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Surgery scheduled and starting to have doubts

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r89648
r89648

I'm scheduled for CTS surgery on Wednesday.  After being on this forum and reading other things online, I'm starting to question what my doctor told me about recovery.  He acted like it was no big deal - in fact I'm planning on returning to work the following day. He said a lot of patients never even take their pain meds. I'm an attorney and sit at my desk primarily, doing work on the computer. I'm anticipating not being able to use my mouse with my right hand, and having to peck at the computer, but I'm starting to question even these expectations.  Has anyone returned to work right away? I keep seeing people talk about being out of work for weeks and that's not going to work for me! I need to be back to work asap, even if it is in an impaired state. Any easy recovery stories? I see plenty of horror stories!

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • jeremydpbland
    jeremydpbland r89648

    Posted

    Some people do get back to work very quickly, especially if highly motivated (self employed) and after less invasive forms of surgery (keyhole/endoscopic). You can't completely rely on it though. All surgery is a bit unpredictable and a few patients never work again after carpal tunnel surgery. The key question really is whether the operation is necessary - which depends on the clinical features and nerve conduction results, and how it has responded to less aggressive treatments in my view. Dr J Bland - there is much more detail on my website and we are currently engaged in a research study trying to determine predictors of time to return to work.

  • gabesson
    gabesson r89648

    Posted

    I had both hands done (right hand done twice) and returned to work the next day after surgery. Don't think you want to be pecking at those keys however for a little bit.

  • r89648
    r89648

    Posted

    Just replying to my own post for anyone's reference in the future.  I had my surgery at 10:00 in the morning with local anesthesia and was back to work the next morning without any problems whatsoever.  I'm now 2 days post surgery and am pecking along the keyboard just fine, almost as fast as I could type before surgery. Ibuprofen is all the pain medication that I've needed.

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