carpal tunnel

[Tiggeroo]

I have carpal tunnel syndrome. I had through some changes gotten it under control and was rarely troubled by it. However, recently I began a long term sub teaching assignment in sewing which is requiring a good deal of hand work. I do not want the surgery for this. Have you avoided surgery? How did you do it? I need to finish out the school year in this class, however, as I refresh my sewing skills more the amount of work I'm doing that is aggravating this should decrease considerably.

 

[kerstfan1]

i think the only way to get rid of the problems is surgery

 

[1stluvispooh]

Have you tried doing stretching exercises? When mine acts up I do them and it quickly goes away. You can look them up on the Internet. My sister swears by them.

 

[Tiggeroo]

I will look up the stretching exercises, do some icing and get another wrist brace. I"m also going to chance the keyboard I'm using. I may need the surgery but although I have health insurance I don't have a permenant secure position at work and would rather not take all of the unpaid time off.

 

[merrily]

Someone I know was just telling me they had success with a chiropractor treating their carpal tunnel. That is an option that would never have occurred to me.

My mom wears wrist supports to bed and that helps with hers.

 

[PatsMom]

I postponed surgery for years by using wrist braces all the time. And ice and anti-inflammatory drugs. Ultimately I did have the surgery as the nerve damage was getting worse but by then I was settled in a good job. I only took a week off for each hand. By the end of the week the big bulky bandages are removed and you have the use of your fingers.

One of my incisions failed to adhere which basically means is split open when they removed the stitches. I had to go to the doctor every day for debridement of the wound and I still have a pretty broad scar that limits my range of motion slightly in my left hand. Made me wish that I had opened a workmen's comp claim!

 

[Cindy B]

Congrats on the long term assignment. I had no idea they even had sewing classes left! My district got rid of them about 10-15 years ago.

I would say just keep on icing and get one of those braces if needed. You can get the braces at like CVS, Walgreens, etc. Remember you can probably schedule surgery during Spring Break.

 

[chyam]

I prolonged the surgery for a couple of years by wearing the hand braces , I was even told to wear then at night! And it does help, early last year it was progressively getting worse, no matter if I wore the hand braces and did the exercises.....It got so bad with my left hand that I could no longer even feel if my hair was wet! So I bit the bullet, had a nerve study done, my left hand was worse than my right. I had the surgery in October...it's very easy...wore a soft cast for a week, then a week later had the stitches removed. Started PT and am now back to work, I had a longer recovery time because my job requires lifting and I work 12 hour days, I was actually out 11 weeks! I still have a little swelling in my wrist but each day it gets better. I will have the right hand done later this year if I can wait that long.
But I really had no pain from the surgery and the numbness was gone that day and haven't had it since in my left hand.
But try wearing the braces when you are sleeping and when you are sewing.

 

[castmemberb4]

I had success with most of the above except surgery.
I started with a stiff brace, my chiropractor did adjustments,
and I iced it. As it got better I moved to a softer wrap style brace and
started to do the streach exercise. I took a few months but the
pain and tingling went away. I got both braces from my chiropractor
and I did wear them day & night. Now when if it starts to bother me
my chiropractor will do a small adjustment and that usually clears it up.
One other thing that I think helped me a lot is I moved my mouse to a higher surface so that my wrist is not cocked back at a bad angle when I use it. For your wrist to sit at a natural angle your elbow should be lower than your wrist.

Hope you find some relief, I know it can be miserable.

 

[Tiggeroo]

thanks this might help. I also am a keloid former so surgery for me can bring the complications of considerable scar tissue. I will avoid it if possible. It was fine until the sewing. Now sleeping thru the night is impossible as I wake up 2-3 times with numbness and tingling and it is taking longer to get it back.
And yep - last of the sewing classes apparently. That's why a long term sub. After teachers retire I doubt they will be replaced. But it will look good on the resume and there are some district openings in the fall that I'm interested in.

 

[ukwildcat]

www.activerelease.com

 

[Tiggeroo]

Have you tried Active Release? I had looked into it before. I'm wondering how well it works because it might not be covered by insurance.

 

[I Love Pluto]

I put off the carpal tunnel surgery for about 20 years because I was a music teacher, and was always playing piano. Finally, it got bad enough that I couldn't sleep with pain.

I was STUPID. IF I had gone sooner for the surgeries - which weren't really that bad - things would have been easier for me. Waiting only increases the damage that already exists. Trust me - they won't operate on your hands unless you need it. They test for that with an EMG. EMGs don't give false reports, so you can rest easily knowing that your surgeries were necessary.

You will only be out a day or two from school. I went back, pushed carts from room to room, and played piano with the other hand for a week or two. I'm not anyone special, so you can do it, too.

Besides - you have health insurance now. Use it while you have it.

Good luck, and I hope that you feel better!