Thread: Carpal Tunnel Surgery

yes i had it done to both hands and it will be a long time before you can lift again. even forgetting and pushing yourself up off the floor when you are standing up is excruciating. if you start too soon also there is a great risk of needing to repeat the surgery. listen to your doctor.

long time 6 months at the very least.

I was just asking someone about this type of surgery. What exactly do they do to your hands?

basically they make a small incision about 1 1/2 inches in your palm near the wrist n go in and loosen a band that is squeezing the muscles in your wrist too tight and making your hands fall asleep.

http://www.pncl.co.uk/~belcher/ctr.htm

Originally Posted by rockgazer69

basically they make a small incision about 1 1/2 inches in your palm near the wrist n go in and loosen a band that is squeezing the muscles in your wrist too tight and making your hands fall asleep.

http://www.pncl.co.uk/~belcher/ctr.htm

Actually, it releases the median nerve that is "entrapted" in the carpal tunnel ligament.

I would wait and see how the right one heals before you go and have it done on the left....many, many times the surgery doesnt work because it is not true carpal tunnel. The symptoms may be the same but the median nerve can be entrapped in a variety of locations and muscle spasms surrounding the nerve can aslo cause similar symptoms. Wait and see how the surgery pans out before you let them cut you again....thats my opinion.

Many doctors wont even do an MRI to diagnose carpal tunnel because more often than not they dont find anything wrong and then they have proof that they shouldnt operate.....they just do it and hope that it works....sometimes it does, sometimes it doesnt.....not odds I like when it comes to cutting me and having to put off training.

If it is true carpal tunnel then the surgery should work great and with some time and rehab you will be better than new....if it isnt true carpal tunnel...you'll be back where you started or worse in a few months. I say try the conservative method first...go to a chiro or really good (ask for credentials) masssage therapist that has worked on carpal tunnel type cases before and see what they can do.

just my thoughts

I appreciate everyones advice, and of course I'll follow my doctors advice.I've had this for over a year in both hands, and have tried everything else, and nothing has worked, except cortisone shots, and they'll only do that once or twice.He said that since the shots completely relieved my symptoms, that the surgery should be a complete success in my case, and so far it has! I had x-rays, and nerve conduction tests, and there ws no doubt that it's Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, this guy is a specialist in just hand stuff.

if you wait too long to get it done you get less improvement with the surgery. what i was able to do was becoming more and more limited and i woke up at night w my arms asleep and it hurt like hell. my fingertips were numb like a sleeping foot all the time. i'm very glad i had the surgery done. touch can be very taken for granted and so automatic you just don't realize how helpfull it is till it is compromised. i had 99.9% of my "oops a cut in the kitchen" accidents in the 6 months before surgery.