Pain in my hand

[Boracay70]

Hi Everyone,

I have been a postman for now 14 months. Over the last few months, I have had pain in my hand. (Top of my thumb)
This is the hand that I carry my bundle with. Has anyone experienced this. It is quite painful and the area looks swollen.
Any tips on aleviating the pain or other advices would be much appreciated. Cheers

[Adison]

Hey!

This was me at Christmas. My hands were super sore, achey and swollen and not having been in the role that long.

What helped was a cool pack, you can get strips to put on your forehead for migraines etc that did relieve some pain. I also begrudgingly avoided doing things (going to the gym etc) as I would have done as it was just aggravating it. It’s been fine since, but I did start swapping my hands over for carrying and sometimes chucking my PDA in the pocket of my coat.

Hope it gets better soon

[clashcityrocker]

Carpal Tunnel?
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/carpal-tunnel-syndrome/

[Shirtbuttons]

In all my years of working for Royal Mail I’ve never seen so many people with bad knees, bad backs , hernias, swollen ankles, shoulder pain, the list goes on. Younger staff are suffering too. Not the job it use to be.

[TopperGas]

I often get pain in my thumb, I can't work out if it's from using the PDA to scan packet, using the handbrake button on the clapped out vans, carrying the bundles etc, or just a combination of them all! The fact it disappears on a Sunday suggests it's work related.

[yellowbelly]

I often get pain in my thumb, I can't work out if it's from using the PDA to scan packet, using the handbrake button on the clapped out vans, carrying the bundles etc, or just a combination of them all! The fact it disappears on a Sunday suggests it's work related.

I have started to get this since the new PDA came in because when it goes to sleep you have to press
the button on the top to wake it up, whereas previously you could use buttons on the side to wake it up,
you didn't have to 'stretch' your digit to the top of the device to do this - perhaps it's just me.

[RoboPostie]

I got a pain in the elbow of my "bundle arm" a while back. My advice for a situation like this is to try to change the way you do things for a bit. I started carrying my bundle using the other arm for a while, and even easier is to carry the bundle in both hands between doors. You could also make smaller bundles.

Anyway, this approach helped my elbow get better.

[clashcityrocker]

That could be golfer's elbow.
Turn your hand out and stretch.

[greengiant]

Try making smaller bundles and see if that helps?

[estelle]

Doesn't sound like carpal tunnel - that's more a pins and needles sensation with loss of feeling in thumb, index finger and lower half of middle finger - particularly at night when you're asleep. Painful, but not just a sore thumb. I say that as someone who has had both hands operated on to correct the issue.