Pain and weakness in my wrists several years after carpal tunnel release
I had carpal tunnel release on my right hand in August 2008 and my left hand in July 2014.
The numbness and original pain is gone. Although, in both wrists, I still have sharp and nearly excruciating pain. This is especially true if I have done any type of heavy lifting but, it also happens with seemingly no catalyst. I have no numbness or tingling that originally occurred with CTS. The pain I am experiencing completely different.
Is this common?
Is there more information I can provide to help you advise?
Thank you
I too am having different symptoms in my wrists - and also in my thumbs - following earlier CTS.
My CTS was of sudden onset, excruciating, burning, vice like pain from finger tips to shoulders in September 2016, first in my right hand, closely followed by my left. I was beside myself with the pain and so little sleep at night. Cervical spine issues were suspected but ruled out by a spine surgeon, who did MRIs, nerve conduction tests and then two CTS ops a couple of weeks apart to put me out of my misery. (He said the right one was especially severe.) But immediate and complete relief!! - and I've been very diligent with my physio to get them back to normal.
(I've since been investigated for rheumatoid arthritis/Lupus etc but blood results are clear except for raised C reactive protein (11 ml).
My hands have been getting stronger all the time since - after a long period of dropping everything on the floor! However, it has been 8/9 months now and I've recently been experiencing new and pretty disabling thumb and wrist pain in both hands with normal everyday activities such peeling vegetables etc, which feels arthritic in nature (I have osteoarthritis in other joints). I'm wondering if I should just grin and bear it (I'm in my early 70's after all) or whether there would be something to be gained by investigating it with a hand surgeon.
Any advice or comments gratefully received!
Margeritte
The joints at the base of the thumb commonly wear out and I've often wondered whether cutting the transverse carpal ligament to relieve CTS might disturb the structure of the wrist enough in some people to make degenerative change faster. It's worth seeing a hand surgeon if it is bad enough to affect the use of the hand. JB
LIghtning-like pains are something I hear described quite a bit by CTS patients both before and after surgery. I have always wondered if they result from sudden movements of the nerve around the tendons. They don't usually persist this long after surgery however. Beyond saying that I have heard this sort of thing before there is not a lot else I can do on the web. To assess it properly one would need to see and examine the hand and get the story in detail and then probably supplement that with some investigations. JB