Update after surgery
After having a steroid injection on 22 Nov 2012, there was an initial improvement in my symptoms - no more waking up at night, but still some discomfort. By the time my carpal tunnel surgery was scheduled (16 Feb 2013), the symptoms were distinctly worse. Since the surgery - nearly 3 weeks ago - the painful burning sensation has not returned, although there is a constant slight tingling / numbness in the tips of fingers 2,3 and 4. I have now recovered almost full use of the hand. So far so good I guess?
Funny you should ask that ..... I've had a really stiff neck for a few weeks now, and perhaps as a result of that have had some tingling / discomfort from the left shoulder down to the wrist - but not into the hand or fingers. I'm hoping that this will disappear once the stiff neck has cleared up completely.
The right (operated) hand is still quite tingly in the tips of the index, middle and ring fingers. It gets worse in the evenings, although not so far as bad as it was before the operation. I'm continuing with the exercises and am using the hand more or less normally now.
Any advice on either of the above?
Many thanks.
Grade 5 can take quite a long time to settle after surgery and odd things can happen to the symptoms as nerve function improves - sometimes it can even feel worse as sensation comes back though I think you have to be very careful when concluding this - it's all to easy to use this explanation to fob off people who really do have something wrong after surgery. In your case it certainly sounds as though, overall, the right side is better so I'm not too worried by some tingling fingertips.
The left arm/neck I think you are right about. We did not see much evidence of a mdian nerve problem on the left last time we tested and it is quite possible that this is an entirely different problem. If it feels as though the stiffness in the neck is improving then it is probably reasonable to wait and see what happens for a bit. JB
Sounds good - how is the other hand doing? JB