Anyone here dealt with carpel tunnel?

scottmandue · 08-06-2014, 11:22 AM

I have had tingling and light numbness in my right hand for a few years... went to a doctor (my MD referred me to a neurologist) they tested me (electrocution... oh so much fun!)
Yeppers, you have CP... at that time (over a year ago) they gave me a brace and sent me on my way).
Numbness/tingling didn't get better so back I go to the neurologist... need to retest so more electrocution (wheeeee!). Yep, still have CP.... Dr. tells me " you can wear the hand brace 24/7 (for the rest of my life I presume) or get surgery. I said "lets look into surgery" so I got x-rays of my wrist and I am now referred to a hand surgeon, waiting on that paperwork.

Here is the deal, my wife had CP surgery last year... two week recovery they said... easy peasy they said... long story short they had to operate THREE times over a couple months to get it right and she still is not at 100% with her wrist. I have a different doctor and will be going to a different surgeon but still not getting warm fuzzes about getting surgery.

Anyone had this surgery or know of someone who has and how did it go?

Thanks in advance.

id10t · 03:48 PM

There is a reason they call it "practicing medicine" - it isn't a 100% exact science. No offense to our resident docs

That said, my mom (now 77) has had both hands done and is very happy.

My wife (46) has had both hands done and one side is back to normal but she occasionally wears her wrist brace on the other side.

It is possible to have it done laprascopically (sp?) now, I'd find an ortho that can do it with that method as opposed to slicing you all the way open to do it.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

You want a good hand surgeon for that sort of work

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

You need to contact Noah... He's a hand surgeon and in your area. Should be able to at least talk it over with you.

scottmandue · 08-06-2014, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobra

You want a good hand surgeon for that sort of work

Exactly! This is where my wife goofed... this is the enigma of women... they will spend hours searching and studying the minutia of their hobby, but then have someone cut your hand open? Sure... go for it!

BlueSkyJaunte · 08-06-2014, 02:37 PM

I view surgery as a last resort. In the late 90's I had carpal tunnel that was nearly intolerable. Through workstation adjustment and a few years of wearing braces I've graduated to only occasional numbness and no braces at all.

1) Wear the right braces. ESPECIALLY at night. I like these: Form Fit Wrist . Just because your doc gave you a brace to use doesn't mean it's the one that will work for you. They're cheap; try a few different ones out.
2) Get your workstation set up properly. For me, this meant investing in a Kinesis keyboard ($300) and a Wacom pen tablet ($100). Use them both properly.
3) Take breaks and do hand/wrist stretches often.

Good luck! I feel (well, felt) your pain.

John Rogers · 08-06-2014, 02:57 PM

In a post about this same issue a few years ago, I mentioned my wife had the surgery on both her wrists, about 4 months apart. It has been many years now and surprisingly those wrist joints are about the only ones in her body that don't hurt from arthritis pain. I had "trigger finger" surgery by the same surgeon in San Diego and have had no issues. That lady only did hands and wrists and according to my primary care doctor is one of the best in the country. I would suggest making sure the surgeon does this regularly and is a well known "expert" at it, as my heart bypass surgeon was.

gatotom · 08-06-2014, 04:09 PM

Way over 30 yrs ago before I became a Chiropractor my wife came down with the wrist pain bad, both wrists. Back then the surgery was the norm, she had both done and the problems became worse than better.

Frustrated, she went to a guru of occupational Docs in Seattle and the first thing out of his mouth was, "Did you try all adjunct therapies first?". Nope, the doc said cut and you will be fine. he replied back, "that was your first mistake".

He went on to explain that some people will develop massive scar tissue after surgery and due to that should try anything before the cut. He also said that some body types are ment for surgery, they recover great with little down time, which myself included can say that is true, counting now I have had 13 surgeries with great results, more or less.

It took many yrs for my wife to recover from that carpel surgery, she is not the perfect candidate for surgery.

So what BlueSkyJaunte said, try anything first, exhaust all before taking the knife.

NY65912 · 08-06-2014, 04:36 PM

I've had it for years. I've had a few really bad episodes where I was in so much pain I went to a hand surgeon for his opinion. I had the electrocution tests and it showed quite a bit of loss and delay. I went to Hospital for Special Surgery and saw a top doc there. He recommended surgery.

When it was acute I could hardly use my hand. The pain went up to my forearm and shoulder.

I scheduled the surgery both times and cancelled both times. I heard too many stories from others who were not satisfied.

It took about 4 months and the problem cleared up by 98%

Occasionally I'll get a small bit of tingling.

I did not do the surgery and I'm glad I held off.

If you do decide to do it screen the doc and ask how many of these surgeries he has performed.

Who has had Carpal Tunnel Surgery?

Good Luck

TimT · 08-06-2014, 04:53 PM

I don't have carpal tunnel.... but, I do have Tennis elbow.....I have never played Tennis...

Maybe held a Tennis racket once or twice.. A cortisone shot whenever it flares up and I'm good

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

Apparently the numbness in my hand after my car wreck was a nerve injury at the elbow, in addition to the back stuff. I have this gel ice pack thing I put on it and it helps some. It would have to be pretty debilitating before I would even consider surgical intervention for that. It is a repetitive use thing usually though, as I understand it. It seems to me this would be responsive to conservative treatment.

Noah930 · Noah930's Garage

In general, people do pretty well with carpal tunnel release (CTR) surgery. As in, 98-99% of people are happy they had the surgery.

That being said, you want to be sure that's what's causing your symptoms before undergoing surgery. You've had the nerve test confirming that you have it. But the symptoms that bother you and your physical exam should match up, too. If not, a little more thought has to go into ensuring that carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is what you really have. Otherwise the surgery's not going to make you feel better. I think that's where the expertise of the surgeon comes into play. It's not super-difficult stuff, but you have to have a surgeon who's going to listen to your complaints and do a reasonable exam (treat you), as opposed to someone who's just going to treat the nerve test.

Pick the surgeon, not the technique. That's a big mistake, IMO. People get fixated on technology, as opposed to the person (surgeon) on the other end of the blade. The traditional open technique works. The 3 or 4 or 5 common endoscopic methods work, too. There are plusses and minuses to all of them. I've tried just about all of them, and in the end--in the long run--it makes no difference how the surgery's done. There's probably less pain in the short term (first few months) after endoscopic CTR, but if you fast-forward a year after surgery, no one can tell the difference. Because the underlying surgery should still be the same, regardless of the smoke-and-mirrors technique employed. And generally, no matter where the incision is placed, people heal/scar pretty well.

Like with anything else in life, your best bet is to go with someone who does this a lot. I don't know if you need to go to someone who does 100/yr, but you're probably better off than going to someone who does 10. I think as long as you go to someone who specializes in hand/upper extremity surgery, you'll be as careful as you can reasonably be. FWIW, orthopedists and plastic surgeons make up most of the surgeons who do hand. Their specific background shouldn't make much of a difference--just pick someone who does CTRs regularly. There isn't a "Board" certification for hand surgery (there's a CAQ: Certificate of Added Qualification). You check if the doc has a hand surgical fellowship on his/her educational pedigree. Or you can check if the doc belongs to one of the two hand surgical societies: ASSH (Amer Society for Surgery of the Hand) or AAHS (Amer Assoc for Hand Surgery).

Best of luck.

edit: One other thing, regarding the timing of surgery. Unless you have severe CTS, you've got time to try other things before CTR. Try splinting (and if you can only wear them for 8 hrs per day, make them the 8 hrs at night when you're sleeping), oral anti-inflammatories, stretching exercises, behavioral modification and/or ergonomic changes. Some people believe in physical or occupational hand therapy. I'm not sold on those pneumatic stretching devices--the only ones who seem to push those are the ones who make a profit selling them. Try a cortisone/steroid injection. And if all those fail, then go ahead with the surgery.

People ask how long can they wait. Realistically, as long as it's not getting worse. If you wait too long and start getting advanced carpal tunnel, there's a chance that even with surgery you might not be back to "normal" due to some degree of permanent nerve damage. No one knows exactly when that is, but in general if you're having constant 24/7 symptoms, or a have a nerve test that rates you as "severe," or if you're getting muscle atrophy in your hand--then it's time to seriously consider surgery. Actually, if you wait until muscle atrophy, you've waiting too long and you've dipped into permanent nerve damage territory already. Don't wait that long.

NY65912 · 08-07-2014, 02:59 AM

Using the splint at bedtime helps. You would be surprised the positions your hand get put into during sleep. Keeping the wrist locked helped me a great deal. I used it all day and during sleep.

Rednine11 · 08-07-2014, 04:06 AM

I had the surgery on both my hands a few years back. I'm starting to have problems again. I don't know if having the surgery again would help me or not this time

scottmandue · 06:40 AM

Just for the record, I don't believe my current ergonomics are aggravating my CP (or is it CT?). My job if fairly varied and only 10-20% of the time am I sitting at a computer.
I was, however a sheet metal mechanic in a previous life (ten years)... cutting with sheel metal shears daily, swinging a hammer, cutting with a sawzall... I'm pretty sure that is what brought this all on.

That and the porn of course

J P Stein · 08-07-2014, 06:53 AM

My wrists/hands are toast.
I had a serious problem several years back when I went to work as a finish carpenter. Pain clear up to the shoulder that would wake me up at night.
When doing piece work, ya' don't work, ya' don't get paid. I toughed it out it and gradually it became just another pain. I live with & I'll die with it. In all likelyhood, working with your hands for 40-50 years is gonna' catch up with you. I do miss the fine motor skills.

Aleve is good.

scottmandue · 08-08-2014, 06:20 AM

Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone for your input (especially Noah).
I know this has been said before... but I have been on a lot of internet forms (can you say dialup?) and it never ceases to amaze me the diversity and if I may say the "brotherhood" (no offence meant to the ladies that post here) that exists here on PPOT.