Carpal Tunnel ?

[disneygirlatheart]

Has anyone had this? Have you had surgery? Did it help? What were the symptoms? How bad was the pain? I am asking because I may have it. I have knots in my hands around the knuckles and the pain is pretty intense. I drop stuff all the time and can't open jars etc. I go to the doctor in 2 weeks to see what is going on. I was hoping someone with this could give me more information in the meantime. Thanks!

 

[tkitty]

Hi. I had Carpal Tunnel surgery about 4 years ago. I started have more and more pain at my job, with alot of numbness in my fingers and weakness in both right and left hands. (The right was worse.) First I was sent for therapy, and reduced the amount of work load. I had 3 different braces, one was molded right on my hands & wrists, that I wore for a couple of months. Test showed that I had nerve damage, an I was sent to a Neurologist for tests, which showed Carpal Tunnel in both hands (more in the right-they hook you up with electrodes ) I had the surgery in only the right hand because the Dr felt that if I fixed the one, the other would get relief also, because I wouldn't favor the right one so.
I recommend the surgery. It helped so much. It took awhile to regain strength, but I'm glad I did it.

 

[tinker-belle]

I had BAD carpal tunnel syndrome. First my doctor gave me splints to wear when I slept, to try to hold the wrist in the proper angle. I wasn't able to sleep with them on. Then he gave me an anti-inflammatory prescription, but it didn't work for me. Then he gave me a shot of cortizone in the wrist- which is supposed to work in 50% of the cases- THEN I ended up with the surgery in both hands. The surgery worked great (I had the surgeries for each hand 6 weeks apart)
My aunt had carpal tunnel syndrome & did acupuncture 3 times a week for 6 weeks and it cured it for her.
G'luck!

 

[ukwildcat]

check out this link www.activerelease.com

if your carpal tunnel is coming from a repetitive strain injury, and it most likely is, then active release will help (i.e. permanently resolve the issue).

I treat roughly 3 carpal tunnel cases/week and I can generally resolve the symptoms within 3 to 5 treatments.

nothing against surgery, but it doesn't work for everyone. i say try everything you can before letting someone cut into you. Once they cut, you can't go back from that. good luck.

 

[Mousema]

I had moderate to severe in both hands with 10 - 15% nerve damage. I had the release surgury done. Piece of cake. That was 10 years ago and every thing is still great.

 

[speakupjc]

I just had the surgery on June 9. I was in a cast for 2 weeks and have been in physical therapy since then. The verdict is still out but I am getting better. It is very painful still even at this point.

 

[kkevcamsmom]

My symptoms at first I thought it was just pinched nerves. My hands would tingle, sometimes burn around the wrist area, they would hurt and swell at night, shooting pain up through my fingers and up my arm. Stiff fingers and wrists in the AM. Ironically it was my boss at work that told me it sounded like CTS, then... well let's just say now the company pays for the surgeries so that is ALL they have to pay for.

I had my right hand done in 1994 and my left done in 1995. Mine was pretty sever and I had some possilbe nerve damage in my fingertips on my left hand, but it's since started to come back More than 10 yrs later I have a bit of feeling coming back to the left hand finger tips.

I would do the surgeries again if it ever came back the pain was no fun to live with! My Dr. did all other options except the cortizone shots. When I got to the point I asked for those he said we should just do surgery.

Good luck at the dr's

Lori

 

[Thori]

Carpal tunnel is when the nerves going through the wrist get squished (swelling muscles or tendons due to repetitive stress, pregnancy, bloating, etc) so the most common symptoms are tingling in the fingertips or hand. If you flex and extend your hands at the wrist (palms together, fingers pointing up and then back of the hands, fingers pointing down) and hold for a minute or two and see if the pain/tingling/etc gets worse or not.

Sometimes there's radiating pain (that travels from wrist to fingertips, elbow to fingers, etc), weakeness in grip, decrease/werid sensation such as not feeling light pin pricks or burning sensations ...and just pain in general. Swelling at the joints, around the knuckles might be more indicative of arthritis so you definately have to see a doctor to pinpoint the problem

For now tho, if it's carpal tunnel, try to think about what maybe causing it such as work, home/yard work or body changes? Things where your wrist is in motion, wagging up and down, cause carpal tunnel. Would be a good idea to get a light to medium massage too, sometimes stress causes muscles to cramp up around the shoulders which may impinge on the nerves comming off of the cervicals

 

[disneygirlatheart]

Thanks for all the info. Very helpful

 

[speakupjc]

Also an injury can cause carpal tunnel as I got mine from gripping the steering wheel during a car wreck.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I had it, probably beginning with repetitive computer use..then after I got pregnant, was almost unbearable (almost meaning that I actually didn't shoot myself-it was bad) Couldn't do anything with my hands for more than a few seconds without pain/numbness(yes, they actually occur simultaneously!). Blowdrying my hair, putting my hands on the steering wheel to drive, anything...I just mentioned it casually to my OB, and he immediately went to the supply closet and brought me splints..I had no idea, but pregnancy brings it on..I wore the splints when I could, they were my only source of relief...Got a little better after the birth of my first son, then with my second preganancy, it was back as bad as before. After my second son was born, it didn't get better, plus I was having to do all kinds of things for 2 babies. Tying shoes on a wiggling 2 year old was very stressful for both of us...About a year after my second (last) son was born, I had the surgery...first one hand, then 3 weeks later the other. It was done at an outpatient clinic by the nicest people in the world. They put me into "twilight sleep" (very, very , nice.. ) and I was out of there within 4 hours of arrival.. I had immediate relief, I had a bandage on my hand that was about 3 inches thick, I didn't need the pain killers they gave me-I felt NO pain at all. I was told not to lift anything with that hand (duh).
I had the second hand done 3 weeks later with the same exact results. No physical therapy.. My surgeon was brilliant, he hid the scar in one of my lines of my wrists, and I can't even tell where the incisions were.



In retrospect, I think that I may have developed CTS long before I got pregnant. I had a period of time where I would wake up in the middle of the night with the worst pain going up my arm to my shoulder - extreme numbness, too. It was so bad, I thought how it would be just to have my arm amputated...sick, I know, but it was that bad. I saw a GP who took X-rays to see if I had a spinal injury!! CTS wasn't talked about that much back then (around the late 1980's) so I guess it didn't occur to him. It got a little better, but never totally went away.

Before surgery, I tried a chiropractor who made me feel good by massaging my hands and wrapping them in warm blankets, and some kind of bizarre electric shock therapy, but before I walked out the door, it was back. My hand surgeon said to go ahead with the surgery instead of cortizone shots since it was so bad, and cortizone is extremely painful and only lasts for a few months. I am glad that we went the way of surgery..It didn't hurt at all. I know that some people are against "cutting" , but my feeling is that if there is a CURE for something, I am ecstatic that it is available. And let's get it done, not to keep coming back for painful treatments every 4-6 months. Massages and warm blankets didn't do a thing for me, and if the problem is compression on a nerve, I don't see how that could permanently fix things.

I can't tell you if surgery is right for you, your hand surgeon will advise you. But I CAN tell you that for me it was absolutely nothing to be afraid of, and so worth it, and I was so glad to be rid of all that pain and agony....Good luck...

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I also had the surgery in the late '80s; this was before CTS (or RSS) was officially recognized as a work-related injury, though it was suspected. Fortunately I had good health insurance, so it was covered by them.

My case was very odd, just woke up one morning with tingling in my left hand, and it continued for a week. Then the tingling went away and the excruciating pain began. (This is what happens when your nerve is dying.) Even someone walking by my desk brought a whiff of air over the nerves of my skin, and my entire hand felt like one giant open wound, it was awful! Then the numbness came.

I went 3 months, I think, while my doctors tried to figure out what the heck was happening (the symptoms were textbook case, but all the typical testing showed no sign of carpal tunnel, very baffling!) and my employer's insurance doctors (because my employer asked me to file a WC claim) seemed to be focused on proving that I was faking somehow.

I wound up having two surgeries, a carpal tunnel release, and a median nerve release (about a 5" zigzag scar centered at my elbow, which allowed the doc to check the nerve from shoulder to wrist.) I got some sensation back after the 1st surgery, but still had some numbness and limited use. Most of my sensation came back after the 2nd surgery, which occured about 6 mos. after the initial symptoms. No problems after that!

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

my mother had it years ago and she got surgery for it......twice actually. in both hands, twice. but she only had it twice because of her job. she's a secretary so she's constantly typing away. it was pretty painful for her. the second time she got the surgery it helped more than it did the first time. she has to wear a brace when the pain gets bad and the doctor gives her anti-inflammitories and some kind of cream for it also.

you could also have tendonitis. i have it in my right wrist(it's just from overuse). sometimes it's so painful i can't even turn the doorknob. there's really nothing they can do about it surgery-wise, but they give me the same anti-inflammitories and the same cream that they give my mother. and i ice my wrist as well.