My doctor says my symptoms do not make sense, help!

Ash1125
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I had endoscopic cts surgery. Right hand was done 4 and a half months ago, left was done 3 weeks after. I work in a environment that is very physical and use my hand consistently. Since my operation I feel as if my symptons have worsened. I no longer wake up with the same 'pins and needle' tingling but I constantly wake up from my hands 'falling asleep.' It's a different type on tingle and I often feel it throughout the day. I have trouble holding my cell phone, or even blow drying my hair because my thumb and first finger will get a burning sensation. After work my hands feel very swollen and I even remove my wedding ring.My doctor states that because the scar tissue looks good that everything was a success. He said he had never heard of any of my symptons and that I'm just opening up another can of worms. He's making me feel crazy. My PT/OT has notice that I have not gained much strength in my right hand, so she decided to test the strength in my arm. She noticed during exercises that my arm was shaking and believes it is coming from my shoulder. When I do exercises with the arm I feel burning from my arm down to my elbow. She said it is quit possible to have injured my shoulder and to compensate for the pain I lifted and used my hands in a different way that could have cause the cts. I said this to my ortho and said the PTs often come up my theories that don't make sense. He said there is no way to tie the cts to my shoulder. I feel like I'm going crazy. Please help!

jeremydpbland
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We need to go back to the start of that story. Before surgery, what were the symptoms like? Did you have any tests to confirm the diagnosis of CTS and asssess how bad it was, especially nerve conduction studies or ultrasound imaging, and finally were any other treatments tried before surgery? Overall it sounds as though your symptoms are worse and if that is the case you probably need further nerve conduction studies, and if possible imaging to try and help work out what the problem is. Essentially your symptoms should be at least partially improved 3-4 months after surgery and if that is not the case then something is amiss somewhere. JB

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