Tendono-elitritis caused by punching injuries on both hands

[retroborg]

So, what are the best exercises one can do to strengthen the hands & wrists and fully recover from tendono-elitritis (Caused by punching injuries) on both hands/wrists?
So far, I have taken the following medications and physiotherapy for months, with little to no effect:

A) Electro-muscle/nerve graph twice (x2) (Nerves are fine and no sign of carpal syndrome)

B) X-Rays (No sign of arthritis)

C) Anti-inflammatory Medicine / pills:
1. Naprosyn / Naproxen (15days) (No Effect)
2. Arcoxia / Etoricoxib, MSD 90mg (15days) (No Effect)
3. Biofenac / Aceclofenac (30days) (No Effect)
4. XefoRapic / Iornoxicam (15days (No Effect)
5. Arcoxia / Etoricoxib, MSD 120mg (15days) (Helped 35-40% with the symptoms, but it could have been simply because of natural healing after such a long time which had passed from the initial injury that triggered this problem)

D) Physiotherapy (No laser) and special exercises instructed by the physiotherapist. (Helped and eased the symptoms a bit, but it seems that it acted more as a painkiller rather than an actual cure)

These irritations have been going on for 1.5 year now at a lesser or greater degree, but have been healing slowly and I am better now. However, my hands still get sore and feel an irritating pinch sensation every now and then, all over my hands.

As a result, I’ve stopped playing games fully / long sessions, for almost a year to help with the recovering procedure. However, I still type and use the mouse & keyboard and both hands are as strong as they used to be.

All 5 orthopedic doctors that examined me ruled out surgery, so what are my other options to fully recover?

Any advice will be highly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[Supreme2k]

I've had pretty good luck with Chinese exercise balls when I had hand therapy. There are some exercises you can do with gel stress balls that help, too.

[retroborg]

What's the difference between chinese exercise balls & gel stress balls?

Where can I get them?

Thanks in advance

[Supreme2k]

Chinese exercise balls are usually metal, and you rotate them in your hand.
here's a video

You can get them on Amazon. If you have a Chines store near you, they'll probably have them there. Even a place like World Market (Cost Plus) occasionally has them.

[retroborg]

ahh yes, thank you!
I've seen those metal balls before, but never knew what they were actually for.

Also these Gell stress balls look promishing too, but I'm not sure if they exersise or do anything in my case?
http://www.nextag.com/gel-stress-ball/compare-html

For how long were you using them before you actually saw results / healed?

I'll check them out.

[retroborg]

So, apart from doctors, medicine & physiotherapy which had utterly no effect, it’s down to the following options:

Gell Stress Balls
http://www.nextag.com/gel-stress-ball/compare-html

Chinese Exercise Balls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkwz0YvC3g4

Shiatsu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiatsu

Powerball
http://www.nsdpowerballs.com/
http://www.powerballs.com/rehab.php?m=Benefits

Chiropractors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropractic

While chiropractors are commonly known as specialists in the spine,
my chiropractor has assisted me in various sports injuries and has provided me with various exercises to
assist in strengthening specific muscles to re-center and realign all bones and muscles.

Acupuncture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture

Any more opinions will be highly appreciated.

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

Chinese exercise balls are usually metal, and you rotate them in your hand.
here's a video

You can get them on Amazon. If you have a Chines store near you, they'll probably have them there. Even a place like World Market (Cost Plus) occasionally has them.

You can find them at flea markets for sure.

[retroborg]

Its full name (as the doctor called it) is: Elitritis of the Flexor Tendons (From Greek) which as I understand it, its correlated to tendonitis.
Roughly he said that “elitra” are the tubes where the hand tendons pass through and that the punching injury caused inflammation on the elitra & tendons, thus the irritation, soreness, & pinching sensation on my hands.
I searched the web, but as the terminology is in Greek, I’m not sure whether that’s the exact English translation. Thus I was not able to find any more valid info either.

Another doctor told me that it's tendonitis.
My guess is that tendonitis & elitritis have similar symptoms and would be treated similarly.

The problem is that I'm not sure what other type of treatments I should try now?

Thanks in advance.

[retroborg]

I also used Vitamin E for some time, 3 times a day (Small sphere oil based capsules), with no effect.

I might try Vit C, Vit A & D now…

I also read about the healing properties of this plant, Arnica:
http://www.arnica.com/?cat=4
http://www.arnica.com/?p=95

Sounds interesting, but is it sold in pharmacy stores and how do you use it since it’s a plant (Externally & Internally)?
It says here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnica

Arnica should not be taken internally due to its toxicity, with the possible exception of homeopathic preparations that are diluted until none of the chemicals from the plant remain.

So is it easy to prepare, or have a pharmacist do it instead?

[retroborg]

I thought I should update this thread in order to be of some help to anybody that has experienced a similar problem.

So the exact English name of the problem / condition on my hands was:

Synovitis of the tendon sheath

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenosynovitis

As I mentioned in my first post, all types of treatments, Anti-inflammatory Medicine / pills, vitamins, physiotherapy, hand massage, alcohol rubs, Chinese Exercise Balls, Gell Stress Balls, swimming / water polo, had utterly no affect and the problem persisted for 1.5years!

At some point I decide to start doing some weights at the gym to increase the muscle mass of my biceps, triceps and shoulders for aesthetic reasons, so I followed a basic weight program with a wide variety of weight exercises of large / heavy weights, 4 sets of 8-12 repeats for each exercise, 2-3 times per week.
After 7 months I noticed the symptoms on my hands had subsided and within a year I could again play all types of games using keyboard, mouse, joypad & joystick, with minimum to no irritations.
Today I can verify that my hands have been cured and I can play games for very long time sessions with no problems (Very rarely there can be a slight irritation) and I continue going to the gym 2-3 times per week.

I do not have any specific exercises to recommend, as I was doing a combination of weight exercises and would rotate the program every 3 months, but I'm confident that the concentrated weight exercises on my arms did the difference as they made my arms stronger / bigger and somehow that helped to bypass the injury on my hands. Maybe it was also a combination of time healing factor, but who knows...

This is what worked out for me, but if anybody has anything to add on how to cure this pesky condition, Synovitis of the tendon sheath feel free to do so.

Thanks in advance.

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

It's good to hear that you are fine again, congrats and thanks for sharing!