Had something weird happen this morning.
I used the weed eater to cut down some grass around my okra rows. Used it for less than 5 minutes. I was holding the shaft/throttle with my right hand and the hand bar with my left.
After shutting the weedeater off, my hands immediately felt like they were itchy, although there was nothing on them and no amount of scratching would help. After about 5 minutes the itching stopped and then my right hand started to swell up. Within 10 minutes it was swollen up enough that I couldn't make a closed fist.
I've put ice on it thru the day and the swelling has started to go down, but this scares the crap out of me. Only thing I can think of is the vibrations of the weedeater messed with the nerves in my right hand and caused it to swell somehow.
Have any of you ever heard of anything like this happening from vibrations..?
I had a full round of allergy test a few years ago and I was immune to just about everything, so I don't think an allergen started it.
Does Carpal Tunnel cause anything like this.?
The itching is probably the key signal here. you are describing a fairly severe allergic reaction. It is not uncommon for an allergic reaction to show up in this manner.
Were it me, I would suspect the okra since people do have allergies to it commonly enough. I would be extremely careful of okra until I found out for certain, since the next exposure could cause a much worse reaction. I would suspect that the weed whacker caused enough very small particles of okra to become airborne and inhaled.
You can either go to an allergist and get tested for okra sensitivity, or try a simpler test with help and supervison at hand. If you want to try the simple test make sure you have benadryl and someone to get you to an emergency room at hand. the simple test would be to mush up some okra and smear it on the inside of your fore arm. A dime sized spot is more than enough, and let your helper handle it. If it was the okra, you'll know it quickly, it will swell and redden the area it was on. If you can feel it in your lips and tongue get in the car take the benadryl and go to the emergency room before you get worse. If you are allergic to okra this instance could be the warning that you are sensitized. The next exposure could very well trigger a much stronger response.
