# Anybody have carpel tunnel surgery recently?



## MikeGC (Dec 6, 2008)

I am thinking about it. My mother got it years ago but I have heard the process and recovery is much faster now. Any input appreciated.


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## Oconomowoc (Oct 13, 2011)

MikeGC said:


> I am thinking about it. My mother got it years ago but I have heard the process and recovery is much faster now. Any input appreciated.


I know someone who had that done about 8 years ago and it made it worse. He can barely hold a cup of coffee. Not sure why, I think it's because he didn't address the problem until it was too late.


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## Chris Johnson (Apr 19, 2007)

I got a cortisone shot about 20 years ago, it took about a week to kick in. I can't say it's been trouble free but haven't had to deal with it too much since then


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## svronthmve (Aug 3, 2008)

I just had it on my right hand about 5 weeks ago.

I also know a few others who have had it. Everyone's different in how they heal from it.

Surgery is normally done outpatient & takes about 20 minutes. I ended up being in the OR for about 45 minutes (explained below). They twilighted me, so I was not conscious, but didn't have the effects of general anesthesia. I've talked to some who had it done in their dr's office with local anesthetic.

You'll have 1-2 weeks of basically no / very limited use of your hand. You'll discover all the things you normally do with both hands - like tying your shoe laces, buttoning your pants, shaving, etc. become a whole ordeal for a few days, because you can't! 

Don't rush your recovery! If you do, you risk damaging it & having scar tissue develop which will make the problem come back or even get worse.

I had mine done because all my fingers except my thumb were numb. Since my surgery, the feeling has returned. It's been great!

My hand is still weak @ this point, but healing. The incision line is very tender, but I compensate for that by wearing a wrist splint when working.

My family doctor put me on Vit B6 for months leading up to my surgery (which is good for nerves). It gave a little relief, but not enough for me. I also had the cortisone shots, which gave a very temporary relief (1-2 weeks), but then failed.

I had nerve conduction studies done by a neurologist initially. My right hand was way worse, but he said its also starting in my left hand. I will probably wait until things are much worse before I have it done, but its definitely been a positive for the right hand! 

Feel free to pm me if you have any questions.

My surgeon said my nerve was worse than he expected and was completely flattened. Your mileage may vary.

Just for comparison, last year I had two disks completely blow out in my neck & a 3rd one bulging. I had a fusion & plating done. The carpal tunnel surgery / recovery time was NOTHING compared to that!


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## BamBamm5144 (Jul 12, 2008)

I had it done last year along with other surgery done to my hand. Compared to the rest of the surgery, the carpal tunnel was nothing.

I can barely see the scar anymore.


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## woodchuck2 (Feb 27, 2008)

The few people i know who have had surgery we glad to have it done. I myself have it but i try to keep from doing those tasks that aggravate it. Right now twisting screw drivers to long or too much gets it going so i use a screw gun as much as possible. When i was turning wrench for a living i really had problems with it as well as pinched ulnar nerves. Again i used screw guns mostly and i used the strongest 3/8ths air gun for tire rotations. Handling that 1/2" air gun all the time really put the hurt on the elbows and wrist, using a smaller gun that weighed 4lbs less was a huge help.


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## svronthmve (Aug 3, 2008)

woodchuck2 said:


> The few people i know who have had surgery we glad to have it done. I myself have it but i try to keep from doing those tasks that aggravate it. Right now twisting screw drivers to long or too much gets it going so i use a screw gun as much as possible. When i was turning wrench for a living i really had problems with it as well as pinched ulnar nerves. Again i used screw guns mostly and i used the strongest 3/8ths air gun for tire rotations. Handling that 1/2" air gun all the time really put the hurt on the elbows and wrist, using a smaller gun that weighed 4lbs less was a huge help.


I don't think you'd regret it.

I also have a problem with ulnar nerve. My surgeon said he wanted to do the wrist first because very often that takes care of the ulnar.

He was right! The problem with my ulnar nerve has gone away since my surgery.


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## woodchuck2 (Feb 27, 2008)

I have heard good and bad so i figured i would wait until it really torments me. The ulnar nerves bothered me a lot when i worked for the local mine and i was handling 400-600 100lb bags a day along with other repetitive actions. Before i left there i opened up a Comp claim and saw some doctors and specialists. They recommended i change my profession or it would lead to surgery. I left the mine and it took a good yr or so for the nerves to relax and stop bothering. It had gotten to the point that i could barely pick up a half gallon carton of milk. If i picked it up close to me it was slightly painful but if i reached out with it my hand would automatically let go of it regardless how i tried to overcome the pain. Just putting my hand in a fist and reaching out would open my fingers up with no control and the pain was out of sight. Reaching out to pick up a pen would bring tears to my eyes. I changed occupations and was careful how i worked and eventually the pain went away. So far it has been good and as soon as i start anything repetitive that begins to bother i stop and either find a way around it or i just have someone else do it for me.

I suppose if i ever had to have surgery it may fall back onto the mine but i am not sure how that works. I didnt have squat for insurance at the time and thought maybe if i did a comp claim that they may have to cover the injury in the future. The little bit of wrenching i do on the side does not bother me unless it is tight quarters where i need to twist my hand around and use my fingers. Then my hand freezes right up into a ball with my fingers all crooked :laughing:. It has been bad enough where i had to use my other hand to straighten out my fingers. Oh well, such is life. I just change my habits and am thankful i still have all my digits and that they still work for the most part.


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## txgencon (Jan 4, 2011)

I've had the surgery on both hands. The first, about 10-12 years ago. The latest, about 3 years ago. The only issue is that I have is that I forget I've had it done and will "bump" something into place with the heel of my hand. With the sheath over the nerves cut, it sends a jolt up your elbow when you do that. The solution is what I call the HeeHaw solution,"Don't do that."


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## svronthmve (Aug 3, 2008)

woodchuck2 said:


> I have heard good and bad so i figured i would wait until it really torments me. The ulnar nerves bothered me a lot when i worked for the local mine and i was handling 400-600 100lb bags a day along with other repetitive actions. Before i left there i opened up a Comp claim and saw some doctors and specialists. They recommended i change my profession or it would lead to surgery. I left the mine and it took a good yr or so for the nerves to relax and stop bothering. It had gotten to the point that i could barely pick up a half gallon carton of milk. If i picked it up close to me it was slightly painful but if i reached out with it my hand would automatically let go of it regardless how i tried to overcome the pain. Just putting my hand in a fist and reaching out would open my fingers up with no control and the pain was out of sight. Reaching out to pick up a pen would bring tears to my eyes. I changed occupations and was careful how i worked and eventually the pain went away. So far it has been good and as soon as i start anything repetitive that begins to bother i stop and either find a way around it or i just have someone else do it for me.
> 
> I suppose if i ever had to have surgery it may fall back onto the mine but i am not sure how that works. I didnt have squat for insurance at the time and thought maybe if i did a comp claim that they may have to cover the injury in the future. The little bit of wrenching i do on the side does not bother me unless it is tight quarters where i need to twist my hand around and use my fingers. Then my hand freezes right up into a ball with my fingers all crooked :laughing:. It has been bad enough where i had to use my other hand to straighten out my fingers. Oh well, such is life. I just change my habits and am thankful i still have all my digits and that they still work for the most part.


Sure sorry for your circumstances. 

Our symptoms sure are similar. I know its no fun!

I would think that if you have insurance now, it should be covered with no problem. Not sure how they would deal with it in relation to your comp case. Your dr's billing office could probably answer that pretty easily for you.

Obviously, mine was work related but it was not run through as a comp case. My insurance paid, no problem.

My surgeon and family dr's told me that the longer I waited, the less likely the chances for a good outcome. Because of work and life issues, I put mine off for about 10 months. You & your doc know what you're dealing with & will have to make an assessment if you decide to go forward.

For me, I'm pleased. The relief has been a positive thing.

Best wishes in whatever you decide!


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## J F (Dec 3, 2005)

I had both hands done in 2009/10, I believe, about 6-9 months apart. Worked out PERFECTLY.

I'd had the numbness/tingling/can't sleep/etc, etc, for a few years and finally went ahead and got checked out by an orthopedic surgeon. Nothing but good things to say about it. 

I'm pretty sure I posted about it, I'll see if I can find it. DO IT.


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## J F (Dec 3, 2005)

Here ya go, this was me:

http://www.contractortalk.com/f11/carpal-tunnel-release-surgery-62149/


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## arnldmtman (Jun 1, 2005)

Have had both hands done twice and trigger finger release done on each hand also. If not for the surjury I would have ended it all! The pain is so bad at night! The results are great but not perminate.


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## SMLWinds (Dec 19, 2012)

I can't bite my tongue anymore so I'll try to give you guys some facts you can go on with carpal tunnel.

First of all, I am a fellowship trained surgeon who in addition to working with tools at home, also does so in the operating room. I rarely tell my patients they "need" to have surgery because in orthopaedics there are few things that are life or death. However, carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS for short) is something where I push to consider surgery sooner rather than later. If you live with it for years, it will not kill you but can do permanent damage to the nerve. Essentially, the pressure is suffocating the nerve and cutting off it's blood supply and thus oxygen. Through various reasons (hand posture and a drop is blood pressure while sleeping) this is why you get pain that wakes you up at night. So, take care of it early and you'll get just about a full recovery. Wait years and you may end up with permanent numbness, pain, and weakness and the best you can hope for is that it doesn't get any worse. Still, it is not an "urgent" condition...in order to do appreciable damage it takes at least on the order of months.

The most interesting thing for you guys is that you should really consider someone who is appropriately trained and does these "endoscopically" where you use a camera only a few millimeters big to release the ligament. This is done through a smaller incision (about a centiment or two) and most importantly the incision is placed at the end of your forearm by your wrist, not in the palm. This avoids cutting through the sensitive, thick skin in your palm and as demonstrated by the guy above, avoids the possibily of having a scar that is sensitive (your sensitivity is in all liklihood related to the scar on the skin and not the fact that you have opened the ligament over the nerve).

I am trained to do these and have seen excellent results first hand. Most of my patients come back to me at 2 weeks and are doing most everything except heavy labor with their hands. By 3 or 4 weeks they are usually full speed. The recovery (according to studies and in my experience) is about twice as fast as making an incision in the palm. There is some evidence that in the hands of some surgeons this procedure has slightly higher risk of injuring a nerve or artery but the increased risk is very minimal and in the hands of a well-trained surgeon I feel the risks of an endoscopic release as just as small if now lower than making a big incision in your palm.

I see there is an accupuncture thread started recently as well. There is a lack of scientific (but not anecdotal) evidence for accupuncture. I certainly tell all my patients that if it works for you then do it! But, I bet most folks with not notice a difference and you still need to be aware that a chronic problem could lead to permanent symptoms from irreversible nerve damage.


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## Stunt Carpenter (Dec 31, 2011)

Has anyone had Endoscopic surgery or just open release surgery? 

I'm going in on Thursday for Endoscopic in my left hand. Just trying to find out a realistic recovery time. The doc said I should recover faster bc I have good hand strength.


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