Hello I am A 29 male & have bilateral carpal tunnel. Did I let it go too long. I am left & right handed. It all started in the later part of 1995 when I started getting mild pain and numbness of both of my hands and didn't think much of it. I kept using my hands alot and it was slowly getting worst as time went on. Then in mid 1998 the pain and numbness got worst and the pain started going into my forearms & up to my shoulders&neck & was very aching. Then the pain got so bad that I went to my doctor for help with the pain in my hands and forearms. He gave me some wrist splints and told me to wear them at night when working or during the day when sleeping. The splints helped for a couple months. Then it got to a point that I had to go back to doctor and he put me on lortab 7.5. Late 1999/ finally after being on lortab & using the splints, my hands were getting weaker and I was loosing the feeling in most of my left hand & part of my right hand. So I went back to my doctor and he ordered a nerve conduction test. I had the test done & I had severe carpal tunnel in both hands so the family doctor sent me to a hand doctor. This doctor tried shots in both hands along with the splints for couple weeks but it didn't help. Finally I had to have open bilateral carpal tunnel surgery done. The surgery was done on 2/11/2000.The carpal ligament was fully divided in both hands. I had severe imtrapment of the nerve that it was flatten to a point there is nerve damage. When I had surgery done I started feeling better a few days after because the pain in my shoulders & neck went away real well. My hands felt better too but there is nerve damage so I have mild pain,weakness and impaired feeling of left hand & mild pain,weakness and ok feeling of right hand. Later on I had a impairment rating done & the left is 41% & feeling impaired, can't tell hot&cold or sharp&dull & the right is 55% & feeling ok can tell hot&cold or sharp&dull. I did ok with my hands the way were for 16 months until july of this year (2001).I started getting moderate pain,numbness&tingling in my hands & wrists again. I also have cramps of the thumb muscle which is painful at times. I'm having problems speading the fingers and making a fist there is tightness in the palm of hand. So the carpal tunnel may be closing up on the tendons and nerve again. The doctor said it may be coming from the nerve damage & may have scarred tissue & said I may have to have the surgery done again. I have no shoulder or neck pain this time. I had some testing done and the shoulders,neck & elbows passed with full range of motion & painfree. But my hands & wrists didn't pass the testing. Therefore the carpal tunnel has came back.


I have a tens unit which I got in 1998 so I wouldn't have to take pain medication all the time. Which this worked better than the pills. I put the electrodes on my wrists. I just need to use one lead wire & 2 electrodes. I don't like this thing all that much but I do use it when the pain is at worst.


I have changed the way I do things at work and at home all along to reduce stress on the hands, But it doesn't seem to help much. I have even cut my hours at work and doing less at home with the things I was making with my hands.

It really does cause a lot of problems with sleeping. So I wear my wrist splints when I sleep they seem to help sometimes.




[This message has been edited by sorehands (edited 08-27-2001).]

I have had bilaterl CTS surgery for severe Carpal tunnel with an impairment rating of of 40% in my hands and 42% in my upper extreminities. I had the surgery March 2000 and June 2000 and r4eceived my rating in September of 2000. The Dr. told me when it gets so severe that the mediam nerve is completely pinched off it will cause permanent damage. I have recently had a NCV/EMG study done and it showed Moderate severe Carpal Tunnel again. He recommended splints 24 hours a day, vitamin B-6, and if it didn't improve then cortizone shots again. I also had a MRI done and have problems with my C-spine that was left untreated by repetitive Motion. Its hard to say if you waited too long sometimes the damage is done to start with and there is nothing you can do about it. With the impairment rating you will always have pain and numbness and can't do the things you did before. I know I can't and it gets flustrating at times but you have to hang in there I have. Check with your Dr. and see what he thinks Good luck and God Bless.

Bamabrneyes2, Thanks for reply. That's right, I can't do as much now as I could in the past for the nerve damage from carpal tunnel entrapment. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/frown.gif
It's hard to do anything at times using my hands because of the pain & weakness. I have a weak grip of both hands & can't a full fist. I sometimes get tendonitis real bad in my right wrist & forearm that flares up from time to time that hurts really bad at times along with the nerve damage pain I already I have. This makes the problem worse. Sometimes I get it in the left wrist too. The tendonitis may be coming from the scarred soft tissue in my wrists & lower forearms? The tendons seem to rub together in my wrist when I have a tendonitis flare up sometimes. I use my tens unit, it helps with the pain and makes the tendonitis feel some better. The braces helps it some. I take pain medication pills to help sleep.

...UPDATE..9/27/01..I was going to doctor on 9/12/01 & Since what happen in New York 9/11, I had to put it off for later. He though one of his loved ones got killed, but is safe. Think goodness.
The pain , numbness, weakness in my hands & wrists has been getting next to me lately. It is really hard to do anything,It makes some things very hard to do.The pain from the carpal tunnel has started going up my arms to the elbows again. I have shooting pain that goes up my arms at times. The cramps of the thumb muscle are bad at times too. So I use my tens unit on my arms & wrists and it helps pretty good at times. I also wear my braces but they don't help too much. I do hand & wrist exercises to keep the muscles from wasting too much, & sometimes it hurts to do them. I been doing the exercises for a few years off & on. The pain & numbness affects my sleep at times. I don't know what more to do but to rest the hands when I can. The doctor said a couple months ago I may have to have the surgery done again. I don't know if another surgery would help it since there is nerve damage. But it might help. What does anyone think?


[This message has been edited by sorehands (edited 09-27-2001).]

I'm sorry for your pain and suffering. It definitly is no fun. Have you tried Active Release Therapy. It's a type of "massage" that works on your muscle fascia to get it to loosen up and become fluid again. CTS sometimes has to do with this. Try and find a chiropractor in your area who does this technique. It worked wonders for me in very few sessions. For more info on the technique search, Dr. Leahy, Active Release Therapy. Also Carpal Tunnel is a symptom of hypothyroid. If you have any other hypothyroid symptoms you should have this looked at. Once the thyroid is fixed the carpal tunnel goes away. A place to find info on that is Mary Shoman's thyroid site on about.com. or the thyroid board here has a symptoms checklist.(tired, depressed, hair falling out, carpal tunnel are only a few) Good luck
JB

JB, I had the 'active release therapy' done in the past
for the tendonitis of the knee & made it 100% better & I had no more problems. But it didn't help the carpal tunnel too well, I guess because of nerve damage & scarred soft tissue of wrists & lower forearms. But it did help some, but after 11 treatments I had to stop going for it. The test for the thyroid was ok. The rest of my body seems to be ok too. I am going to keep doing the exercises for the hands & wrists so the muscles don't waste too much. There isn't much you can do for cts once nerve damage sets in, but try to live with it. I find it hard to get used to. This a bad thing to happen to your hands everyone, it is disabling & will get you bad shape. It makes life hard.

Oh that's too bad that ART didn't work for your hands. An accupuncturist I know said one of his collegues was working on someone with carpal tunnel. It took 23 sessions for the hand that didn't have surgery and 36 sessions for the hand that had surgery(and was screwed up), but it did work. Bit pricey though, but I suppose use of the hand for the long run maybe makes it worth it, if it works.
When ART works it does work fast. You should see results in a few sessions. (providing you have someone who knows what he's doing).
Hope you find something that helps.
JB

I'm having a hard time doing anything with my hands now as the problem has gotten worst all over again. The pain and numbness in my hands and arms is awful. I just had a impairment rating done again it wasn't good, the left is now (34%) down from (41%)in past, the right is now (46%) down from (55%) in the past. The nerve test wasn't good as it shows really bad nerve compression in the carpal tunnel. I had made changes at work and at home in the past and now but doesn't seem to help too well. I don't have much more I can do but to have the surgery done again and not work for a while.

Thanks to all who shared on this topic. I have a question. What would your advice be overall to someone who has tendancies of this in their family? My sister has it, and I am wondering what preventative measures I can take, or warning signs I can look for. For instance what is the recommended for computer use (tools, braces, mouse, chair). I would really like to know. Thanks for listening, and any info you can offer.

~everywoman

Sorehands,
I am sorry for your suffering. I too have bilateral CTS and have recently had the surgery. I believe that my therapy isn't working. I still have the pain and numbing in both hands. I have read your messeges and am wondering if that may be my problem. I see the Doctor soon and will ask him if this could be happening to me. Thank you for sharing your story. I hope you get to feeling better soon.

I still have a lot of pain and numbness thats really bad at times, I just try not to use my hands too much and rest them when I can. Anything i do makes them hurt and get numb more. My coworkers and family feels bad for me sometimes. I just do what i can do. I'm doing exercises to keep my hands from getting too weak from the nerve damage. I'm also using the tens unit more for the pain in the wrists and forearms, it works good at times. I'm facing surgery again but don't know if will help.

Carpal tunnel is very painful and damaging to the wrists & hands and it will make life hard. I have tried every thing to make the pain alittle better. Ice,heat & splints helps some with it but pain comes back. The tens unit helps the best but I don't like it too much but i will use it. I don't care for surgery again because it may not help a second time time, but it may be needed. I just try not too stress the hands too much. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/frown.gif

Hi
I feel for you guys with all your wrist pains. I know it's real, as my wife suffered from it for a long time. She went the surgery route, both at one time, and it DID help her a lot. But she is having some pains again, mainly from the scars, she says. But really, I cannot understand these doctors! Don't they know their anatomy? The source of the pain is NOT in the wrists or hand, but in the scalene muscle group that begins along the neck and down into the collarbone. I just replied to "sorehand" and went into a lengthy explanation of this. So perhaps you can read it so I don't have to go through the whole exercise again. Hope you find some help, 'cause it sure ain't any fun!
kfh

Hello! It is a shame how doctors keep wasting people's time with such unnecessary pain. If they would learn how massage affects muscles which intern affects nerves and bones. Besides blood and air, muscles are the only things that move therefore cause roughly 80 % of the problems(15% bone, and 5% desease/illness) especially CTS. Please do not get surgery. Please do not get the cortizone shot . Please do not where the brace on your wrist which actually causes the forearm muscles to tighten even more which makes the condition worse so the doc gives medicine to turn off your sensory while giving you fabulous side effects(lovely!) I know it is the doctor told you sothat is why people do it and i do not blame you. You just do not know better.

Most of the time(70%) it comes from the pectorial muscles in your chest, then next usually is the scalene muscles deep in your, then next usually is the teres minor muslce on the back outside of your shoulder. A great massage therapist will work from the deep in the neck(front & back),work your shoulders & chest, down your arm to your fingers last (front and back).
Please do not put it off if you just got CTS(the sooner the better). Get a recommendation of a great massage therapist in your area(thses sessions might be quite painful but it is worth it in the end, you are in such tremendous pain any way). Call a massage school they will usually know who is a great massage therapist. Make an appointment to focus only on your CTS. I helped a lot of people thru massage recover successfully.
LMT Donny

Hi
I agree with donny. But I would add this to finding a good massage therapist: try and find one that also practices Trigger Point Therapy as well. It compliments massage therapy. I agree: don't let them come near you with a knife. It won't solve the problem. The problem is in those muscle groups donny was telling you about. Hope this helps you in the right direction.
kfh