Progress after two ops.
My left hand op was June 23rd. Scar healing nicely although my grip is a little weak perhaps I have not exercised it enough being right handed,no numbness at all in this hand now.My right hand op was September 12th it is really amazing how this hand seems so much stronger already. The incision is still tender and I had a little puss production because the stitches had not dissolved completely. This has cleared up since the nurse removed them. I struggle with opening bottles and tins but I feel things are improving daily.
I haven't played tennis yet but I am going to try on Thursday weather permitting with plenty of padding. I have been doing most household chores not heavy lifting and get the occasional twinge but these are bearable.
It's now 4 weeks since my op. The incision has knitted well but it is very tender especially if I touch anything like hard plastic. The skin doesn't seem to be renewing quickly and the flesh looks red raw. Should I be applying emollient, E45 or should I not apply anything.
Post-operative care is not my forte really as I am not a surgeon, though I have read most of the publications describing different post-operative rehabilitation regimes (the bottom line is that there is not much hard evidence to say that any one program of post-operative care is superior to any other). My local surgeons do recomend firm massage with some form of moisturising cream as a way of helping to stop the scar stiffening and adhering to surrounding tissues and my own feeling is that, once the incision has knitted together and the stiches are out, then this sort of thing is unlikely to do any harm and at least gets the patient involved in managing the problem, which is always a good thing. Scars that I see in the few weeks after surgery often look pretty red so that in itself is not unusual. Local tenderness at the scar is also common. Complications such as small abscesses are usually given away by a combination of local tenderness, swelling, redness and warmth. JB
It's now 8 weeks since op on right hand. I am managing to play tennis but scar still tender I would say it is about 70 percent.
My grip in both hands is still weak for instance my wife has to undo stubborn water and wine bottle tops. I am overall happy with the two ops and hope to be getting closer to full strength in the new year. I still get a little numbness in my right thumb from the injection but I think it is improving.
If you look at the overall surgical outcome graph on here you will see that only about half of patients say that they are completely cured after surgery so it is not unusual for there to be a long term subjective perception that the hand is not quite as agood as it used to be before the CTS developed and some of the commoner complaints are of mild weakness and clumsiness. However, compared to the alternative of continuing with the CTS symptoms it is obviously a worthwhile operation in the majority of cases. JB
I have stiff fingers. In my left hand it is only the middle finger knuckle joint, in the right hand it is the index,middle and small fingers. The little finger won't pull in tight in line with the others when gripping. I don't know if this is due to the op. which was 4 months ago. I am seeing my GP on Tuesday. Should I ask to see a rheumatologist or if he says it's arthritis just accept this as the diagnosis.
The inability to fully flex the little finger is not a common complaint after carpal tunnel surgery but might conceivably just be due to the mechanical effects of cutting the transverse carpal ligament which acts as a kind of pulley for the long flexor tendons which bend the fingers (the muscles which do this are of course in the forearm, connected to the fingers by the tendons). Another possibility is trouble with the tendons themselves - things like trigger digits, little nodules on thendons that get caught in the smaller pulleys in the hand/fingers, can cause marked difficulties with flexing or extending the fingers and are very common in people with CTS. The hand surgeon who did the op should know all about this sort fo thing. JB
You place quite high demands on your hands Clive so having some symptoms still 3 weeks after surgery (right hand) is perhaps not too surprising. The lady who has just posted regarding returning to work after surgery might be interested in your experiences, especially in respect of 'ordinary' daily use of the hands. JB