I have have a rare condition called Intersection syndrome, which is a type of RSI thing similar to carpal tunnel syndrome. Technically its an Overuse Syndrome of the Hand and Wrist and in my case a WRULD (work related uperlimb disorder).
I thought I’d make this blog Post about it in case anyone else stumbles across it who also has intersection syndrome.
intersection syndrome
I’ve had it for over a year now and am waiting for surgery to hopefully fix it, but its such a rare condition that I can find very little about it or the prognosis for recovery. Obviously im trying to resist having my arm cut open, but I have tried virtually every other alternative therapy without much success.
I’d be very interested to hear from anyone who has had a recovery, or knows anything on the subject.
Resources
Here’s some useful resources ive found useful, for perhaps the one in 1,000,000,000 who might want it
http://www.ajronline.org/cgi/content/full/181/5/1245 This medical report goes into a great deal of medical detail on the subject. Theyre study of a hospital orthapedic department found only 3 cases in 5 years. None needed surgery (its a bummer to have a rare condition, that rarely needs surgery and be the one that does!)
intersection-syndrome-guide This is a very useful guide covering diagnosis and treatments
RSI forum - this site is the best resource on the law, and support groups in the U.K. The forum is good, but a bit darkside, still par for the course.
RSI - a good description of what RSI is, better than i could put it.
Treatment
According to the medical writings treatment is :
So far ive tried:
- Medication - Ibuprofen, Ibuleve and Volteral are all good
- Ice - this is a big help, my arm is in ice most of every day. Biofreeze gel is also good.
- Physio - I have regular physio, which is expensive but worth trying for sure. Treatments include ultrasound to break up scar tissue, myofascial release and massage stretching exercises. This shouldnt be confused with NHS physio, a sheet of exercises.
- Injections - Cortisone, the injection is painful but had good results for a few weeks, although ive had 2 now, and cant have more as it can weaken your bones. Worth a shot though!
- Acupuncture - rubbish, you may as well smoke or drink your money
- Emu Oil - used by the aboriginals and many swear by it. Ive no strong positive or negative on this.
- Hypnotherapy - NLP type stuff is good for pain control
Tags: intersection syndrome
I also have Intersection Sydrome and they are ready to do surgery. I was contemplating accupuncture — what was your experience with it?
Strange, i never thought id find ayone else who actually had this! i’ve found acupuncture pretty useless to be hoonest, perhapseven making things worse. Ice is about the only thing that makes much difference for me.
How did you go with the surgery?
To others, acupuncture has been well established on numerous occasions to be as effective as a placebo.
I’ve been lumped with it as well - thought i may try something to avoid surgery - maybe a chainsaw at the present moment - have had wrist in a splint 6 weeks now - still no improvement.
I was diagnosed with intersection syndrome in July of this year. I have been going through phsyical therapy since then and have had some relief. I’ve had a cortisone shot that only helped for a few days. I’ve had something called dry needling, which is very similar to acupuncture and it did seem to reduce the swelling, but there again, it didn’t do much for the pain and tenderness I’m experiencing. I was told by my doctor that this could go on for more than a year! I’m doing ‘home therapy’ now as I’m on worker’s comp and they will only cover so much phsyical therapy. My job has caused this injury and I can’t change what I’m doing so I fear that this will last for much longer than a year. Ice help the most, but who wants to sit every evening with ice on their arm for the rest of their life?
Oh, and I’ve developed Dequervains tendonitis in my right arm because I’ve overcompensated because of the brace the doc put on my left arm. I also have biladeral tendonitis from my wrist to my shoulders… I do home therapy daily to treat all of the above, but so far it hasn’t helped much.
Not that I want others to be in pain, but it is nice that others understand what I am going through.
I’m a twenty-year-old classical pianist who was diagnosed with “tendinitis” six months ago. After months of icing daily, immobilizing, and obviously stopping piano, I have seen little improvement. I was on Naproxen, a prescription-strength anti-inflammatory, and saw no results. I went to physical therapy twice a week with little or no results. I finally insisted on a cortisone shot, and it helped for about a week, and then went back to the same, leaving me with awful discoloration at the injection site and a gross-looking fat atrophy, an exaggerated “snuff box.”
Having finally realized I need to research this myself, I diddled around online and felt like “tendinitis” didn’t quite cover it. I stumbled across a graphic explanation of intersection syndrome and realized that is exactly what I have– about three inches up from my wrist, on the top inner side of my forearm, with what feels like two adjacent thick cords running across the top of my arm. I can feel them rub together and almost hear the creak; it’s awful.
I had to drop out of school because of this condition, and subsequently lost my health insurance. What a beautiful country we live in.
I am scared to death every day that this is going to become a permanent problem and that I will never be able to continue studying or play professionally. I truly don’t know what else to do, but piano has been my passion since before I can remember, so I feel like my life is on the line. If anybody has tried anything that has worked, I need to know. I still ice every day and no longer play piano at all, and am careful in general with using my right hand and wrist. I have gotten angry with doctors, I have insisted on more attention, more treatment, better care, specialists, and everybody just says, “I don’t know why it’s not better now, it should be. Thanks for your co-pay, go home, keep icing it.”
Help!
Hey Kelly, it does sound exactly like intersection syndrome to me, not that im a doctor! I was told that it rarely gets operated on and normally goes away with rest but the symptoms you have match mine almost perfectly. I have lots of other symptoms as well such as painful index finger and thumb, but these have settled somewhat since my operation.
My operation was just over a year ago now, before it i could hardly move my fingers most day and took hardcore anti inflammatories every day, there didnt seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel most times and i had to learn to use my left hand for everything. The operation has by no means cured the condition, for a while the pain was many times worse, but it seems to be settling over time after the operation.
Im not a pianist but i can sympathise with what what you are saying, i was very active running my own business and djing, neither of which i wanted to give up. I think the main thing is perserverence not to give up, i never have and although my hand is painful every day to some extent its much better than it was. I have always tried to push through the pain, which is something i think its worth doing, but easier said than done
I ended up with my arm in a brace for over 6 months, which i think was a bad decision, i ended up with lots of complications as my arm muscles weakened and thumb etc. You would be suprised how many muscles there are in your hand and when they hurt just lifting a spoon its not good news.
Now im a year on and 2 years since this started, so i guess all i can give is a bit of perspective. I recommend pushing it but always knowing your limit. You have to get used to the fact that you have got a problem and try to build out of it, but if you go too far you will be back to square 1 every time. I still have flare ups that last as long as a month, but generally i recover quicker and closer to normal use the longer i leave it. I feel like my hand has a certain limit each day, and getting in tune with that limit is most important to bring the pain levels down.
Acupuncture can be great if the right person does it, theres definately a skill to it. It is only a pain killer though but doesnt really repair anything. Rest and ice is definately the best thing if your in a flare up, + the strongest anti infalmmatorys you can get. Voltarol gel is great to hit the infalmmation, but cortisone never did me much good either. I have started doing yoga recently which i find really useful as well. Im realising that the intersection syndrome is kind of part of a wider issue, and the more you exercise you can loosen and strengthen other muscles to help take the strain
Its a really horrible place to be, sounds like its happened as you work hard and have a dream, kind of like me. I reckon stick with it and fight on - there is always a way through!
Theres no way i could have written this reply a year ago and didnt think i ever would. Its a matter of time and patience, get a physio and rest and ice as much as you can. You should go and see an orthapedic consultant as well, get an MRI scan if its been months and see what can be done. I waited a time to decide whether to have an operation, it was a long road but definately helped me.
I went back to the doc today and he told me that all that’s left is surgery. He said it will help with the pain and swelling I have from the intersection syndrome. It is really my only hope at this point. I’ve done the cortisone injections, physical therapy, home therapy and ice….
Good luck to the rest of you! I will try to find this sight again and update after surgery. :-\
I want to discuss surgery. If you’re not better after over a year of surgery, then I’m pretty skeptical. I realize I’ve done all the conventional steps and surgery is the next one, but considering what a failure all the rest have been, and the apparent lack of results for bozboz, I am not even close to convinced. I will admit that part of my doubtfulness is due to the fact that I expect to regain full dexterity, a necessity for playing piano, and I wonder whether surgery would condemn that possibility forever.
I recently was recommended the Anat Baniel method, which I haven’t tried yet. But some of the top neurologists in the world saw what she’s doing and said they had theorized that it was possible, but didn’t conceive of anyone actually doing it at all yet, let alone with the apparent success she’s had. I don’t know whether it’s the slightest bit viable, but I feel like surgery should be the absolute last thing I try.
I don’t know, thoughts?
Hi guys, sorry its taken me a while to respond.. Traci / Kelly I feel sorry for you I know exactly what its like to be in your position. When it happened to me I could not find anyone in the world with the same condition who had been through surgery and also read a fair few horror stories.
I waited for a good 6 months after I was advised to have surgery, spending thousands on physio and acupuncture in the hope these would work. Surgery was a really hard road but in the end I realised things were not getting better and the best I could hope for was an improvement. My consultant was clear that a full recovery after such a long persistance was not going to happen, as much as I wanted this to happen I had to face facts.
A year on and I am not cured, that is true. But the surgery has done a good job, I have made a real improvement in my living standards and quality of life. Previously I could notice my swelling and pain 24/7 including as soon as I woke up. Now this is not the case, unless I have been really active. It is a matter of learning to live within your limits and pushing through the pain after surgery to rehabilitate. It is a struggle and for the first 6-9 months I could not tell whether there was an improvement or not as I dipped in and out of some level of remission.
I have been improved now though to some degree for a few months, persistance, patience and willpower are definately needed as well as accepting my hand may never be normal, but the strange feeling -like I had someone elses hand attached has passed and I am left with at least some use of my hand
Its a really hard choice, I would say hang on until you have tried everything, but I wish id had surgery 6 months earlier in hindsight.
hey, just found your site. I too have intersection syn, and had the surgery Dec. 15, 2009 and I tried to return to work Feb 15 and only made it 2 days before telling my boss I could not perform my job. I just don’t know what to do, I start phys therapy this week I hope it works. I noticed a few of you using ice and rest, I like to use heat myself it seems to really help when iam feeling any pain. I bought this long beanbag its called a “bed buddy” that I warm up in the microwave, and it works pretty well.
Well I wish you all good luck and don’t give up!