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Carpal Tunnel is affecting my career/job choice and I am despairing at what I can do for a job

Posted , 2 users are following.

simone48043
simone48043

Hello All.

I am new to this forum but I am desperate for some help.

I developed Carpal Tunnel syndrome 3 and a half years ago. I had my first operation 2 and a half years ago, and continued with my office based role with no problems for 18 months. However it came back with a vengeance. I had a second operation 4 months ago and I knew straight away it hadnt worked. The surgeon said that the scar tissue from the first operation was like someone had poured concrete in my hand.

It was recommended that I change careers to something else, which I did. I had started to get pain in my left hand as well and I wanted to at least "save" one of my hands. So I moved into a role organising activities for the elderly at people with Dementia. However because a lot of the role has manual handling, wheelchair pushing and basically a lot of work with my hands that I hadnt anticipated, I am now in agony constantly and my left hand has more prominent symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome but not as bad as my right hand.

I am desperate to not be in a situation where I can no longer work because of the pain. My next consultant appointment is at the end of May and we will find out where we go from here.

The biggest problem facing me is what job I can actually do that wont aggravate my hands. I am well educated with qualifications in HR, Payroll etc and have always worked in an office up until my recent job in elderly care. Every job I look at seems to involve an element of computer work/lifting and other things which i know will hurt my hands. I cant even peel potatoes without pain. It's really depressing me and I think because I feel so low, I am not being very imaginative in what role I can do. I dont want to end up with permanent nerve damage to either of my hands and really dont want to be on disability benefits and in pain all the time. I love having a sense of purpose of working, but I just cant see what I can do. In my HR role, I have tried Smartnav and Dragon Naturally speaking but because I was working with HR systems and spreadsheets so much, Dragon was really awkward to use (even the professional edition) and it was taking forever to do something which would usually take me only an hour max. Smart nav gave me a massive neckache and subsequent headaches because of using my head as a mouse.

I really am in despair right now. I am only 34 years old and so have many years ahead of me for working but I just dont want to be in this pain all the time. Does anyone have any ideas of what job I can possibly do that wont affect my hands and cause me further pain and complications?

I would really appreciate some advice, because this is really getting me down and knocking my self confidence.

Thank you x

0 likes, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • jeremydpbland
    jeremydpbland simone48043

    Posted

    Come and discuss it on carpal tunnel net. Try to get hold of as many of your nerve conduction results as you can and we'll see if we can make some sense of the story. Dr J Bland
    • simone48043
      simone48043 jeremydpbland

      Posted

      Hello Jeremy

      I have tried to sign up to Carpal tunnel net and it said it would send me a link to activate my account, but it hasnt done this as yet, so I thought I would give you some more detail on here in the hope that you can offer me some advice.

      I first started suffering with Carpal Tunnel about 3 and a half years ago. I wore a wrist splint whilst I was working on the computer however it did nothing but make the pain worse. The company I worked for bought me various ergonomic keyboards and mice but they didnt help. One thing that I didnt really have was the pain waking me up on a night time. It was always within 20 - 30 mins of me starting work that it would kick off, then by the time I went to bed, it was still very painful and felt swollen, but I guess I must be a deep sleeper or just very tired, as it was very rare for the pain to wake me up during my sleep. I saw a consultant who did some tests by bending my hand etc and he diagnosed Carpal Tunnel and booked me in for an operation. Whilst on the operating table, he asked me how long I had had this and I said about a year at that point. He said the Carpal tunnel was really thick and him and the other Lady who was doing the operation were commenting about how thick it was to each other. After the operation and I regained feeling in my hand, I immediately knew it had worked and felt great about it.

      Fast forward to the beginning of last year, the Carpal tunnel in my right hand had returned and I was getting niggles in my left hand as well. The Doctor referred me to the Consultant about my right hand. He also did some bending of my wrist then sent me for a nerve conduction test on both hands. My left hand was fine, and my right hand was also within the normal range but towards the cutoff for Carpal tunnel. I have no idea what the figures are though. The consultant decided to operate just before Christmas last year. When I was in the operation he asked me if I had had an infection last time, which I replied no. He said that there was a lot of scar tissue as if someone had opened up my hand and poured concrete in there. He removed the scar tissue. Once I had regained the feeling back in my hand, I knew this time that it hadnt worked as the pain was no different to before the operation. At my follow up, he said that on the second operation it can take longer for my hand to heal, and that it might be 8 months or so before we can be sure. I am due to see him at the end of May for another check up.

      My doctor has run lots of blood tests on me to check for all the ususal culpits that can cause Carpal Tunnel (Diabetes, Thyroid, Arthritis, and a whole load of other hormal tests)

      The pain in my right hand is typical of normal carpal tunnel symptoms however I have an achey sort of grinding feeling on the top of my pointing finger (for want of a better word) from the big knuckle bone to the middle bone of my finger. Although the pain in my left hand is a lot less, I also have the same pain in the top of that pointing finger.

      I read something the other day about Vitamin B6 and B12 deficiencies possibly causing the lubricant in the carpal tunnel bones, but I assume if I was deficient in those, it would have been picked up from the numerous blood tests that I have had. I didnt fully understand the reasons behind why the inflammation occurs until I read this document, as it hadnt been explained to me before.

      I dont want to go into a job that is going to make the situation worse, however Computers and Manual Handling etc from my previous jobs seem to be doing exactly that. I dont want to be unemployed and I simply cant afford to me. I would just like to do a job that utilises my brain but that doesnt affect my hand. It seems like a tall order, I know, but I just cant think what is out there where using your hands is a small part of a job.

      I would appreciate any advice you can give me. Thank you

  • jeremydpbland
    jeremydpbland simone48043

    Posted

    There is quite a lot of evidence in that story against it being CTS - though at least it did seem to get better after the first operation. It's a pity they did not check the nerve conduction studies before complicating the situation with surgery. If you let me know the user ID you have chosen on carpal tunnel net I'll verify the account for you - the automatic email has probably been blocked by your email provider. JB
  • jeremydpbland
    jeremydpbland simone48043

    Posted

    OK Verified - It's probably worth running through the diagnostic questionnaire for the symptoms as they are now - even though it is not really designed for post-operative cases. We might also copy your message from here over as it is a very good summary of the story so far. JB
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