Just been recommended for surgery
After 7.5 years of battling through with what I now know to be cts and a steroid injection in March this year I have now been recommended for surgery. Am looking forward to the possiblility of being able to sleep for an entire night one day (night) soon - small children permitting!! However I am wondering how surgery will impact on my life. I am right handed and of course this is the hand that needs treatment. I have two children (8 & 3) and work 4 days a week in an office with my work being 90% computer based. I have to drive a lot for my kids and for work and unfortunately work for a very small company who have in the past expressed a reluctance to pay sick pay (for a colleague - I have never been off sick - yet..) I feel an overwhelming pressure to get back to work and life as soon as possible but do not want to jeopardise any treatment. What is the normal prognosis after surgery , what can I expect and what can I do or not do?
Any help/advice would be most appreciated.
Many thanks.
Thank you. I got a good result from the injection (after the initial aching, that is!) fingers crossed for good result and recovery. Thanks again for your quick response.
I had the op done on my left hand 6 years ago, and it took 3 weeks for me to get back to work (lugging books around in a bookstore), although I am right handed, so was able to do quite a lot without using it too much.I didn't reckon on not being able to dress myself for a few days!
It had completely returned to normal by about 5 months after the op. I also was reluctant to be off work, so would suggest you get the surgeon to say how long you should stay off.
Enjoy your return to sleep, it's great.
As long as your CTS is not too bad (see the section on surgical prognosis) and you have a good surgeon then you should be back to your normal activities about 2 weeks or so after surgery. As with most things in medicine however there is considerable variability from one patient to the next so you cannot guarantee this. I would not worry about keyboard work - driving to work is much more likely to be an issue. Did it respond well to the injection in March? - in general you can expect the same kind of response to surgery as to the preceding injection - the difference being in how long the effect the lasts. JB