KATAGORY V Bassist Diagnosed With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

KATAGORY V bassist Dustin Mitchell has reported that he has recently been diagnosed with severe Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in his right hand, and will be undergoing surgical treatment for the disorder. He has mentioned that it is something that he has suffered from for several years, but during the recent pre-production studio sessions for the upcoming fourth album, it had finally taken its toll. However, he says it will not interfere with the current schedule with recording the new album. Dustin takes a moment to describe the situation: "A musician's worst nightmare! For years I have suffered and dealt with terrible discomfort, tingling and numbness in my hands, but more so in my right hand more than anything. It would come and go, and was very intermittent, mostly appearing at night while I was asleep, which in turn would wake me up several times in the night. I wasn't sure if it was Carpal Tunnel or not, but I remember reading an article in a magazine many years ago with Geoff Thorpe from VICIOUS RUMORS, who talked about going under the knife for the same thing, and the symptoms he described in the article seemed very similar to my own, so I assumed that might be what I had as well. But, I never really put to much thought into it or saw a doctor, I foolishly anticipated that it might just go away, or never really get that bad.

"Fast forward to three weeks ago: while working in the studio, it struck me pretty hard. Keep in mind, it has happened before while performing or rehearsing, but only for seconds at a time and on very rare occasion, enough to where I could cover it up. But this time, it was real intense and to the extent to where I lost all feeling in my fingers totally, I couldn’t even find my strings to hit a note for an entire song! The worse part was that this lasted for three straight days after the fact… yes; it was time to go see the butcher.

"I can tell you that the tests they had to run where fascinating, but painful as hell. There is nothing more exciting than having an electrode needle shoved into the heel of you palm and twisted around for well over minute. OUCH!!! The bad news, I have Carpal Tunnel, the good news, they can cure it. Technology has come a long way, five or more years ago, it would have taken three or four months to heal completely, but with the new, less evasive procedure, it only takes three weeks!

"For now I have been given a cortisone shot, which will get me through the next few months of the demo stage and the recording of the new album. Once the album is complete and goes to mix down, I'll go get cut and hopefully be back in the game without missing a beat. Pun intended."