OCTOBER 29, 2003


This update deals with Bilateral Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.  Somewhere around late spring and/or early summer I noticed my hands were having problems.  Numbness, burning, pain and it woke me up at night. It was TERRIBLE!  However, I put it aside thinking it was due to something else... like my MS, or my thyroid.  Then in early July my father had a major heart attack and triple bypass so I put it aside while I went home to lend a hand.

The one weekend in September the pain was so bad I had no choice but to go to the emergency room.  Once I was seen it did not take the doctor long to diagnose Bilateral Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.  They put both hands in splints so I could not bend my wrists, gave me an anti-inflammatory and told me to see my primary doctor.

I saw Dr R. that Tuesday.  He did the Tinel's Sign and the Phalen's maneuver, which can be indicative of CTS.  Tinel's Sign is is done by tapping on the wrist which causes localized pain, if you have CTS.  Phalen's maneuver involves bending the wrist for one minute to put pressure on the carpal tunnel and reproduce the symptoms.  He concluded that I probably had CTS and scheduled x-rays [to rule out another cause], a nerve conduction study and, of course, blood work.

The nerve conduction study was interesting to say the least.  It wasn't exactly painful... just unpleasant.  Electrodes are attached to the hand and arm and then small tingling-like shocks are induced over the nerves causing the nerve to *jump*. The intensity is gradually increased and the nerve response is measured.  As I said it didn't hurt, just didn't feel great. The test concluded I had bilateral CTS with the right being worse than the left.

When I returned to Dr. R., he walked in and asked if I was good in school.  I was confused, thinking he didn't know who I was which was so unlike him.  As I thought about all that, he repeated, "Were you good in school?  Did you study for tests?  Because you just flunked all of mine!"

First off, he said my cholesterol was AWFUL!  288!  I told him Dad just had bypass surgery, a triple.. and h had a quadruple in 1996. And he knew Mom had had a triple years ago too.  So, he decided it was time to bring out the big dogs, as he called it, and prescribed Zocor 40MG.

Secondly, I did have Bilateral Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and needed surgery.  I was shocked!  I expected the diagnosis but not the surgery.  I figured the surgery came later but he explained that carpal tunnel was progressive and the longer you went without surgery, the more damage that is done and the less likely the surgery will help.  We made an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon across the hall.

The orthopedic surgeon agreed that surgery was the answer and the right hand was scheduled for Wednesday, August 27, 2003.  It was done on an outpatient basis under conscience sedation.  I was woke up as they were wrapping my hand.  My right forearm was wrapped in an ace wrap and a half cast was inside.  I was given pain meds, which I never needed, and was told I could take everything off on Saturday.  I was told to clean the incision daily with H2O2 and to keep it out of water.  If you want to see where the incision is done and how big it is, I had my husband take a picture and you can see it by clicking here.

Nine days later the stitches were removed. I could tell the edges were not well approximated and to be honest I was a bit concerned.  They put some steri-strips across the incision to keep the edges together.  I thought so that the edges could come together but within a few days it looked like that wasn't going to happen then one days I happened to get a look UNDER dead top layers of skin as it gaped open and the skin was approximated and healed. Since the skin on top appeared to be dead, I went ahead and cut it off.  It didn't seem to be a problem.

My right hand is now nearly 3 and a half months post-op. The skin is no longer tender, most of the range of motion and strength has returned but more importantly, there is NO PAIN!  And I mean, NONE!  Of course, if I try to use the ball of my hand to push a door open or assist myself to a standing position, it's slightly tender but the Carpal Tunnel pain that was near constant is gone.

My left hand was scheduled for September 24th but was postponed under October 29th.  The procedure and follow-up went exactly as the first.  I am now 5 weeks post-op.  The new skin over the incision is just ever so tender and there is still a little pain if the area is squeezed but like the right, the carpal tunnel pain is gone.

As you can see from the pictures below, everything is healing well. I was amazed that the first picture was able to show the area that is still slightly tender. It actually does not look inflamed like that but that area is still quite tender. There is an area of thickness on each side of the scar but with time and massaging it will thin out according to Dr. S.

5 weeks post-op picture
14 weeks post-op picture

If you have been told you need to have the surgery, I hope you will now get it done.  You will feel so much better.  The damage will only get worse in time so STOP putting it off!