After my cts surgery in april. I am still having problems picking up things with my left hand. One doctor told me that I have trigger thumb and he wanted to do trigger thumb release. I decided to go to another doctor and he said that he will do cortisone shots to see if the thumb will release and that was about 3 weeks ago. I am going back next week to see what he says, it he has to do surgery or keep doing the shots. Since the 1st shot I am having trouble with both hands, I am tingling and burning sensations in the hands. I would go and get a second opinion. :(

I had cts surgery done on the 6th of sept , getting stitches out on monday . While the cast was on I thought it worked great, no more waking up at night to cramping and tingling hands. The cast has been off for 2 days and here I am in the middle of the night with cramping and burning in my hand. The doc told me that I could now go back to all regular activities except heavy lifting...... ?? I cant even hold a cup! I have to use my teeth to open my tylenol bottle.. Is this normal after surgery? Will it go away in time? If anyone knows please respond.. Also my hand is completely numb on and around the incision, is this normal?

Maj2006

the pain will eventually go away in a few weeks after you begin to use the hand again. When I had pain in my hand I would put ice on it to cool the hand down and it takes the pain away for awhile. The numbness around the incision will go away in time. :)

Thank you but unfortunately that is not the case for me, I went to see my surgeon last monday to have the stitches out, and of course the surgery was not a success for me so far. He only took out half the stitches, I have to have physio therapy for at least 4 weeks. He will then decide whether or not my hand is healed enough to go ahead with the surgery on my other hand. I really am doubtful that I will have it done, im in just as much, if not more, pain now then before the surgery!

May 23, 2007 I had surgery on my left hand for carpal tunnel release an anchovy procedure for my left thumb. After the nerve block wore off, .The tip of my middle finger is very sensitive to touch and feels swollen but isn't. What is causing this problem?

i had cts in june, 2007. still having trouble. numbness center fingers. hand still swallon. my center fingers are doing strange things...center fingers seem to pop away from each other. hurts like they are out of socket. sometimes my thumb fells like it is out of socket. my husband has to pull on my fingers to make them stop hurting. still can't make a fist. hand doesn't lay flat. the pain is so bad sometimes it can reach a 10.
yes, i did therapy...for 8 weeks. he told me there was nothing else he could do for me. at that time my total hand was numb. now it's only 2 o/o numb.

I had cts in may 2007, still having problems. My hand is sweaty and colder than the other hand, swollen, wrist is stiff, middle finger is sensitive, fingers seem swollen an stiff and sometimes numb at the tips. I seen a neurologist Jan 2008, had an emg, nvc and mri. He said I had Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (RSD). He recommended that I see a Pain Management Specialist and have a nerve block in the neck to determine what kind of treatment was to be done.

Well, I've seen the orthopedic specialist & it's really great news. I have more flexibility in my wrist & hands than I had before with less swelling & my fingers are improved. I knew they were hurting a lot less & I haven't had the shooting pain up my arms since i've been wearing the thermal health gloves & wrist band which is all good news!!!! He says the improvement in my hands is due to the care I've taken.I've decided to put off surgery for a while longer......I will just take each day as it comes & try to heal my hands if I can. I'll keep you updated with my progress.

I had surgery 4/21/08. Prior to surgery, I had frequent whole-hand numbness several times daily and during the night. All that is relieved and I have full hand strength and flexibility. However, prior to surgery, I had no permanent numbness in any fingers; yet after surgery, the tips of my thumb and index finger have subdued feeling and are partially numb. Very disappointing.

My doctor has told me that the feeling may return or that I may have to get used to being this way the rest of my life. I am not a happy camper.

I had cts surgery nine days ago and my hand and wrist screems blue homicide if I stretch my arm. my fingers have regained most of their sensibility but not all although when I tell the doctor this he tells me it's psychological (he also says that the pain is psychological and just the thought that he doesn't beleive me makes me want to cry!!!!!!!!!) my doc wants me to do fisio but as I said, I can hardly stretch my arm, especially if I have my wrist cocked backwards. I guess I'm lucky though, because people my age still have the capabilityof nerve regeneration (I'm 16 - a very rare case of inverse cts, meaning that the nerve wasn't being compressed from the outside in, but had grown double it's normal size -- the docs have no idea what it is and if anyone has seen this happen please tell me what it is and what causes it!!!!!!!!!!! PPPLLLLLEEAASSEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it seiously worries me).

Basically I'm in a million times more pain than before (remembering that my cts was an unusual case, so heaven knows if they have a clue what this is) and no one beleives my pain.

My hand literally paralyzed with pain yesterday -- has anyone ever had that?

Maj2004, it sounds like the surgery did not help on the one side, so definitely do not have it done on your other side! The chiropractor who resolved my carpal tunnel problems explained to me that, after the muscles that are cut heal themselves, they have scar tissue, and that can just make things worse. The CTS surgery is usually no solution. It's much better to strengthen the muscles and also lubricate the sheathes, which is a much more natural solution. At first the chiropractor used massage and I seemed to get me through the acute phase, and then for long-term healing and prevention I used a strengthening device known as a Wristiciser (I'm sure there are many different kinds of similar devices out there). The main thing is to strengthen the muscles as much as possible, keep everything moving, and don't let them put wrist braces on you, which just weaken the muscles and make the pain worse.

hi people. ive been diagnosed with bilateral cts and its such an annoyance.
i went to the doctor with hand pains thinking it was my glue allergy, turns out it was cts and he decided to inject them. 6 weeks on i went back and they were injected again and given wrist splints to wear when the pain is bad, though the doctor was reluctant because of the short time between injections and the fact im only 17, and they have no idea whats caused it. about 8 weeks after that i went back again, after wearing supports for atleast 2 weeks. and i was told i could no longer have the injections and had to wait for a hospital referral. i was so distraught because this was suposed to be my final year at college and hopefully be preparing for uni, learning to drive....all the normal teenage things i want to do. but because i havent been able to write properly and my confidence has been knocked, im having to do an extra year at college, given up my job and falling behind with college work . so 2 weeks ago i went to the hospital appointment (took 8 weeks to come through) and im having a left hand carpal tunnel decompresion surgery......eep. worried but want to get this over and done with. though they still don't know what caused it! and after that ive got to wait to have the right hand done. hating this so much.
though what i really want to know is what happens after surgery?? like recovery times etc because im not too sure at all.
looking forward to a reply

hi there i've been a patient of carpal tunnel myself. after surgery i too had alot of problems until i found a Dr who believes that carpal tunnel comes from the shoulder. And guess what he was right. After being treated by him in about 5 weeks i found a huge change.

I had surgery on my left dominant hand Apr 08. About December the same symptoms have re-appeared; numbness in the thumb, index, ring finger, and as of about 2 weeks ago, the right hand has developed the same symptoms. Wonder if it is common for the symptoms to come back so soon after surgery??

Just about everyone that I have ever talked to has had a problem after this surgery...This alone prompted me not to have it done...What confused me more, was that all the people that I have known that had it done still wore the braces on their wrist....That was it for me....

Take care,
Caroline

I had a wrong site cts surgery in march 06, have since developed rsd stage 2. I am in constant pain, swelling in right dominate hand, color changes, and my right hand stays extremely cold most of the time. I have had PT, 7 nerve blocks,and a permenant spinal cord stimulator implant (which I must say finally did relieve the pain about 40%). This has been a nightmare and I pray that it does not happen to anyone else.

I had CTS three weeks ago. I just pulled out two stitches they left in. My fingers feel swollen and when I wake up in the morning my fingers are bent and I have to take my other hand to straighten them out. The tissue around the site is very hard to touch and extremely swollen and stiff. It also has redness on one side. I have trouble making a fist. Is all this normal?

just a note saying dont think surgery is all bad. ive been lucky and my left hand appears to be completely better and my right hand is still healing, the scar is very sore. but id rather have that than how they were before.
best wishes to u all

I had my carpal tunnel release done on April 9,2009...It's only been 2 weeks, but my ring finger is still numb. It hurts to pick things up with that hand. I am doing physical therapy two times a week...My incision feels like a calous (sp). At night, i'm in so much pain maybe a 9 or so. I make pizza's for a living ( hey it's a job ) and I can't even do that right now. Very frustrating...My doctor told me before surgery that my carpal tunnel was moderate. But once he got in there he changed it from moderate to severe. said I waited too long to have this done. But i'm wondering if I don't have nerve damage. Has anyone had anything like this?