Carpal Tunnel

[emily_hope]

Has anyone here had carpal tunnel and had to have surgery? I have carpal tunnel in my right wrist, which of course is the hand I use for everything. I have been going to physical therapy 3 days a week. I am more than likely going to have to have surgery. Just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this and how did things go for you?

[miss_thrifty]

my MIL and 2 of BIL's. al had surgery and some turned out alright but some didnt. They still have times where they lose ability of the hand and what ever falls on the fall.MIl's was great worked perfect for her. Not sons though. But then jobs were very physical all the time so may not have cured right.

[jacqueline]

I had (have) carpal tunnel. I guess mine must not be so bad since surgery has never been mentioned. But I used to have a really bad time with it back when I was doing register at a local grocery store. The repetitive moments all day long.
When my wrist bothers me-it's mainly my left (my writing hand) I have a brace that I sleep in. They explained to me that my natural sleeping position which used to be with my wrists curled up under my neck wasn't helping. Now I always start out with my arms stretched out in front of me (I sleep on my side) I had taken Flexeril when I was having problems but I don't think that it helped any. Now when I have flare ups I take Aleve (naproxen) which is supposed to help inflammation. Also I never lean on my ulnar nerve behind my elbow because my arm goes right to sleep.
I've also done stretching exercises - hold arm straight out and use other hand to stretch your hand back gently (palm up back towards your upper arm) and taking a 1lb weight and with it in your hand bending your hand back and forth slowly/holding weight in hand with it straight in front of you palm down holding weight and lifting(bending) it back up. These were supposed to strengthen and maybe loosen up those muscles in there. Usually sleeping in my brace (which for some reason lets my arm rest better I guess) and maybe not using the computer as much gets me back on track nowadays. I am worried that at some point I will get to a point that surgery may be in my future.
Good luck. HTH

[quiltingmommy]

Hi. I had ct in both hands. When it was in my r hand (writing hand) it was so bad that when I signed my name I could write the first letter okay but the rest was a squiggle. I also had constant pins n needles. The 1st thing I said when I woke up after surgery was that the tingling was gone! I did the stretching exercises that jolinekacie wrote and that does help. I also had the surgery in the lh after. I have had no problems at all but I'm also very careful...no pushups or anything that causes you to have to put your hand on the floor like that, etc. If you are going to have surgery, see if your ortho is a hand specialist and if not, try to find one close by. The ortho that operated on mine was and, for me anyway, that made a difference. Good Luck!!!

[voodidit]

I had ct surgery on my right hand several years ago and have had no problems since.

[Michelle]

Hoping to hear more from our members. Dave suspects he may have it in his right hand. No tingling though...yesterday his hand sort of "locked up" and felt like someone was stabbing him w/a knife in his hand.

Every so often he gets this, and it's usually after he's put stress on it after a workout or (like on Sunday) when he's used it to do manual work (helping his sister put in a fence).

I've all but begged him to get it checked out, but he's one of those people you need to DRAG to the Dr's.

[nodmicks]

Emily can you work with a brace at work? I did for ages even though I needed a few as I got color on them. I did PT for months and it did help. What seemed to help even more as bizarre as it sounds was adding lots of b especially b6. I thought my boss was a nut trying to get out of paying the workmans comp to be honest but it worked. It has been years since I had PT and still take the B. I do wear the brace to use the computer as clicking the mouse bugs it way more than my job.

A few girls in the shop have had the surgery done. Only one had a problem the rest were very easy and healed well.

[frugalfranny]

A couple of my friends have had the surgery and it went great. They were sorry they waited/suffered so long.

I agree with previous poster.........make sure your Dr. is a specialist that has done this surgery MANY TIMES before. Good luck......

[Nana2two]

hubby had it done, its been great

[savvy_sniper]

I have had it for a long time in both my hands. When it really flairs up (in my right hand) I wear the brace at night and take ibuprofen and it helps a lot. I have friends who have had the surgery and are happy and friends who are not.