Okay, I got the results back from the EMG today. All my symptoms pointed to cubital tunnel, but the EMG says it's carpal tunnel. My doctor gave me 2 different treatment options: surgery and/or steroid injections. Surgery is only as a last resort, so he gave me a steroid injection in my left wrist to see if it gets better. The injection sucked and hurt and now I have more symptoms of carpal tunnel. My wrist hurts - it hurts to type this, and I have a hard time gripping things. It hurts doing stuff that we take for granted, like opening a door, or taking a shower, tying my shoes. It never hurt before, I just had numbness at night. I asked about how long I'd be out of work if I had to have surgery, and he said it would be a few weeks before I could type again, but I could go back to my other job after a week, I'd just have to wear splints. I really don't want surgery, so I hope the steroid treatment works and the pain and discomfort I'm experiencing right now goes away. I go back to him at the end of the month. Did anybody else who had a steroid injection have a similar reaction? Did it help anybody else?

I had steriod injections in my elbow (OUCH) for tennis elbow. It worked but wore off after 4 weeks. Doc says I dont have tennis elbow anymore. He did MRI and I have degenerated disc and bone spur in the same place. He said it is pinching a nerve. Now I need epidural cortizone injections in my cervical spine, had one, (OUCH< OUCH OUCH) Thought the one in my elbow hurt. This one was a doosie. It is a series or 3. Go next week for the 2nd. The pain is getting so bad, I am looking forward to the shot. The 1st one gave no relief, the doc said not unusual. Hopefully the 2nd. and 3rd will kick in. But the anserw to your question, does help? Just temporaluly, cortizone injections are not permanent.

I've heard about those injections like you're getting, and I was told they sucked, too! I hate needles - I nearly fainted during the EMG I was so worked up over it. I've read that the steroid injections are only temporary, which makes me wonder why the bother if it doesn't last? I want permanent relief right now, not something that'll wear off in a month or two. I'm afraid to go to sleep on my stomach because I know I'll wake up 2-3+ times in the night with numb hands. This has been going on for at least a year now and I'm ready to enjoy a full night's sleep again...

Oh, and the extra pain I was experiencing from the injection did go away, but all my other symptoms are still present. I wear a splint at night, but it doesn't help, either.

Photo,
Maybe you should just get the surgery and be done with it. According to my doctor, the only way cts would come back is if you have a lot of scarring and it interfers with the median nerve. How much time can you take off of work? The big thing for me was driving. I still can't go long distances. But that's just me. My doctor said most people are able to drive themselves to the 2 week apt. to have the stitches out. I couldn't. But then I've had cts for 5 yrs. The longer you have cts, the longer it's supposed to be to recouperate completely. My advice: get it done. For me I had one day where I said, Enough! I can't take this anymore. That's when I had it done.

I'd had cts for at least 14 years before I had surgery on my right hand 12 years ago. That hand is really good. I think I took one or two Darvocet after the surgery and then Tylenol for a couple of days. Drove after a week. I have used my right hand a lot, to compensate for my left over the years.
My left is a different story. I had ct open release on it in Feb of 05. Lots of pain....I drove after 10 days...but hand really hurt.
I have since learned the surgeon nicked the nerve....I had surgery on it again in Dec of 05. I saw that hand surgeon yesterday, who said it looked like the nerve had a gouge in it. Even so,I was able to drive a couple of days after surgery in Dec. Very little post op pain this time around, though the hand surgeon said, he doesn't expect it to ever be 100 percent.

I've had CTS for about a year so far. My biggest problem is that my hands go numb at night and it wakes me up 2-3 times each night. A couple of days ago I dropped a book when a little pain shot through my hand. First time I've dropped something from CTS. Both hands are getting worse. I don't know how much time I'll get to take off from work. One job - as a typist - it will depend on how long workman's comp says I can take off. My other job, I doubt workman's comp will pay for missed work, it doesn't require a lot of repetitive stress on the hands, so I 'll probably take 1-2 weeks off. It might depend if they do both hands at once...I've had it, my hands get stiff from typing and I make mistakes, I love that job so I don't want to admit it's uncomfortable because they'll put me somewhere that's boring...I go back to the doctor in a week and a half, so I'll see what he says then about surgery.

Photo,
I dropped at least one thing every day, right before I had my first surgery. IF you have reached that stage, you need to get the surgery. Waking up that much during the night with numb hands is no way to live. You might be doing serious damage to your median nerve with your cts. Please get the surgery soon, ok? Otherwise you may not be able to do that job at all anymore.

I just worry that work comp will say not enough time has been allowed for recovery. I didn't file a claim until last October, though I'd been seeing a doctor solely for cts since August, and he knew about my hands going numb several months before April of '05, though he didn't know what it was until later...It came on so gradually that I don't know exactly when it started. I just thought I was sleeping on my hands wrong. And, I heard somewhere that the sooner it gets fixed, the quicker and more complete the recovery will be, so I don't want to wait one minute longer. I don't even want to wait to see the doctor, I want to see him right now and get the ball rolling to get surgery. I imagine work comp will have to approve the surgery? Do you know if they will cover missed work from another job I have? That is my biggest concern, lost wages from other employment I have.

Photo,
I'm glad you decided to have the surgery. I would think your boss would have a phone number you could call regarding workers' comp. If not, perhaps there is something online to check out what's covered. You won't regret it, but you will have to deal with having the hand in a bandage for about 2 weeks. I remember that I kept pulling on the bandage after so many days. One thing to remember in case your surgeon doesn't tell you: in the first two to three days KEEP your hand raised as much as possible. Don't walk with both hands swinging back and forth. This will "pool" liquid (mostly blood) in your hand and it will swell. I wasn't told this and had to go online to find it out in the first hours. The bandage was feeling really tight and the hand felt swollen. Doing what was right--keeping it elevated--made all the difference in the world! Second hand never swelled like that, I knew what to do.
-Jo

Thanks for the advice on elevating the hand. I will keep it in mind if my doctor says surgery is required. Personally, I don't see how it can be avoided, now, I've exhausted all treatment options and it's getting worse. I am ready for it, mentally. Thanks again.

Word of wisdom--if you have the surgery and you are put on Darvocet, after about a week you will have one morning when you will be very constipated. I mean I felt like I was trying to pass a tennis ball. Not fun. Once that was over, I was fine. I didn't know that Darvocet can constipate you until I researched it online. If you take Darvocet, make sure you eat/drink a lot of fruit juice or fiber and water.