<p>After having an EMG, my doctor has recommended talking to a hand surgeon about having carpal tunnel surgery. My diagnosis is in the severe range and of course, this is not happy news. </p>
<p>Has anyone had surgery for this condition? And if so, was it helpful in relieving your symptoms? I would welcome any suggestions anyone might have.</p>
<p>Surgery has become easy and effective. My little cousin specializes in this. He doesn’t even need to schedule follow-up visits because surgery solves the problem. Very different than when I went thru this 30 years ago.</p>
<p>My only suggestion–find a surgeon that just does hand surgery. It sounds like your MD said the same.</p>
<p>An anesthesiologist here.</p>
<p>Ditto on choosing a hand surgeon over a general orthopod. </p>
<p>Avoid endoscopic carpal tunnel release unless your surgeon has done thousands of the endoscopic procedure and can provide an overwhelming reason to perform endoscopic rather than open carpal tunnel release. Choose IV regional anesthetic (aka a Bier block) or local infiltration over general anesthesia.</p>
<p>Most patients experience dramatic and rapid reduction in symptoms following carpal tunnel release.</p>
<p>My mother had carpal tunnel syndrome surgery way back in the 80’s. The relief from the pain/numbness was wonderful. Her sister also had the surgery with good results.
They were both secretaries who had spent many years pounding old non-electric typewriters.</p>
<p>I had surgery for a similar condition- De Quervain’s tendonitis. Before my surgery my had was so swollen and achey all of the time that I could barely use it, and afterwards I haven’t had a problem since. Technology seems to be able to take care of it these days.</p>
<p>I don’t have carpal tunnel, but have severe arthritis at the base of my thumb & am going to see a surgeon this week. Hopefully he can give me some options that are better than my rheumatologists suggestion of " put some ice on it".</p>
<p>My thanks to all of you who took time to post. This has been very helpful and I will be going to see the hand surgeon soon. I have a deep fear of surgery and it has prevented me from addressing this issue sooner. But it will be worth going through the procedure if it relieves the pain of CTS.</p>
<p>I don’t like surgery either. I have had surgery on my feet- but I never had the screws removed as I was instructed so I am expecting a lecture.
But my thumb has greatly limited my activities , and I want to have the use of both my hands as much as possible. I know surgical techniques have greatly improved and that gives me hope that it can be helped.</p>
<p>I know that it is a pain to get old- but damnit I am not that old!</p>
<p>I had this (with the Bier block!) in December, by a hand surgeon - here are a couple of thoughts:</p>
<ul>
<li>Recovery was much slower than I had been led to believe. Much slower. I could not as much pull a tissue out of a box with that hand for a good two weeks. Anything else was impossible. Good luck getting a bra on or socks/shoes on the foot of the side you had the surgery on – plan for some real help with these things for a couple of weeks. It was a good month before I could tie shoelaces, for example. Clothing choices need to be made with an eye to being able to use the bathroom independently – no zippers or buttons on pants, for example.<br></li>
<li>There was a fair amount of swelling. I had to keep the hand elevated most of the time for the first ten days or so. Not elevating it was not an option.<br></li>
<li>My hand was really, really cold for the first week or so – found a big, loose, fluffy sock and wore it over it, especially at night. (I hadn’t thought about this ahead of time, and the only thing we could figure out the first night was a big old not entirely clean oven mitt. None of the gloves or mittens would fit.)</li>
<li>I saw an occupational therapist who was a hand specialist for hand therapy for about a month beginning four weeks after surgery. She was a godsend, and I really don’t think I would have nearly the strength I have now without her specific exercises. Her scar desensitization therapy and the scar pads were amazing, and the therapy putty really helped with strength and flexibility.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>I am very happy I had the surgery – great being able to sleep without my hand going all numb and tingly – but it turned out to be more incapacitating than I would have expected from such a small incision. Well worth it, but if I ever need it on the other hand I’m going to be a lot better prepared.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Relief from numbness, tingling and pain can be nearly instantaneous. Recovery of strength varies from person to person. Because carpal tunnel release alters the geometry of the tendon travel through the wrist, maximum possible grip strength is theoretically reduced in all patients. Actual grip strength, however, is usually increased with post-operative physical therapy.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I met with the surgeon today, he is referring me to the hand guy in his practice. Said down time is about two months. I generally heal fast but do I want to do this in summer? On the otherhand it couldn’t be much worse than it is now since I can’t really use it anyway.</p>
<p>I had this done 20 yes ago and it was quick and easy. Scar ran along natural crease in hand. Well worth it. Have not had any problems since</p>
<p>Mine isn’t carpal tunnel- it would be joint replacement for the basal thumb joint ( they use a tendon from your wrist) but I also have knee and feet problems- I have to decide which one is most pressing and will make the most difference.</p>
<p>The doc did say at least that I don’t have to take the screws out of my foot- so that’s a relief.
But I am concerned about how long it might take to get strength back in my hand- I use both of my hands a lot & like my thumbs!</p>
<p>I saw the surgeon today- he suggesting partially fusing the joint because with my floppy ligaments it would be even more unstable.
I would have a cast for 6 weeks, which would get me through the bulk of the summer- but I was surprised that it was an outpatient procedure. But I guess practically everything is.
Too bad my H isn’t much of a nurse.</p>
<p>Just a quick update to benefit anyone with carpal tunnel. I am now 1 month post surgery and am happy to report my hand is greatly improved and the scar is almost invisible. The surgery itself was not bad and I only had a loss of my hand for a few weeks. Also, I had very little post op pain, I did not even take any of the pain medication the surgeon prescribed. I could tell a big difference right away with the tingling and numbness. Even though the surgical area is tender, the pain is nothing like before. So happy I got brave enough to do this! It was a great decision.</p>
<p>Good news HeartArt. Glad you took the plunge and went through with the surgery.<br>
Hope you continue to heal well.</p>
<p>this is encouraging- thanks for reporting back.
( I haven’t gone back in yet myself- but somethings don’t heal themselves so…)</p>
<p>Great news, HeartArt! If you can see a hand therapist for some training in scar desensitization, you might find that beneficial. I did. (And I wish somebody had led me to that info back when I had my appendix out.)</p>
<p>My sister just recently had surgery on both hands to relieve her problems with carpal tunnel syndrome. She had surgery on one hand yesterday and had the other hand done two weeks before that. She didn’t want to have them done on the same day because she wanted to have some use of at least one hand at all times. Her major concern having both done at the same time? Not wanting someone else to wipe her butt. She has done super! Both times, she reported relief from numbness and tingling immediately after the surgery. She had some ibuprofen (600mg) for pain immediately after surgery both times, but hasn’t needed anything additional. Each time, she was given a local anesthetic and came out of surgery awake, alert and feeling well.</p>