Bilateral Symptoms /previous bilateral rotator cuff surgeries/ brother with nerve anomalies in wrist
I have had tingling & numbness increasingly over 5 years. My primary physician ordered ECM with showed moderate impairment in both wrists. However, since having rotator cuff repair surgeries in each shoulder (1 year(R) & 3 Years(L) ago) my hand problems have gotten more severe ,especially in my right(dominant) hand.I am seriously considering surgery on both since my ability to do things is seriously impaire--can't use a paddle , writing with a pen is becoming difficult--in general, anything that requires steady grasping causes tingling & numbness.
Q.#1: My older brother(deceased) had surgery for CTS on his left wrist and suffered greatly after. He was told that he had an extra set of nerves in the wrist so that his surgery only fixed one & aggravated the other. Is this realistic? It sounded nuts to me but I am afraid to have the surgery for fear of ending up on heavy pain meds as he did for years after surgery. Is there a test to clarify whether the nerves in my wrists are nonstandard?
Q#2: Is it possible that my hand symptoms are coming from my damaged shoulders? My right shoulder feels as though the rotator cuff repair has failed. My right hand is much more symptomatic than the left. Is there a test to determine precisely where the nerve damage bothering my hands is located?
i write from the United States. Thank you for any information.
Thanks very much . I'll ask for ultrasound imaging and the nerve conduction studies.
How much you get out of the tests depends a bit on who is doing them - expertise varies widely so try to find out a bit about anyone who is providing these services. JB
I will do so. The surgeon whom I expect to see is well rated and a regional expert so hopefully he can direct me to good providers. Thank you again. It is kind of you to maintain this site.
A combination of nerve conduction studies and ultrasound imaging should help to clarify both the diagnosis and what you can expect from treatment. The comment about your brother's wrist is, I am afraid, pretty much uninterpretable at two or three removes from the original conversation. They could have been talking about a variety of different things and there's not much point in speculating now. Ultrasound imaging will show any major anatomical variations in the nerves at the wrist.
As regards your shoulders, they could be contributing to the problem yes, but it is at least equally likely that you might just have deteriorating carpal tunnel syndrome as time passes. The nerve conduction studies will demonstrate that there is a problem at the wrist if you have CTS but they are less good (though not useless) at showing problems at the shoulder when there is already a problem further down the nerve at the wrist. JB