Has anyone had carpal tunnel surgery?

MonaLyssa33

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My carpal tunnel syndrome has gotten significantly worse in the last two weeks since working on building the patio in my backyard. I have an appointment with my doctor next Monday and I have a feeling she's going to refer me to a hand specialist to talk surgery. Have any of you had the surgery? What is the recovery time? How long was it before you were able to go back to your daily routines? Did you do both hands at once and if so, was it terrible?
 

jefferd18

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My sister had it early this year, (both hands) and she said the recovery is a bear, but she also said it was worth it.
 

NY cat man

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Michele had the surgery done back in the 80s. The only problem she had was with the pain medication. They gave her Valium, and she literally lost a week- she had no memory of anything that happened. I told her that I would have to tie a string to her ankle to keep her from floating away.
 

lizzie

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I had my left hand done several years ago,and it wasn't bad at all ...at least I didn't think so.I was still working then and was able to go back to work in just a few days.Had some weight restrictions .I healed up real well and was released in less than 8 weeks.I need to get my right one done but I'm right handed so I don't know how that'll work.I don't think I'd personally recommend having them both done together.
 

susanm9006

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Yes, I have had the surgery in both wrists. My right was the first. I hadn’t had any typical carpal tunnel pain so I didn’t see a hand specialist until I had difficulty holding anything without my hand going numb. After going through the testing process they discovered that my carpel tunnel was so severe I had lost muscle mass in my hand and there was no treatment that would help other than the surgery. I have had other kinds of surgery and was prepared for pain and incapacity afterwards. So I was quite surprised when I had very little of either. The incision is only an inch long, right at the base of your thumb and I barely felt it. For the first two weeks I had a soft cast like bandage so it was a little clumsy but being a lefty I managed fine. After that there were exercises to do and mild pain if I used my hand too much, mostly when keyboarding, but that was it. By six weeks I could do everything including squeezing the handles in my snowblower .

A few years later I has the same symptoms with my left and surgery followed. Again, minimal pain and a fairly quick recovery. Definitely more challenging with your dominant hand but I live alone and was able to manage without help. You get used to using your non dominant hand fairly quickly for everything except writing.

For both surgeries they gave me a nerve block in my arm and then medication that made me doze through the surgery so I didn’t remember it. Whatever that medication is the effect on me was to wake up feeling really really happy.

If your doctor is recommending it I would not hesitate to have the surgery. But I agree that you wouldn’t want to do both at the same time because with two soft casts in there wouldn’t be much you can do for yourself.
 
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Willowy

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with two soft casts in there wouldn’t be much you can do for yourself.
Yeah, I knew someone who got both done at once and she, um, needed help in the bathroom. She had a VERY loving husband, lol, but certainly this would be extremely awkward with any other caretaker. I would guess that most doctors probably wouldn't even do both at once if you didn't have a dedicated live-in partner, but some doctors don't think to ask about that kind of thing.
 

susanm9006

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Yeah, I knew someone who got both done at once and she, um, needed help in the bathroom. She had a VERY loving husband, lol, but certainly this would be extremely awkward with any other caretaker. I would guess that most doctors probably wouldn't even do both at once if you didn't have a dedicated live-in partner, but some doctors don't think to ask about that kind of thing.
Exactly. Unless you have someone willing to be a butt wiper, don’t do both hands at the same time.
 
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