Wellness

[F1wild]

Hi all!

I've been over in the Cancer Survivors forum, still surviving.

Several months ago, while dealing with my immunotherapy after effects, my hands started going numb. Not the cute, tingly numb, but the deep, held my hands in frozen water kind of numb...and pain. Anyway, had nerve testing which showed "severe+ CTS". Neurologist & OT suggested surgery was only real treatment. Primary Care doc wanted me to try splints, avoiding surgery since my near past medical ordeals. No help at all.

Saw hand surgeon today who said surgery my only option.

Long story, long - has anyone had this?

[Moonchilde]

I have had chronic off-and-on carpal tunnel for many years. When it was very bad I splinted, took massive doses of anti-inflammatories, ice, and had physical therapy. Acupuncture a couple of times, which helped when I was younger, not so much when I got older. If you have a severe case that does not respond to therapies at all after giving them 4-6 weeks to kick in, then surgery would be necessary. There are two main types of surgery. The old, tried-and-true that takes weeks to months to recover from with lots of PT necessary, and a newer method that is quicker and simpler with faster recovery time - but it doesn't have as good consistent results as the original. I would really give conservative therapy a good long try before you give up on it, as the surgery and after-surgery time, pain and therapies are a pain (literally). I have not had surgery - have healed each flare-up, even when it took weeks.

[shannara]

My mother had the surgery 25 years ago. I guess this was not a well known condition at the time and her doctor kept saying it was just arthritis. She had it for many years and had not only the painful numbness, but pain all the way up her forearms. It went untreated for so long that the fat pad part of her thumbs atrophied and she could not pick up much of anything with her thumb and forefinger. I don't remember how she ended up at the surgeon's office, but eventually she found out that it was carpal tunnel. They initially did what I think was called "buttonhole" surgery, a small slit in each wrist, but that did not work and she had to have the full "S" cut in both hands. I would not recommend having both hands done at the same time, as she was just about helpless for several weeks. She did get relief from the pain after the incisions healed and I taught her to knit as she was instructed to do something like that for therapy.

My sister in law had it more recently and one hand did respond to splinting, but she had to have surgery on the other.

[poppinfresh]

I had severe chronic cts for 15 years. I basically let it take most of those years away from me. Because of all the horror stories from others, I was very afraid I would never use my hands or arms again. I acted like all was fine, but the never ending pain almost did me in. About 7 years ago, I could no longer hold my toothbrush. I had no choice. So let me reassure you...the surgery was a piece of cake, I had both hands done plus a tendon surgery on my thumb. I had surgery on one hand, then two weeks later on the other, plus my thumb. Recovery was nothing at all. Within days I was doing all the things I hadn't been able to do for so many years because of fear of the unknown. They gave me what is called a Beer (sp) block. I immediatly went to sleep, seemed like a minute and I was awake and ready to go home. I could shower and bathe as long as I didn't get my wrap wet, stitches were out in a little over a week and by 3 weeks, there was nothing I couldn't do. I am so sorry that I listened to others and lived with that pain for so long. You will be fine and you will be so happy you did it.

[F1wild]

Thanks, Moonchilde & Shannara, for your input. The Mayo hand surgeon suggests doing both at the same time, as most (he says) have full function right after the surgery. It's done under local anesthesia with sedation (like for a colonoscopy), with a small incision at the wrist and another mid-hand. No stitches, only small bandaid-type cover.

Regarding the conservative treatments - I've done, unsuccessfully, PT (therapist said "You need the surgery."), OT and splints. The pain is now up each arm and as I'm numb almost 100% of the time, drop & break everything.

[F1wild]

On 7/29/2014 poppinfresh said:

I had severe chronic cts for 15 years. I basically let it take most of those years away from me. Because of all the horror stories from others, I was very afraid I would never use my hands or arms again. I acted like all was fine, but the never ending pain almost did me in. About 7 years ago, I could no longer hold my toothbrush. I had no choice. So let me reassure you...the surgery was a piece of cake, I had both hands done plus a tendon surgery on my thumb. I had surgery on one hand, then two weeks later on the other, plus my thumb. Recovery was nothing at all. Within days I was doing all the things I hadn't been able to do for so many years because of fear of the unknown. They gave me what is called a Beer (sp) block. I immediatly went to sleep, seemed like a minute and I was awake and ready to go home. I could shower and bathe as long as I didn't get my wrap wet, stitches were out in a little over a week and by 3 weeks, there was nothing I couldn't do. I am so sorry that I listened to others and lived with that pain for so long. You will be fine and you will be so happy you did it.

Thank you, poppinfresh! I appreciate your reassurance.

[bettybatwing]

I spent many years doing numerical data entry as my job and as a result my hands were wrecked. After two pregnancies, where it worsened to the point that I had to wear braces on both hands every night, I decided to get it fixed.

I have a very small, maybe an inch scar. My hand is like new, no problems at all with recovery or years after the fact issues. This was about ten years ago.

I had it done on my right hand which was the worst, I remember changing diapers with one hand! My left still gives me trouble but a brace helps overnight, it's not nearly bad enough to have surgery at this point.

I can't imagine, for myself, suffering through something if there is a way to fix it. I just had back surgery about five weeks ago. My chronic herniated disc finally pushed enough into my nerves to where I couldn't walk for weeks. Severe pain, meds for nerve pain, meds for the pain those didn't cover - all that remains is the numbness in my leg and foot that I had for the two months before the surgery. Apparently nerves heal slowly if they're going to heal. I won't know for a while if I'll have permanent numbness. The point is, the back surgery itself helped immensely, I can walk, I can move again, no more pain, I am back to my regular routine almost 90%.

I'd have both surgeries again in a heartbeat.

Hope this helps and hope you can find some relief, either through non invasive methods or surgery if you choose.

[poppinfresh]

You are so very welcome F1wild. You will do amazing...and both hands at once? No stitches? That is just the best. you will do super...and your recovery will be quicker than a blink of an eye!

[F1wild]

Thank you, Bettybatwing!

I'm actually a dental hygienist whose been not working for several years due to back problems. I mentioned my hand usage now compared to when I was doing clinical dentistry and my hand surgeon said studies now show repetitive hand movement isn't a cause. I'm sure there are many who would disagree.

[bettybatwing]

On 7/29/2014 F1wild said:

Thank you, Bettybatwing!

I'm actually a dental hygienist whose been not working for several years due to back problems. I mentioned my hand usage now compared to when I was doing clinical dentistry and my hand surgeon said studies now show repetitive hand movement isn't a cause. I'm sure there are many who would disagree.

Lol, I would definitely beg to differ! It's possible some people are more likely to develop nerve issues than others but I do believe my work attributed to the CTS.

Do you have disc issues as well?