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Biggest Regrets

Posted , 9 users are following.

glenn06752
glenn06752

Had bi lateral carpal tunnel surgery on both hands, two weeks apart. I am 5 weeks into recovery and still experiencing pain severe enough to make me miserable. Checked in with my doctor who is extremely high on himself and should heighten his compassion. Just as other readers have reported, I am experiencing shooting pains in both wrists and difficulty pushing my hand upward or downward. Holding onto the steering wheel is a big enough task. To make a short story short, I wish I had never embarked on this surgery. I felt much better before the surgery. If you're thinking about this surgery, please do yourself a favor and try PT first and think long and hard. The post op pain and loss of use is just plain miserable. 

2 likes, 30 replies

30 Replies

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  • nicola34310
    nicola34310 glenn06752

    Posted

    Hi Glenn

    I fully agree with you, my hand and numbness is worse than ever I had my left hand done which is my main hand I had this done 12/12/14 I am still doing physio but my physio said he is worried about the numbness in my last 2 fingers which has nothing to do with the menian nerve? Do god only knows what they gave done. You are 5 weeks op around 12/13 weeks and no difference numbness and dropping things is worse

    Nuc

    • Guest
      Guest nicola34310

      Posted

      Hello Nicola! I had the surgery done in March 2014, 50 weeks ago. During the two weeks I had the bandage on and especially after they took the bandage off, I could noticed a numbness in the last two fingers. But it lasted for several months and the last time I got it was oct-nov. It was very easily triggered if I have had my hand on the side and on to the madrass in the bed at night. So I tried to avoid that. This is probably a problem arising from swollen tissues (excess fluid) rather close to the ulnaris nerve post op. Hand massage has helped.
    • glenn06752
      glenn06752 nicola34310

      Posted

      I imagine I should try the physio like you and Ken eluded to.  The steering wheel in the car seems to trigger a lot of pain.
  • hillary67167
    hillary67167 glenn06752

    Posted

    Hi Glenn, I had my surgery on one wrist in Sept 2014 and it has been a long road to recovery.  The area round the scar is still very hard and I have been told this can take up to a year to disperse.  Whilst it is uncomfortable it is not painful.  I am hoping this will encourage you.  For some people it does take a long time, other people seem to encounter no problems.  My other wrist also needs doing but I preferred to do one at a time.  Unfortunately I don't think it's an operation you can put off indefinitely as it will damage surrounding tissue as well and create even more problems.  I wish you all speed in your recovery and encouragement to know that in time it will get better.
  • Guest
    Guest glenn06752

    Posted

    Hello Glenn! I have had at least some shooting pains as well, at one time (one and a half month ago) I sat totally calm in the sofa, resting, doing nothing with my hand and actually fainted(!) because of the sudden pain coming from absolutely nowhere. Since then I haven't got it at all. I believe it to be very activity related. If the shooting pains for me now are gone (who knows for sure?) and the feeling in the palm is back (I had almost no feeling there at all for 10 months, just spasms the first period) and the hand feels like it belongs to me again (it didn't at all the first time after surgery), unfortunately I still have burning pain in fingertip(s), and actually recently have got the pins and needles back which I hadn't since surgery. But worst of all is the very ice cold feeling in both(!) my arms - from the upper arm down to the fingertips, especially at night. Absolutely nightmare. Have no idea what that is. My advice to you Glenn is to change doctor, go to a well known physio therapist and see if they have some suggestions.
    • glenn06752
      glenn06752 Guest

      Posted

      Thanks Ken for the response. The sudden pain you describe coming from nowhere is a common occurence for me. 
  • sheila41382
    sheila41382 glenn06752

    Posted

    I hear ya, I am 6 weeks post op and nothing but burning, pain and lumps in palm around the incision....pain makes me sick to my stomach...had to have a nerve block done and that was awful....My surgeon basically told me to suck it up....well I was p*ssed....I am now in pain manaement clinic(they did the nerve block, which did not help by the way)....wishing I would have listened to muy sister who had her keft hand done 5 years ago and have nothing but pain since and refuses to get her right hand done which is way worse than the left one....oh dear
    • glenn06752
      glenn06752 sheila41382

      Posted

      Thanks Sheila for the post... I think what I was told before the surgery was a big sell and like you, my surgeon doesn't want to hear anything about post-op pain.  I hope you feel better and again like you, I wish I had listened to a friend of mine about this surgery.
  • sara14312
    sara14312 glenn06752

    Posted

    Hi Glenn,

    Sorry you are having such a tough time,I would like to share my positive experience.

    I have had carpal tunnel release on both hands over the last 4months and not had any problems,my surgeon was fantastic.

    Had right hand done on 8th November 2014,bandage on for 10 days,when bandage came off massaged area twice a day with oil (I got mine from the £1 shop) I went back to work after 4 weeks and no issues at all.Just didnt lift anything heavy for 6 weeks.No numbness and tingling its great.

    Left hand (dominant) done on 21st February 2015,also had a cyst removed from same wrist and also had a flexor synevectomy which is removal of infected synovium fluid around the wrist(reports were I had severe tenosynovitis)so I have scars on my palm and down the wrist.I am pleased to say I feel really well and only pain in wrist after two weeks.

    I went under general anaesthetic for both hands.

    Do you think that having the ops so close together may have hindered your recovery as I was told I had to leave 3months between each op

    Hope you feel better soon.

    • glenn06752
      glenn06752 sara14312

      Posted

      Hi Sara - thanks for your post.

      In view that my first surgery was on the 15th of January and my 2nd on the 29th, it might have been a bit too close. I also had additional surgery on my pinkie finger, left  hand for herberdons nodules. The pinkie finger didn't bother me at all.

      I loved your positive experience and I think I need to be a bit more patient. The body always tries to heal itself. I will probably be singing a different tune in another 30 days or so. Also, I think I went back to work too fast and never gave my hands a real chance to rest.

      I will check back in a while .. thank you again.

      Glenn

  • CarpDog
    CarpDog glenn06752

    Posted

    Hi Glen, I had both hands done 4 and 8 weeks ago. Both hands function perfectly with the exception of partial sensation in my left index finger. My surgeon said that sometimes nerves talk longer to re-energize so to speak. It could progress as slow as one milimeter a day from the wrist to the finger tips. So patience is really a virtue in my situation. Could take months to fully recover. I was on "Lyrica" for a while and that seemed to help. I also found that clicking my fingers is a good excersize to keep the thumbs strong.The shooting pains lasted for a couple weeks on and off and they weren't severe. The best part is that my hands don't wake me at night anymore. Hope this helps.
  • mark26805
    mark26805 glenn06752

    Posted

    Hi Glenn, I had my dominant right hand done in Nov 2014 and it is still worse than it was before surgery but I am still expecting further improvements.

    Before surgery I just got pins and needles when I rode a bike (both hands) this was not painful so I lived with it; but after a weekend of painting and decorating I woke at night with really painful hand/wrist (probably from sleeping with it under the pillow). So I told my Dr. he got my wrists tested and found my right severe but left moderate, hence I had the right done.

    I am no longer in pain....but my finger tips are always numb, not my thunm or little finger, just the middle three. Not painful and just the tips are numb. So I appear to have stopped a problem when I cycle, to have a permanent problem!!!!

    By the way, when I cycle now my right hand is great and I still get pins and needles in left hand (unoperated one). I think I will live with it a while longer yet!

    Good luck and keep up the exercises and massage.

    • glenn06752
      glenn06752 mark26805

      Posted

      Mark - thanks for the post.

      Glad to hear you are no longer in pain. The stabbing pains in my wrist that come out of nowhere are not enjoyable.

      Take care!

  • andrew98174
    andrew98174 glenn06752

    Posted

    Hi. I'v also just CT release on both hands 11 days ago. My left is fine but my right has lost feeling on the inner side of my middle finger and ring finger. This was immediate from surgery. Its numb when touched but also painful, and I get shooting pains. Does anyone know what tests can be done to find out whether the issue is froma cut in the nerve during the operation or just from swelling/brusing? As Glenn I'm very concerned and starting to wish I never went for the procedure.
    • sheila41382
      sheila41382 andrew98174

      Posted

      Hi Andrew,

      I had ct release Jan 20th in right dominate hand....I had burning pain in incision from day 1....also got alot of shock like feellings and went back to surgeon 2 weeks ago...he referred me to apin specialist and they diagnosed I have CPRS...Complex Regional Pain Syndrome....they did a nerve block and now I am starting therapy....The nerve block has not helped, but sometimes may need a couple of these injections....not pleasant....i am still not able to work due to all the pain and complications I am having....it feels like my pal has a hole burning in it most of the time....my thumb and fingers become very cold, esp at night and after doing anything with that hand can notice a change in skin color, becomes very red...still alot of inflammation and scar tissue....I too wish I had not had this procedure....I have as much pain as before and these other issues with it is just awful...it is very sensitive around the scar area as well and thumb hirts like crazy....basically pain 24/7....good luck on your recovery....

    • sheila41382
      sheila41382

      Posted

      i meant pain specialist...

       

    • sheila41382
      sheila41382

      Posted

      sorry for spelling mistakes...lol
    • Guest
      Guest sheila41382

      Posted

      Hello Sheila! You wrote: "...my thumb and fingers become very cold, esp at night and after doing anything with that hand can notice a change in skin color, becomes very red...still alot of inflammation and scar tissue...".

      Before the surgery on my right hand in March 2014 I had a very ice cold right hand, especially during the nights. Unfortunately though, it has been a year now soon and the ice cold feeling has been there on and off the whole year and in February to March this year absolutely dreadful (almost no sleep at all).

      However, a week ago I started to wear the writ bracelet again at night and the situation got very much better. smile Why is that? At first I thought I had severe Raynaud's or some other blood circulation disease, but wrist bracelets aren't by themselves protecting from that I guess?! They´re not particularly warm I mean.

      You wrote your skin colour becomes very red. Hmm. For me it's more like when I use my hand/s the skin colour becomes normally red and when I'm passive/resting the skin colour can become pure white. BUT, sometimes the skin colour doesn't change that much. I wonder why, my doctor have no idea. I must say, the numbness, the burning pain, the atrophy apart, the ice coldness feeling actually leading to pain in the bones is the worst part. I've had shooting pains as well, but not recently, and they made me faint at one stage, and that was dreadful too of course! I call this thing no matter what symptoms you have (burning pain, loss of feeling, shooting pains, ice coldness) they're all nothing but TORTURE. I don't think the surgery have caused symptoms in my case, unfortunately though they have only mitigated some of them.

      My question: Is it possible at all to have a feeling of ice coldness when you have cts? Or is that always another disease involved? My left hand has started to have the same ice cold feeling, sometimes even more than my right hand, from time to time, with almost no other cts symptoms. I don't know what to do. And pretty tired of this now. But I will continue this period of six weeks using the wrist bracelets at night to then evaluate and to then claim for an ultrasound/MRI examination. After only one week with the bracelets I have started to feel better again. However, I don't know if i's just one of my "ups" in the rehabilitation/healing process.

      Good luck everyone!

    • sheila41382
      sheila41382 Guest

      Posted

      Hi Ken,

      I am not sure if the ice cold feelings would be from cts or not....I only have had this since my surgery and it is apparently from another condition called CPRS...(Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) or RSD which is also called and that is because of the recent surgery.....I am seeing a pain specialist now and have been put on meds as well as having the nerve block treatments....and started physio. I asked the doctor today what causes all this burning, shooting pain, electrcic shock feelings, coldness, etc. He says it has to do with the nerves that lead from the spinal cord down to the wrist/hand area....it really didn't make a whole lot of sense to me....lol....I basically told him the same thing, that this is nothing but torture on a person....the only thing I can hope for is that catching this early after the surgery that it will get better, but there are no guarantees. That's comforting, not!....I am however going to stay positive and hope that with the meds and physio that it will get better over time as this is not being in pain 24/7.

      I would suggest that you get your doctor to check for any other circuulation probs as to the coldness that you are experiencing with your hands though. He should be checking that anyway. 

      I explained to the specialist and physiotherapist today that what I am going through now is way worse than what I was dealing with before the surgery, bascially because of all these other issues going on. It really makes it hard to function with daily activities. I hate complaining about it all the time and am happy to have found this site and can relate to what other people are experiencing, and get their input on what their doctor's have to say about it also and what is being done to helo along with the recoveries. I find as with some of the other discussions I have read on this, that sometimes the doctors just wash their hands of it and basically tell us to suck it up.That's what I felt about the way my surgeon treated me, but because I was so emotinal over the way I am feeling with all of this, he must have had a guilty moment and referred me to the pain management clinic. U have just had my 2nd visit there in less than 2 weeks and they are wonderful and doing everything they can to correct these issues.

      Good Luck and look forward to hearing from you and everyone else!

      Sheila

    • andrew98174
      andrew98174 sheila41382

      Posted

      Hi Sheila. 

      I spoke to the surgeon today who has said the cause of the pain is either a rupture or a cut to the nerve. He has offered two ways to go. Either go down the route of Physiotherapy to promote healing and also to desensitise the area by massage i.e. live with it! Or go to a neurosurgeon to open up again and try and find the cause. I am surprised that an MRI scan cannot be used in finding where the problem lies. Naturally further surgery is something I do not want to go down as further damage can result.

      Best wishes and hope you also recover!

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