work, which I can't afford--which is also why I'm freaking out that it's a repetitive motion strain, I can't afford to take any time off work to recover!!!)? Should I just shoot myself in the face and get it over with, since this is obviously a very very advanced form of cancer that will kill me in a very painful way over the next four months? :P
added on 10:10pm Aug 20 '09:
Also, I should note that I can't bend my elbow all the way (or if I can it's a lot lot lot lot lot lot lot more painful than I'm willing to try for), and can only get it to maybe 45 degrees easily. :/
elbows... - Sedruce