post carpitunnel surgery what now?

[escavader]

Been gone from tbn for week,having it done in my right wrist.Lost feeling in fingers last may,they have been numb since.shuffled from dr to dr until electric shock tests confirmed severe blockage in wrist.Didnt have symptoms most have with hands going asleep,pain etc.Fingers just shutdown one day at work,like someone turned a switch.
Well its done now,had it last tuesday,and it was all but pleasant.Fingers seem to be working ok ,although im using them very gingerly.I think most of the feeling is back in fingers,thumb still numb[mabey it needs more time i hope]Dr said the nerve test showed alot of the thumb nerves perminately gone,i waited too long.geez it only took them 5 months to figure it out and fix me wonder why?Pain was severe first night,now just phantom pains here and there.
So question is what to expect in days to come .Will incision pain go away when all stiches are out?Will i ever be back to the strong person i was before,or will this hand always be tender and weak?Any advice from any one whos had the surgery is welcome.Do i really need to go through therapy,if fingers are working?
I returned to work next day,under MY own choice and did my job mostly one handed.I was offered workers comp,or light duty from my company,but i chose to keep going ,so the rest of me wont get weak The boys at work spoiled me,and would jump in my way when they saw i was attempting too much one handed.What a good bunch of co workers,they were all thankful i returned,instead of licking stamps in the office It was challenging when something went wrong,but i was able to talk them through the jambs they got in.
Now that im reduced to a band aid patch,mabey i can give the other hand a little rest.The dr said i would know what i could or could not do,due to the pain...he was right on
so its common i guess,who else has had it done?Made it til 42,am i good til 84?
ALAN

 

[Bird]

Alan, those of us who have had the carpal tunnel surgery can tell you about ours, but it varies enough that I'm not sure what applies to one will necessarily apply to others. My youngest daughter had the surgery in Dallas on both hands. My mother had one hand done in Corpus Christi and it was no help at all, so she then went to the surgeon my daughter used and he re-did it and fixed her up just fine. In other words, the surgeon in Corpus Christi was not competent in that kind of surgery. Then I used the same surgeon my daughter and mother had used in Dallas and he's probably just about the best arm and hand specialist in the country.

You say you didn't have a lot of pain, so you were lucky. The pain got bad enough for me that I quit even going to bed at night because I knew I couldn't sleep and I can tell you that after a couple of months of that, the surgery was a blessing. I did overhear the surgeon telling the anesthesiologist that mine was the worst he'd ever seen. I didn't have much of the numbness that you mentioned. Instead it was terrific pain that I could tolerate in the daytime, but couldn't sleep for more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time at night, and then the weakness set in. I was using an ordinary caulking gun one day and found I didn't have the strength to pull the trigger even with both hands. So I had the surgery on my right hand on 8/4/97. That doctor likes to wait 3 months before doing the second hand, but I convinced him to do my left hand on 9/3/97 (one month) because after the surgery, the pain was gone . . . immediately.

I did follow the instructions of his therapist for exercising the hands, squeezing a rubber ball, etc. and gradually regained strength in my hands, although never quite back to the strength I had prior to '97. The doctor did tell me to try to avoid tools that vibrate, such as chain saws and string trimmers. I slowed down, but didn't quit using them altogether. And as I said, the strength returning was very gradual and I probably over did it occasionally, so 5 years after the surgery 8/16/02, I went back to see the doctor because of relatively light pain and he gave me a shot of cortisone in each wrist and a prescription for nerve inflammation and I haven't been back since.

Of course I'm 10 years older, too, so I don't expect to ever have the strength I had 11 or 12 years ago, but I do still open jars my wife brings me when she can't the lid off.

Good luck with your recovery.

 

[LMTC]

I had both done, in '81 I think. Mine was atypical in that most cases are caused by repetitive use and mine was caused by single blunt trauma from the steering wheel in a head-on. My symptoms came on fast and furiously. While the surgery provided some relief, I had one hand I could not use to push with or lean on for over a year due to sensitivity (somewhat like pain, but more just sensation of discomfort) in the palm near the wrist. I am sure each recuperation has some general similarities, but also some differences, as each injury and individual is different. Listen to the doc if you trust him/her, find another if you don't...most of us can't absorb 12-16 years of training/experience in time to make our own informed decisions about such matters. As far as post-op pain, I don't remember it being too bad so long as I did not put pressure on the hand or wrist (i.e., leaning or pushing on anything).

PS--Bird, I had a jar last week that had the ignominy of becoming the first one I have failed to open; it was a large jar of sauerkraut, probably a 3.5" lid. Sigh.....I know my hands are getting weaker as I have more and more problems with arthritis. I had to go to the shop and get my XL channel locks. So flee the things of youth.....

 

[podagrower]

Good luck with your recovery, Alan. In my experience, the incision pain was gone within a week, but it took a quite a few weeks before I had full strength in my hands again. It seemed to be a slow, steady increase in strength, rather than a sudden burst. Go to the physical therapy as long as you are getting benefits from it. Yes, it's inconvenient, taking time and patience, but my right wrist which received therapy is in better condition than my left which did not (same doctor, I just thought I knew better the second time).

 

[Bird]

that most cases are caused by repetitive use

Wayne, that brings up another point. My daughter was working a job that required almost constant typing on the computer and she was fortunate enough that workers comp paid for it (of course, she also had health insurance on the job). But she also had surgery on one elbow for "cubital tunnel syndrome". I have the cubital tunnel problem, too; just not as severe so didn't have the surgery on the elbows. The doctor we used told me early on that he considered surgery to be a last resort for either problem, and I agreed. But he also told me, and I've since read elsewhere, that instead of the repetitive use that's long been blamed for carpal tunnel syndrome, that heredity may play a major role. Naturally, not being a doctor, I don't know the cause, but I can see some evidence of that.

As for opening jars, I have a brother who has a different, and more serious wrist problem (they had to remove a section of bone that got crushed years ago) and a couple of years ago, he recommended the Black and Decker Lids Off Jar Opener. He had bought one and he and his wife were quite impressed. So I bought one two years ago; $29.43 plus tax at Walmart. Now it really does work and amazingly well, but after a year or so, my wife decided it was used so seldom and was taking up space on the kitchen counter, so she moved it out to the garage. So now I guess it'll only be used if I encounter a jar I can't open and that hasn't happened yet, although a few times I began to think it had before I got a lid off.

 

[motepoc]

Have not had the wrist surgery, but did have total knee replacement. The one thing I was told before the surgery, was to do the PT, Plus a little bit more. Had the surgery 7-11-06, was bowling 9-15-06. There hasn't been any pain since the surgery. Don't know if it's anywhere near the same, but would think the PT plus works no matter what you have done.

 

[Nat]

One of the best things I've had done. My hands would go numb within a couple miins of gripping the steering wheel and would have to drive with one while shaking the other, then switch. Hurt like blazes most of the time and was always sore like I had hit the edge of my hand really hard on something. Post sugery I thought my hands would freeze whenever I was outside and would melt in the brace I had to wear for a couple weeks. It was just so strange having feeling again.
My sugery pain was much less than the pain before the sugery, so it felt better as soon as I awoke good. It was 2-3 months before I felt it was as strong as it was before, but now it seems as if there were never any problems.
I hope yours turns out as well as mine did, I would go have it done in a second, knowing how much better mine is. Later, nat

 

[Bird]

Have not had the wrist surgery, but did have total knee replacement. The one thing I was told before the surgery, was to do the PT, Plus a little bit more. Had the surgery 7-11-06, was bowling 9-15-06. There hasn't been any pain since the surgery. Don't know if it's anywhere near the same, but would think the PT plus works no matter what you have done.

I agree, Tom. I think it's a matter first of having a good doctor and second following instructions for the physical therapy. A good friend had the knee replacement several years ago, got a massive infection, was off his feet for a year, limped pretty badly and had trouble with that knee the rest of his life. My mother had knee replacement, but was an invalid for other reasons, and that leg was stiff the rest of her life.

On the other hand, a former neighbor and still good friend had total knee replacment on 4/27/04 when she was 76 years old, had a daughter come stay with her a couple of weeks, said the physical therapy was pretty painful, but she just recovered quickly and it was no time at all that no one would even know she had that knee replaced. She'll be 79 in less than 2 months, still lives alone, still drives, does her own shopping, etc.

 

[Bird]

My sugery pain was much less than the pain before the sugery, so it felt better as soon as I awoke good.

Boy, that's almost an understatement, Nat. The next day after my first surgery, the nurse called and asked if I was in a lot of pain. I assured her that I sure was in a lot of pain, in the other hand; the one that had the surgery felt fine!