who has had carpal tunnel surgery?

J

JimAnsell

Well-known member
my carpal tunnel has become unbearable. my picking hand, my knife hand (pro chef here), my jerkin i mean my dominate hand has it, and it wakes me up at 5am every day with tingly pain that i can't shake off. it goes away a few hours after waking up, but then flares up randomly. I've tried to ignore it for a while, but its just too intense of pain now to ignore.
Who here has had carpal tunnel surgery? was it worth it? how long was the recovery time? do anyone of you players that suffer from this, have any homeopathic tricks for it? i mean besides weed.
 
I've had both wrists done . My right in Jan/2023 and my left in August/2023 as well as the nerve in my right elbow. I'm an auto service technician and had problems for years but one morning I woke up in October of 2022 and all 5 fingers on my right hand were numb . It was time to take action.

Best decision ever made . It just takes a few days for you to feel good due to the incision which is fairly small depending on how the surgeon does it and I actually just missed a few days of playing guitar to be truthful . The doctor wrote me off for a month due to the nature of my job as you have to be able to use your hands but if you had another type of job you could be back in a week or so . No repercussions or fallout just the incision sites are a little tender at times but there's some scar tissue .

My guitar playing still sucks but that's not from the surgery !!!!

My wife had both wrists done 6 years ago. Once you have it done it will not be back.

Hope this helps .
 
I take it you have already consulted with an ortho if it’s this bad and tried all the other measures they recommend? Have they been able to diagnose the reason for the symptoms? Most commonly it is what we’re all assuming- inflammation of the tendons and ligaments in that area from repetitive use but sometimes there are other reasons, either related to the bony structures or the nerve itself.

I think when CTS goes on so long that the ligaments become permanently thickened is when non-surgical measures really have little chance of success. If it’s still more in the earlier stages of inflammation then rest, compression/immobilization, physical therapy and anti-inflammatory/steroids might still help. They may just buy you a little more time though.

If your doctor is recommending or strongly suggesting surgery it’s probably time to face it. Good news is as I think your doctor would tell you, the surgery has a great success rate and for a lot of people is not really that bad to recover from. As far as orthopedic surgeries go it’s relatively minor.
 
Which part or the hand and fingers go numb? Thumb side or pinky side? I ask because if numb on the thumb end, it is carpal tunnel; if it’s pinky side then its ulnar nerve compression/stretch.
Carpal tunnel treatment really requires surgery BUT a way to improve symptoms is to wear the extensor wrist splints at night. (Can find them online). Natural posture when sleeping is flexion which tightens the carpal tunnel and creates symptoms. By placing the wrist in extension position will help symptoms by reducing entrapment on the median nerve.

If pinky side is affected, the Ulnar nerve is trapped at the elbow. Again, we sleep with elbows bent naturally in flexion which tightens its tunnel on the ulnar nerve. Oddly placing elbow pads (soft of course) backward (fat part in front) helps prevent from too much flex when sleeping and reduces symptoms.

One more point for those interested in stupid info…. For those of us that sleep with arms above our heads at night; 10-15% of people have a Thoracic outlet syndrome which is a compression at the inlet where neck meets chest. Raising the arms for prolonged periods of time puts pressure on the brachial plexus leading to an entire numb and flaccid arm (dead) until the nerve is released by dropping the arm to natural position. The treatment for this is to keep arms below head.

Just read @Panhead5 message.. he is right. It works good. Most people have great results. Being a chef and musician I would seek the hand specialist if you are going the surgery route. Your hands are your livelihood. There are plenty of hack surgeons out there. Not kidding, sadly I personally see the truth. I could write a fucking book on knotheads in medicine.🫤. When my tunnel is ready I’m going to Campbell’s clinic Memphis to Hand specialist.
 
I did in ‘18. Very happy I did as it had really slowed me down. Didn’t realize how much it was affecting me. Doc said he was surprised I could play at all. I opted to stay awake for it, but would recommend being put to sleep. No pain, but the crunching, pulling, and tearing were kinda unsettling. Doc said I could play as soon as I got home, but musta been joking. The soreness and swelling lasted about a month. I was 100% after 6 months.
 
I actually get both median and ulnar nerve entrapment symptoms from psoriatic arthritis flare ups and shit related to TMJ dysfunction. When it’s bad it is annoying as hell. Even the vibrations in the steering wheel while driving are unpleasant. Before those diagnoses had occurred I did have an ortho who was way too quick to decide I had carpal tunnel syndrome. He didn’t really look into it past my symptoms and the fact I play guitar.
 
I had both hands done about 2 years ago now. Procedure takes about 10-15 minutes, if that. An incision is in your hand, Dr snips the ligament, stitches you up, wraps your hand and sends you on your way. I fought carpal tunnel syndrome for years due to what I do for a living and now I have zero issues. Takes about a 4-6 week period for your hands to fully heal but you can be back to light duty within a day or so of the procedure. Likely will not do both hands at the same time, if you need them both done. I havent had any negative impacts after having the surgery and would highly recommend having it done instead of going with the temporary relied methods such as cortisone shots, braces, etc
 
My wife was having extreme pain…and she’s a warrior….toughest person I’ve ever met. She would wake up in the morning and be in tears. Had the surgery and g2g. Healed up super quick. Less than five days.
 
All good points here I can say it is amazing how long people suffer or are uncomfortable with carpal tunnel !! I knew when I woke up and all 5 fingers on my right hand were numb and I really couldn't get the feeling back I had to take action . I was awake far the left wrist repair but was put under for the right wrist and elbow .
 
I’m not sure what my issue is. I have m.s. and am numb on my right side. 7 leisions on my brain. Anyway my middle, ring and pinky fingers on both hands are numb also. Wonder if that’s c.t. Or something else?
 
I have it, went thru all the tests. It is in bith hands and nerve damage on the bottom side of my right palm. Not bad enoigh for surgury she said. My fingers go to sleep and sometimes I can’t tell which string I am on by feel. Right hand doesn’t pick as good either.
They gave me the wrist braces to sleep in. Those have helped. Just have to deal with it for now. Can’t practice repetitive stuff, so have had to work around it.
Sorry to you guys that have it bad. Surgury seems to work pretty well now adays.
 
Greazygeo said:
I have it, went thru all the tests. It is in bith hands and nerve damage on the bottom side of my right palm. Not bad enoigh for surgury she said. My fingers go to sleep and sometimes I can’t tell which string I am on by feel. Right hand doesn’t pick as good either.
They gave me the wrist braces to sleep in. Those have helped. Just have to deal with it for now. Can’t practice repetitive stuff, so have had to work around it.
Sorry to you guys that have it bad. Surgury seems to work pretty well now adays.
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George-- believe me you have it pretty bad . You can work around it but probably should consider getting it fixed
 
Panhead5 said:
I've had both wrists done . My right in Jan/2023 and my left in August/2023 as well as the nerve in my right elbow. I'm an auto service technician and had problems for years but one morning I woke up in October of 2022 and all 5 fingers on my right hand were numb . It was time to take action.

Best decision ever made . It just takes a few days for you to feel good due to the incision which is fairly small depending on how the surgeon does it and I actually just missed a few days of playing guitar to be truthful . The doctor wrote me off for a month due to the nature of my job as you have to be able to use your hands but if you had another type of job you could be back in a week or so . No repercussions or fallout just the incision sites are a little tender at times but there's some scar tissue .

My guitar playing still sucks but that's not from the surgery !!!!

My wife had both wrists done 6 years ago. Once you have it done it will not be back.

Hope this helps .
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I had my right hand done in 1994 and my left in 1996 (I am left handed). It was the smartest thing I did, it never came back and I have not had any symptoms since the surgeries.
 
I claimed workmans comp on both of mine.
Tool and Diemaker trade.

Repetitive motion of my job, over 30 yrs. ago had mine aching like a bitch.
One done. Then the other a year later. I was off 3 months each time.

I understand surgery now has recovery down to less than a month.
 
JimAnsell said:
Who here has had carpal tunnel surgery? was it worth it? how long was the recovery time? do anyone of you players that suffer from this, have any homeopathic tricks for it? i mean besides weed.
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Weed is useless.
Nothing numbs like a syringe full of China White. ☮️

They used to do 2 incisions. One right across the wrist and the other on the lifeline of your palm.
Heard its a small cut now in the palm.
 
Panhead5 said:
George-- believe me you have it pretty bad . You can work around it but probably should consider getting it fixed
Click to expand...
I would but my insurance won’t go for it. Maybe my new insurance is different, when the specialist said it wasn’t bad enough that was that as far as they were concerned. Not ever tried just seeing if I could just pay for it, if I could afford it. No idea what it would cost.
 
Very interesting to see a thread pop up about this, been struggling myself for the past 14 months with it.

Came out of nowhere and just won't fully disappear. Desk job day to day, guitar playing, weightlifting etc so I can't act like it's had no reason to pop up, but still...damn.

Ironically, I finally had a Nerve Conduction study done a few weeks ago and it came back crystal clear. Not sure what the heck is going on, but apparently with that I'm not a candidate for surgery.

Hope anyone who's struggling gets some relief, it SUCKS.
 
I've had both hands done.
it's been great. no more pain, still feel like i have all my strength.
i was supposed to be off work for 6 weeks. i was at work 2 days later and played guitar pretty much right away. carefully of course but recovery was fast.
did this in 2010. no reoccurrence.
 
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