Advice
Hi Dr Bland, I have trailed the splints on both hands at night for two weeks as agreed. During the trial neither of my hands went to sleep. Having a nap during the afternoon without the splints resulted in waking up with my hands having gone to sleep. Having trailed the splints for two weeks as agreed, what is the next step. N A
Hi Dr B,
I am only wearing the splints at night, they do seem to work quite well despite the nuisance value. The down side is that I am very active during the day i.e. cooking, diy, gardening and house work plus driving none of which lend themselves to wearing the splints. May I suggest trying a steroid injection in my left wrist which is the worse one and compare the results, if this possible what would be the time scale for getting it done.
OK I'll have a look at the diary on Monday and see where we can fit something in. JB
We can inject at 15:30 on Wednesday 30th December if you can make that? JB
Hi Dr B,
Yes I can make that, thanks very much. I assume I come to the same place as for the tests at Canterbury. N A
Hi Dr Bland/Emma had injection in left wrist 30/12/15. Results its now 6wks and it is still very very good. Any chance I might get the right done as still wearing the splint at night. N A
I'm sure we can do the other side too, probably early next week - are you free Monday/Tuesday? JB
Monday free all day, Tuesday appointment at Canterbury @ 1400 with my oncologist any time around this would be great thank you NA
I gather from Emma that there are now more symptoms inthe ulnar nerve innervated digits (little and ring). We don't treat ulnar neuropathy in the carpal tunnel clinic, though I have created a page of this website that discusses ulnar nerve problems. I believe we have a neurology appointment pending so I would perhaps wait to see what they think before doing anything else, though in the meantime you should try not to lean on the elbows and keep them straight as much as possible. Once you have seen the neurologists we might consider checking your ulnar nerves again to see how they have changed since 2010 when we last looked at them in detail. JB
Hi Dr B thank you for that. I'm not sure wot this pending neurology appointment is ? Also my right hand is now a lot better than it was, thank you. NA
We have asked the neurologists to look into the reasons why your nerves in general seem to perform rather poorly. If you have not heard anything from them yet we should try to trace what has happened to that request. JB
Hi Dr Bland/Emma , had injection in right wrist 16/02/2016. Results right hand is very good. Thanks very much. If symptoms get worse again I 'll be in touch via this forum, if that is ok? N A
Hi Dr B/Emma Had injection in right wrist on 11/05/16. Right hand is now great, has been no trouble at all. NA
Thanks fo taking the trouble to post. Looking at your history screen the latest severity score on here has not changed very much has it so in what way is it improved after the third injection? JB
Three injections 1 in left hand, 2 in the right. Although I have a slight weakness in both hands concerning my thumb, index and middle fingers, the biggest improvement is that neither of them is waking me up at night having gone numb or with pins and needles. I do still get these sensations in my ring and little fingers I hope this is of some help.NA
Back in 2010 you had evidence of an ulnar nerve problem and it is likely that that is the origin of the ring and little finger symptoms. We could have a look at that again if you wish as we have not really studied the ulnar nerve extensively on recent tests. JB
Yep bring it on. Albeit to say that since having the steroid injection in my neck on 1st May this problem did seem to improve slightly sadly the injection is now wearing off .n.a.
Can you drop in next Wed (29th June) at 9:30 and I'll check your ulnar nerve then. JB
Hi Dr B,
I have just completed another severity test, from which you can see, I think, the results of the injections in both hands has now worn off. I am back to wearing the braces at night. Do I need to get a further referal from my G.P.? NA.
No we can just see you again for the present. I'll organise an appointment. I seem to be booking 4-5 weeks ahead though at present - Summer holiday season so fewer staff available (including me for some of it). JB
Hi Dr B /Emma
Had injection in each wrist on 5th July, Both hands are now very good, I have not had one sleep disturbed night since. Thank you very much. N.A.
That adds a little further evidence that you do have some element of CTS as part of your problem. The next question I think is probably - are the splints adequately controlling the symptoms and tolerable as a treatment. If the answer is yes then I might just carry on with them for a few weeks and see how things develop. If, on the other hand, the continuing level of symptoms despite splinting is a nuisance, or if you want to try and do without the splints, then the next logical step would be to try a steroid injection. JB