mollymadison

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.