How did it turn out.?

Hands ache any time I use handtools now. Sometimes go numb or tingly for no reason. Grip has gone to S%*! Been putting it off for too long, time to get something fixed.

Great. Get it done before it does too much damage and is permanent. Mine was quick and recovery was smooth and fast.

DW444
I had both hands done about a year ago a few months apart, full grip pressure returned only thing little finger on left hand did not come back as well( a bit weak) other wise every thing is cool. I am right handed so not problem. Cheers NC

Had my left hand done about 10 yrs ago after I broke my wrist in a little motorcycle off. The doc put a titanium plate in my wrist and recommended CT while he was in there. I still fumble and drop things but I don't have any pain or tingling.

I Need Both Mine Done. I've Been Putting It Off For Years. Last Nerve Test I Had. Was 5.6 On Left And 5.9 On The Right.And Was Told Anything Over 4.0 Needs Fixing.My Little
Fingers Stay Numb Most Of The Time..

Had my right hand done 10 yrs ago, fully functional, I can feel the trigger again! My right hand was completely numb for over 18 months. I followed the recommended Physiotherapy made a complete recovery. As soon as the surgeon made the cut I had feeling in my fingers again.

yup, and wish I hadn't put it off so long. Works great and no tingle nor numbness.

Only thing that must be remembered is that it whatever caused it can cause it again and it cannot be fixed a second time, according to my Dr. My hands are both severe but I haven't taken the time to fix them.

Had my right hand done on January 29 and my left on February 10th. The doctor had a hand fellowship. Local anesthetic on both. The surgery itself took about 15 minutes. Doctor said the ligaments in both hands were very tight and the nerve in the right hand was red and very inflamed. If you wait too long, you can have nerve damage and then the procedure is less effective. Three stitches in each hand. He said full hand strength in 12 weeks. Right now it can hurt if I put direct heavy pressure on the location of the incision, but otherwise I am fully back to speed. Been using a chainsaw and driving the tractor for the last 8 days. No numbness, tingling or pain while asleep (or at other times). PM if you want additional info.

I had a very severe case in my right arm about 20 years ago that I treated with non-surgical methods.

It took me about 6 months and I continued to use my arm for work all during the treatment, but very carefully...I had to be careful not to aggravate the injury, and even though I was extremely careful, I set back the treatment time on more than a few occasions by not giving 100% rest. One shouldn't really use an injured part, because it has to rest to heal, but fast-forward to now, 20 years later I am absolutely at 100.00%!

My GF had both wrists surgically done a few years ago, separately, and she was out of work for several months, and had to go on disability both times.

She is mostly ok now, but on one of her wrists, the doctor acknowledged that he nicked the nerve, so one of her hands has slight permanent numbness in a few fingers.

That's a common side effect.

I had my right hand done 20 or so years ago. Perfect results with no lingering problems.

If you need them done, get them done. One hand at a time, though. Unless you have someone with you who will feed you, hold your tallywhacker when you pee, clothe you and wipe your butt and you don't mind having such things done for you.

Slept with a wrist brace for awhile, solved it for me.

I tried the brace and didn't have any luck. Went in last Summer and got a shot of something right in the wrist. Burned for a day or two but has been good as new ever since. Really nice...

Doctor said it might be fine for a few months or maybe get lucky and it's good forever. We shall see.

That's because you have a horse cock. The brace works for mortals.

Yeah, good point.

Whatever happened to Jesus?

My hand's up.

Had high hopes that faded after several months of post-op without significant improvement. Much to my surprise and relief, however, after 8 or 9 months the nagging pain and numbness subsided considerably, and after about a year and change the difference was dramatic. It took awhile, but I eventually got almost complete relief.

As an aside, I asked the surgeon to administer only a local. She was adamant that my request couldn't be accommodated, but after my insistence on being able to watch, with my promise that if I yakked or passed out or whatever, she'd have me put under pronto. Of course, that never happened. "Mr. H, you're the first of a couple hundred patients I've done this on who forced me to stop cutting due to a case of the giggles!" She was hot, too.

Get it done. A large % of the procedures produce positive results.

The one I used to know?

Funny. The worst discomfort and frustration from the affliction, that which ultimately led to my getting the thing done, was the numbness and shooting pain I felt while twisting the throttle on my bikes...

That would do it!

I am looking at the same procedure for my left hand soon. When I have to work the very stiff clutch on my motorcycle a lot, such as on twisty or hilly roads where lots of shifting is needed or heavy traffic I will start to get pain and numbness in my left hand. A health improvement project for NEXT year. I might try a brace this year and perhaps even while riding.

I had both done with locals. Right hand turned out good. Left was to far gone with nerve damage so it is about 75%.

I had my left wrist fixed in 1978.

It was HOSED, and very screwed up,...forget sleeping well, and any real strength.

The tests where they hook ya' up like a laboratory frog and hit the juice were a bit weird, ...must say I did NOT like that part.

Tiny little incision, was WORKING WELL again in way less than a week.

My understanding is that a GOOD surgeon just slips in and relieves a ring of fascia in the joint, and closes things back up.

Chainsaws, Grinders, and repetitive motion / general overwork are one way that you win the CT prize.

I guess computer geeks, and cashiers suffer from it too.

If I had any problem with Carpal Tunnel I would go the surgical repair route NOW.

GTC

Yes, get it done. I had both mine done at the same time, several years ago. Hard to even remember now how painful life was before the surgery. My wife broke a wrist a few years back, and the guy who fixed it recommended CP on that wrist while he was in there, along with a metal plate he had to put in. Her CP was a lot less extensive than mine was - just a small slit, whereas mine where both the old "open" procedures, where they cut me up pretty good. I was told if I did not get something done, I might lose the use of both hands.

My wife had problems in both hands. She had the worst one done with the intention of doing the other at a later date. Her hand healed fine and the problems went away in her other hand. This was years ago and she has never had to have the second hand operated on.

Jim

do know from what i learned from bulging a disk in my back that was pressing on a nerve, once the numbness becomes pretty constant you need to get it fixed sooner rather than later....longer the nerve is cut off the longer it takes to get back right and if it is cut off for to long you may never get it back.....our bodies are pretty much under the rule of "use it or lose it" and if you pinch a nerve and not allow it to be used it basically dies after awhile....

Had the right one done in 1991, the left in 2001. I was off work for about 10 days and then light duty for a while after that. The only thing I noticed was the incision site was sensitive to direct pressure for about a year.

Braces at night helped me to sleep but I couldn't grip the steering wheel etc without pain during the day.

Dale

Same here. I had a few manual labor jobs in a row that were very repetitive and hand unfriendly. I had issues with both hands so bad that I'd wake with numbness up to my elbows. Made it a real b!tch to shut off the alarm clock in the morning. Certain activities through the day would cause it to flare up, too.

I bought braces for both wrists and focused on keeping my hands flat and unclenched when I wasn't wearing the braces. I did some wrist tendon stretching exercises, too. The braces began helping a little almost immediately, but real relief too some time.

Wow, glad to see it's not just me. Was afraid I was turning into a big Sissie or something...

The ONE thing that sets it off worse than others is the weed eater. Something about the vibrations of the thing hits just the right frequency, and my hands physically swell, like if I got a bee sting. Goes back to normal a couple hrs after.

Sounds like surgery worked for most, will call the Doc on Monday for an apt.




When I was riding, it killed my hands as well. Ended up have to use one of these [b][color:#3333FF]gay looking devices[/color][/b] to get any relief because the I just couldn't grip.

Aw man, that contraption ain't gay. Assuming you used your chin to bury the throttle...



Good luck, friend. Nagging pain sucks.

Yes, that one.

Had my right wrist done six years ago and now wish I hadn't waited over 20 years to fix it - results have been great. Just had my left wrist done less than two week's ago (chit, now I have to go back to work on Monday) - hoping for similar results...

Get it done - it's worth it (after fighting it most of my adult life).

before you get cut, give a good chiropractor a month or two to make sure your elbow and wrist are aligned correctly. I run a nail gun every day and my right side is a mess, but chiro keeps me functional without getting knifed. Worth a non invasive try first anyway.

Hopefully that crazy fuucker is still alive, haven't kept in contact with any of my old concrete buddies.

Had an EMG test today to test the nerves and muscles in my hands and arms. Test consisted of multiple electric pulses, the worst of which was as hot as an electric fence. Luckily it was just a single pulse and not a continuous jolt.

The needle portion of the test was pretty easy, didn't feel much, until the Last poke of the test. That one goes into the middle of the big muscle below the thumb on the palm side. That one gets your attention real quick like...

Test showed Moderate Carpal Tunnel in both hands and an inflamed nerve in both elbows.

I know how they fix the Carpal Tunnel, anybody know how they fix the nerve at the elbow? Hope it's a simple rehab based solution....

I don't know about fixing the nerve in the elbow, but during my recent left Carpal Tunnel release, I had a similar procedure done at the same time on my left elbow for tendonitis. The recovery is the same for both, so they like to do them at the same time. My elbow procedure added 5 minutes to the surgery with a 1/4" incision.

I had my left wrist done on the 2nd. The right one a few years ago. The shots cut the inflammation but don't fix the problem.
My doctor use the 3M Agee endoscopic carpal tunnel release system. He makes one small incision in a skin crease on the wrist just below the hand. I had the surgery done on a Monday and the next Monday the ace bandage and gauze were removed and the external stitches removed. Very effective.

The surgery style that cut the hand open did have problems with scar tissue causing pressure on the carpal tunnel.

My wife had both wrists done about a month apart. Complete success from the surgery. She was miserable prior to it. Braces helped her sleep at night, but then they quit working. Went in for surgery and she could not be happier. Procedure took about 15-20 minutes for each wrist. BTW, she put off surgery for years and then thought she waited to long to get relief....

I had the open incision on the heal of the hand on my right wrist six years ago. My recent one on the left was done with the endoscopic procedure. My surgeon explained it to me that with a milder case, he prefers endoscopic and for mere severe case, the open incision.

The wife had an uncle that use to work some place for a couple years them sue em for carpal tunnel. He'd get $20k and go live in Panama City Beach for a few months, suck umemployment

Then go get another job at some factory putting his 3 screws in the widget on the assembly line

Few months later.... Lather, rinse, repeat.


Pretty good racket for him coupled with food stamps and earned income credit.

cut on this morning. fingers are swollen pretty good. typing with one hand is slooooow.....

Somebody missing a guitar string..?

6 days post op. Got it wet tonight taking a shower, didn't want to leave it wet, so had to re-dress...

Most of the red/orange stuff is that Iodine like stuff they coat you with first...

6 stitches best I can count, looks worse than it really is, I believe, first post op Dr. visit tomorrow...

(Right Click, View Image for a closeup... )

Nice meathook.

Heal up fast, bud.

Bump for Kenneth...


Same hand, about 9 months after. You can see some of the cross hatch looking scarring where the sutures were. Nothing much I could do about it, crap happens..





Right hand is totally different. An untrained eye couldn't tell I even had an incision. That's the reason I changed surgeons, the second one specialized in hands, whereas the first one did general orthopedic surgery, shame on me....

Difference in Surgeons..

Lookin' GOOD !

Now,...as long as you abandon that unspeakable habit that requires you to shave your palms , you should be good for the duration.

Glad you're healin' up, and that you'll be resting better.

GTC

Thanks for the info.

I let mine go for way too long. It started when I worked in a sheet metal shop back in the early 80's. Then it got worse when I went into carpentry full time. Then I became a corrections officer 23 years ago and the progress slowed down.

I had surgery on both wrists. Tests showed neuropathy. I still have some pain and I have lost 35% of my grip strength. The surgery stopped the progression but did not undo the damage.

As far as my professional life people see my handwriting and assume I'm stupid. I can no longer write in cursive and print sloppily. I do not have full control of my hands. Big bore handguns have been out of the question for 15 years now.