Anyone Had Carpal Tunnel Surgery?

[Eyelashwishes]

Long story short, I've had carpal tunnel syndrome through both of my pregnancies. It's not gone away after having my 2nd and I've had the test and been placed on a list to have the surgery in both of my hands.

I am SO squeamish and very anxious so when they told me they do it under local rather than general I'm not sure I can go through with it, but I really need to. I am losing the feeling in both my hands for longer and longer periods of time. I am just wondering if anyone has had the release survey and if so, how was it? Was the procedure like and what's the recovery like? Is it painful?

Had mine done one at a time under local. Totally pain free. Hardly any pain afterwards. Bandages for 5 days then smaller dressing then stitches out.

Highly recommend it.

Absolutely do it.

Ask if you can listen to music / podcast / etc

I didn't feel any pain, just pressure

It's a game changer

Had both mine done under local years ago. No trouble since.

Didn't work for me when they did my right hand.

I didn't bother getting my left done.

It did work but the recovery before I could drive/ go back to work and write was longer than I thought due to an infection. Still really glad I had it done - no pain since and I used to wake up with it and be in a lot of pain, as my job involves a lot of handwriting. The worst thing is dealing with the toilet and hair washing etc during the recovery - you can’t get it wet.

I can't comment on the operation itself as I haven't had it done but a colleague did. Prior to having it done she was told she would need 3 weeks off of work as she was discharged she was told 'actually you'll need 6 weeks off.' I can imagine that would be tricky for some for the goalpost to be moved as it were.

I had both hands done last year and honestly neither the op nor the recovery hurt. I was told to take Paracetamol every 4 hours for a week afterwards whether it hurt or not, so I did. I put a plastic bag over my hand, with a loose elastic band round my wrist, to wash my hair. It really is well worth having it done.

I'm not trying to scare you but I waited far too long to have mine checked out, as I thought they wouldn't do anything. After the op I still have very slight numbness in my RH middle finger, and when I'm writing the pen often slips out of my hand. This was not caused by the op but because I left it so long I got some permanent nerve damage. I'm in my 60s so it's not a big problem but I assume you're younger. Please don't put it off like I did - get it done ASAP.

What 3bees said. MIL has had one done and it went well, but it’s now too late for the other one… carpe diem…get them done before things get worse. SIL had hers done and all went well.

Thanks for all of your replies. Ok you've convinced me to go ahead 🤣🙈 I'm 31 and have had it for 3 or 4 years probably, but only really bad with pain/constant numbness the past 6 months or so. I have 2 young children so really not ideal.

I'm on the list for the op so will have to wait until they give me a date. I've been told the waiting list is very long, but that I can have steroid injections in the meantime - any of you had any experience with those?

I had surgery following severe Carpel Tunnel syndrome during my 4th pregnancy.

I've never regained all the feeling in my left hand.

Surgery was under a local. Recovery was fine and back to normal in about 2 weeks.

I had regular steroid injections leading up to surgery. They gave me so much relief but it only lasted a couple of weeks.

Good luck.

I had one steroid injection and found it very painful. I couldn’t use my hand properly or drive for a week, which was the impetus to have the op done, as I couldn’t bear the thought of having it done x4 per year. It did deal with pain after the first week but wore off after several weeks.

That's great OP.
BTW if you're squeamish I suggest you don't look at any "helpful" diagrams they include to explain what they'll be doing😁
Good luck.

I had carpal and cubital done on my left hand, I had to have general as the local didn't work for me. I needed 6 weeks off but mainly because I worked in a job with lots and lots of patient moving and handling. I still have mild pins and needles sensations in my left little finger but not the pain I was in before surgery.

@Eyelashwishes I too am super squeamish and have had both done! I treated myself to noise cancelling headphones. To block out any noise, and created a playlist with a good beat that i could mentally sing along to, and blasted it as loud as I could throughout the op. I had very limited improvement from steroid injections - they did initially help both wrists, however were less successful in my worse one, so when i was then compensating by carrying things in the better hand, that then was affected and the pain came back quicker. No complications post op, just make sure you do physio and hand exercises!

@Ratfinkstinkypink sorry to jump in here - did you have carpal and cubital done at the same time? I've had both carpals done, but the surgeon was a bit iffy over whether I would need the cubital done, and it has gradually gotten worse so I am thinking it will need to be done as well... also squeamish like the OP, and very much not wanting to google!

@ZombiePara Yes, I had them done on the same day. The local worked for the cubital tunnel but not the carpal so I needed to have a general to finish the surgery.