I am only 23 and I believe that i suffer from extreme carpol tunnel. I work in an office and type account numbers all day long and will feel numbness as well as severe pain. I have started not doing alot of piping and last week had to do a basket weave class and remember why i was in so much pain during my Wilton classes. My mom had a brace from spraining her wrist and i have been sleeping with it on and it is helping lots! i try to remember to take a pain reliever but that doesnt always happen cause i get frazzel brained and busy. Maybe i will try a parafin bath.
One thing I did to remind myself to take that pain reliever before starting a cake, I took the bottle of pills, put a few of each kind I take in the bottle with a small piece of paper telling me shape and color and name of each as well as dosage and mg'age, put the bottle in my tool kit, so when I need a tip or a bag or my spatula I see that bottle and take my pills and it helps some.
I also tried the wrist braces when I did cookies with a fellow CC'er I used her brace but it didn't help me, it hurt really bad but I think it was because I was using it while I was mixing colors into royal icing and not actually piping anything... but it was one of the bulky ones and they seem harder to work with then the slip on elasticy kind lol... it's a good investment if you have alot of problems and can manage with one, but I think because I wasn't used to it I just couldn't work right with it 
...
KathyCC--Im 41 and you almost had me sold on getting pregnant to get rid of aches and pains but if they just come right back ...never mind.
I didnt get these aches either until I turned 40. Im really kind of angry with 40 because it has trashed my body. When I turned 40 I had a huge party and celebrated her in high style. In the past year I found out I have carpal tunnel and pre-hypertension. My eyeglasses keep getting thicker, when I go back to ophthalmologist next year I think he's going to fit me with a pair of glass block window panes. And I cant remember anything.
I will say this, when I was 20ish I cracked my tailbone one icy Michigan winter and took every medication I could find to be pain free. That fall caused me to have back spasms for years after. For the spasms I was prescribed Motrin 800. Eventually I may as well have been taking M&Ms because nothing worked. I stopped taking meds and dealt with the pain for a while. Now I really have to be close to tears before Ill take something.
Last year my granddaddy died due to prostate cancer. He was 94 and only needed Aleve to help ease his pain. He told me about the vicks vapor rub soak to sooothe tired, aching hands and feet. He never took anything stonger than Bayer Asprin all his life.
Best thing I've found to prevent hand pain is craft gloves.
They are fingerless spandex type gloves found in the needlecraft section of craft stores, and wearing one when I'm doing a lot of piping makes a BIG difference for me.
They support and massage your hand and wrist while you work, and keep your hand from cramping up. And they're washable. As a bonus, they also insulate a bit between your hand and the bag, which helps if you have hot hands.
-Magda-
KathysCC- That's awesome that your pain went away while you were pregnant... maybe you should try it again??! See if it "sticks" this time! Or maybe it just gets worse each time and that's why I'm so run down.
I already have 4 (started a little young). No more babies for me!
I'll be trying all the other things though
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%