post surgery

[jomama1]

I had open release on both hands two weeks apart starting Feb 10. They seem to be getting better a little every day but am still having some discomfort. I washed windows one day which was a "huge" mistake, suffered three or four days with that one. I go back to work after April 1 as an office manager. By the sounds of this forum, things don't look too promising for any kind of permanent relief. Mine was a workmen's comp case. Has anyone gone back to work, found out it was too painful to continue, and then gone back to workmen's comp to look into permanent disability?

[Mo7609]

I am new to this board but have been reading it for a year now. I have had bi lateral carpal tunnel release May 2001 and went back to work as a hairdresser the following October. By July the pain was worse than before and I went back to my Work Comp doctor. Unfortunatly I have been off work since then and I am now retraining in a new field with the help of Workers Comp. I slap myself for going back to the same thing that put me in pain in the first place but now that I am not working the pain is slight- moderate depending on the day. My advice to you would be that if you start feeling those initial pains again stop! Good luck to you!

[Heather777]

You can definately end up sorry if you over work your hands! Try to pamper them as much as possible. One thing that sucks about CTS is that some of us will never be the same as before the condition. We might not be able to do the same work or other activities. I am 7 wks. post-op on my left and 11 days post-op on my right and I haven't worked since Jan. 29th, the day before my first surgery. My left hand still hurts some and I have occasional numbness and tingling in my thumb, index, and middle fingers (occurs all too frequently . It's too soon to tell how my right hand will be yet, but I am afraid that my CTS symptoms will persist despite surgery. I love my job and can't imagine having to switch careers because of my hands. I work in the OR as a certified surgical tech./First assistant to the surgeons. I have participated in hundreds of these surgerys, I know all about the procedure and the anatomy. One thing I knew nothing of, however, was recovering from the procedure. I tried to trick myself into assuming that the surgery would be a cure, now I'm aware of others that haven't gained much, if any relief; and I scared I'll join them. I know It's too soon to tell but it's a fear of mine.

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Heather

[jomama1]

thanks for your support and the info. I was surprised at the amount of time that it's taking to recover from the surgeries. One minute I think everything will be "dandy" by the time I get back to work and the next I have a hand cramp when I'm trying to tie my shoe, so who knows. I'll just wait and see what happens when I get back into my old routine. I'd be interested to know what types of jobs you can be retrained in where you don't use your hands in some repetitive manner. I hope everything works out for the best for you two. The way I looked at it before deciding on the surgery was "damned if I do and damned if I don't". I had extensive nerve damage already to my right hand and my left was following suit. So, I'm going to try and have a positive outlook and hope for the best. Thanks again.

[Mo7609]

I was a hairdresser for 13 years amking really good money and now I am training to be a medical assistant both front and back office. Hoping to make good money if I can get into the right place at the right time but even if I don't I know that my hands will be ok. Good luck to you!