Numbness post surgery
21 March 2017 - 4:22pm
Hi, I know there have been a few posts about numbness after surgery, but just wanted to clarify is it normal? Had open release yesterday on my left hand after an 8 month history of night time parasthesia and numbness. No day times symptoms.
NCS confirmed mild bilateral carpal tunnel in both hands but also transient ischaemia in my ulnar nerve.
All of my fingertips today have some element of numbness, the worst being my index and ring finger and my palm is numb above the incision area. Is this normal?
Thank you
Vicki
Not strictly 'normal' no but not necessarily a major cause for concern at 24h post-op. I think you could basically summarise this as:
a) No persistent numbness before surgery
1) No numbness after surgery = 'normal' - ie the commonest outcome
2) Numbness after surgery - start to worry if it persists beyond a few weeks
b) Persistent numbness before surgery
1) Numbness immediately after surgery = 'normal' - ie we don't expect it to go away immediately in most cases
2) No numbness after surgery - great! everyone very happy
3) Numbness unchanged 3 months after surgery - perhaps check the NCS and compare with the pre-op studies to make sure that some progress is being made but be aware that it may not clear entirely, or even at all. If NCS the same or worse than before surgery then think about whether the operation might not have been done correctly.
JB