Golfer with CTS symptoms

Hi there,

I have played golf all my life, now 27 years old, and up until March of this year have competed on a pro level. It has been my full time job for the past 4 years of my life. Back in March I injured my left shoulder and was out awhile. DId PT for it, and during it I started experiencing weird pains in my left elbow. Ultimately found out through an EMG test I had severe ulnar nerve compression along with severe carpal tunnel. Weird thing is up until that point (August) I had only felt the symptoms in my elbow, and absolutely no problems in my wrist. Of course though, because I hadn't experienced any symptoms in my wrist before the results of the test I ended up only having surgery on the elbow in October.

In-between my results and op day, I did have a few days where I finally felt carpal tunnel symptoms (wasn't sure if it was all psychological). My symptoms actually showed up in my left and right wrist at the same exact time (only had EMG test done or left arm). Those symptoms were a burning wrist sensation, obvious weakness in both hands, and a little bit of pins and needles in the hands. But my main concern was the burning wrist. Another thing I found weird was I felt like the burning sensations went away while doing activities but came back while resting.

When it came surgery time, my surgeon decided to hold off on CTS surgery hoping the ulnar nerve transposition would clear things up. 6 weeks post op, very happy with my elbow recovery. Was actually just cleared yesterday, by my surgeon (a follow up meeting), to get back to chipping and hitting 50 yard golf shots and work up from there. Yesterday I had no problems. Elbow felt great while chipping and hitting short shots. However, today I went to the course again, chipped and hit 50 yard shots for about an hour. 30 minutes after getting home, I started to feel the weakness and small burns in my left wrist/palm area. I'm worried I have CTS, possibly in both wrists. The hands/wrist just don't feel right when I try to lay in bed and sleep.

For now, I'm going to hold off on chipping or hitting any short golf shots. Any thoughts on the feeling I'm having in my wrist? My mind was set on getting back out on the course by then end of the year and start competing again. Now I'm just thinking this will be another set back and who knows when I'll be able to golf again. Thanks for any input and feedback.

P.S. After feeling these sensations today I decided to try the prayer stretch (http://www.mwstone.com/exercises-elbow.htm) and I pushed my right fingers against my left fingers to get a bigger stretch on my left side. I did feel some weird kind of discomfort not only in my fingers on left hand but also up into the forearm some. Could like clarify anything? Thanks again.