Hello everyone
I am having surgery on june 18th..I will be having my cpt surg along with an ulnar nerve re;ease from my hand up to elbow...I am a nervous wreck over this surgery!!! I have had surg b4 on my tummy a few times..Once on my leg..I have had 2 kids even..LOL
I am just very worried about having permanant nerve damage..Anyone with good info please post..I really cant "HANDLE" any horror stories unless you can tell me something to ask my doc so i dont have to go through a bunch of c*** my self!!! How many incisions do you recieve from ulnar nerve release??
I hate the thoughts of not being able to use my arm for a while but am barely able to use it now anyway...please give me some pointers on what to ask..what i should and shouldnt do..thanks in advance..

I had the same procedure in 2000. I will tell you, I wish I had only done the wrist. I would never do the elbow. That hurt like H&**. After surgery, I felt like someone hit me in the funny bone as hard as possible. That pain lasted almost a year. Now, it's mostly my elbow that hurts and it's almost constant. It just aches and aches. I have had 3 cortisone shots SINCE the surgery. Also, the I kept asking the Dr when I could go back to work. I found out that's not what you should be asking. You should ask, when do I have to go back to work? I'm telling you, my Dr said 5 day recovery. Most people in my office stayed out at least 6 weeks and I wished I had. I only stayed our for 3 weeks. The first day back, I didn't even drive myself. I don't really remember anything about that day because I was hurting so bad. I never knew how many times in a day that you actually bump your elbow. My scar is sensitive. Right after the surgery, I could just barely touch it and it was excruciating. I don't want to scare you, but if the ulnar release is not necessary then I wouldn't do it. Also ask your Dr what the success rate is for both procedures. Since you are having 2 procedures done at the same time, the success rate goes down. For instance, the wrist might be 90%, the ulnar might be 80%, but combined they are 70%. At least that's how my Dr explained it to me. My other piece of advice is to religously do the physical therapy and use ice and hot rotating. Your Dr can give you a ace bandage like wrap that has silicone on the inside. This will help keep the scars moist and they will make them less apparent.

Good luck on your surgery. I will check back in to see if you have any more questions. I'm sorry to sound so negative but, I thought you should know.

Molly
I think what you say is true. My hand surgeon who did carpal surgery on me some years back, has advised me to leave my cubital problems alone meantime. The surgeon himself has Cubital Tunnel Syndrome & isn't considering surgery, so that was a good enough example for me! :)

He told me that the elbow surgery is trickier to do than the carpal too, so I've taken his advice & will steer clear of elbow surgery until there's absolutely no option.

Lidia :)

Thanks Molly and linda
Ok so maybe i should just ask how many had a bad experience with the ulnar release surgery..because it doesnt seem its the best option!!!
My doctor didnt seem to want to do it either...I just dont know what else to do!!!I have been out of work for 2 months...I have no income whatsoever coming in!!! I am very lucky to have a husband with a decent job...It is still very very tight around here w/out my income!!! I have been reading on the internet as well..Pretty much what you guys said here!!!
I had a cast on for 2 weeks and it seemed to half heal the nerve...My hand is still not right but not like b4 the cast...I have no strength and couldnt make a fist if my life depended on it!!!! My pinky and ring finger still doesnt feel rightalso/elbow aches all the time!!! Also within an hour of taking cast off..My neck started burning again!!!
What else could i do??? I am starting to wonder if im not trading one set of problems for another...I am not second guessing the carpel tunnel surg ..Just the elbow surg...Thats why i came here...Just forget my other post..anyone with ANY info about this surgery please respond!!! I will just see how many had a good/bad experience in the next few days..