I Ave cts in both my left mild and my right is now moderate to severe it's the constant pain I can't deal with ......waiting to to hear if more injections or operate ....I feel like I am moaning all the time tried different tablets sick of takin them ... tried cream no effect .... pulling my hair out do I go to walk in tell them can't cope or wit till Monday push what's happening so fed up crying and down ... feel like a softy
Hi,
you are not a softy, it's pain like I have never had and have had two kids and hysterectomy years ago,
Plus a whole new knee 10 years ago. I'm going to have injection next week, hope I'm luckier than you, I think you have to keep insisting that treatment not working. Have you consider Acupuncture, I had it years ago on my back and it did the trick, so shal go for that if nothing else works.
Chin up
freda
How many injections have you had so far.and how were you graded on the scale of 1 to 6 to how bad the CTS had gone
Some people do get severe pain with CTS, though not all. We don't really understand why there should be so much difference in this between people with otherwise seemingly identical CTS so you're not 'soft'. However it is important to be sure that the diagnosis is right - it can be all too easy to just assume that a hand pain is CTS when there are many different painful hand conditions, some of them quite common and often coexisting with CTS. I'm not surprised by the lack of response to pills and creams as there is no real evidence that any of these things actually work for CTS. The response to steroid injection however is quite a useful piece of information - if it got a lot better after injection, even if only for a few weeks, then that is fairly good evidence that the problem is CTS and also quite a good indication of the sort of response you can expect from surgery. In terms of immediate self help - have you got splints?
Hi Jeremy, thanks for your reply, no I've not tried splints as I have an injection booked for this coming Friday, I hope it will help, meanwhile I just massage my wrist to try and release the nerve. I'm almost sure I have done it through double lock doors I have, I am on my own quite a bit so having to push handles up quite hard,is not doing me much good, shall have to go back to old type locks and bolts I think.Still must follow Dr advice for time being, All the best
Freda
Thanks for replying so far had tests twice in two years recent one showed moderate to severe ... injections had once only relief for 6 weeks they deciding whether operation or more injections ....waiting game .... been to go to doc been put on cocodomol and a stronger ibuprofen and gotta ring Monday push what they doing next ... sleeping a lot while in pain is normal they said so gonna take regular see what happens thanks to finding this forum for people who know what I am talking about is a comfort in itself
I do have splints as well
Unfortunately 'moderate to severe' doesn't mean a lot as there is no agreed definition for these terms and different labs will describe wildly different results like this. Make sure your splints are adjusted correctly (see my website for instructions) and wear them every night. The good response to injection for 6 weeks suggests that this is probably worth surgery but if you have a significant local wait for surgery you could re-inject them while waiting, to get some quick relief. Dr J Bland
Send me link to u r website too look at how to wear splints properly please
It's hard to post links on here as they get moderated - look for carpal-tunnel dot net - if you see what I mean. Dr J Bland
First- have you had an EMG? That will tell them if and how severe your cts is. If not, get one asap.
Second- don't waste more time on injections or pain pills that don't work.
Third- if Dr. Feels you are a candidate for surgery, SCHEDULE it asap. I personally recommend getting them both done at the same time but that depends on your job and home duties. I found it best to get it over with all at once and was able to take time to recuperate. Only takes about 10 days- 2 weeks to heal though longer to get rid of pain from healing and regain strength.
Fourth- wear splints all the time if possible until surgery.
Lastly, I had mine done on January 20, 2017 and came out of surgery with no numbness since! Really glad I did it and wished I hadn't waited so long!
Good luck!
Like many people with successful surgery MooMooGrouch is a bit of an apostle for the operation and that is understandable. Life is a bit more complicated than he/she thinks though, and surgery, though usually successful, is not a universal panacea. Gather as much information as you can and make a rational decision about it. For well selected cases surgery is the right answer but a perusal of the forum here, and on my own site, will show you that there are also some very unsuccesful operations so get yourself as well informed as possible. Dr J Bland
Oh.... I am on my 2nd week of recovery from bilateral carpel release.. have you seen you primary care doctor? Then they refer you to have a nerve test done. Then from there you meet the surgeon to ask questions and meet them then surgury.... and I tell ya, I haven't slept this good in YEARS! I'm dreaming... I have so much energy.. but it's a process to see the different doctors.. I felt your pain.. so sorry
I had the electrodes test thing said left mild right moderate to severe ... After pushing yesterday managed to get stronger pain killers takes the edge off lovely ... gonna push tmw see what they decided I think I really want the op now had enough work already prepared and understanding. ..........I love this forum so good when u talking to people who in same situation .
Can u be put to sleep rather than just freeze
Most surgeons do carpal tunnel decompressions under local anaesthetic because it's safer than a general, as well as getting you in and out of hospital quicker. JB
Responding to Jeremy bland'a comment, I read that you ALREADY had explored your options. You've had the EMG, have worn splints, tried injections and pain pills that didn't help much. I suggested you ask your surgeon what his suggestion is and IF he was for the surgery then go for it. Yes, there are surgerys that fail, but that is a chance you take with any type of surgery. I and another commenter here are just trying to calm your fear about surgery now that your ready. As far as anesthesia, my Dr. used a general but I've heard Dr.'s that use that or a local. Also, if you can find a Dr. skilled in doing it endoscopically that would be a better choice. Faster healing, less recovery, less invasive and quicker procedure.
As I said - it's a bit more complicated than it might at first appear to someone who has just had a successful operation and we do not really have enough information in the thread to make such definitive recommendations. We don't know what steroid dose was tried or when, nor what the NCS results really showed, nor what other pathology might be complicating the decision.
Reassurance about surgery is fine and a good counter to the many horror stories that you find on the web. What you are doing in the above posting however is giving medical advice on the handling of a particular case by recommending endoscopic surgery. You will note, if you read my comments in this thread that I have made very few hard recommendations as to what should be done here. The only suggestion I have made is that splints should be properly fitted and used - which is a harmless intervention that can safely be used for first aid in CTS by anyone. I would not, as a qualified mdical practitioner, give more definite advice without knowing everything about the case that I could.
Blanket recommendations for endoscopic surgery are not really justified by the medical evidence - read the Cochrane review which is freely available to the general public. On the whole people should stick with whatever technique their surgeon is familiar and comfortable with. How much carpal tunnel surgery your surgeon does is much more important than what technique they use. Dr Jeremy Bland
I beg to differ but my surgeon has published a paper on his use of Endoscopic surgery and he has done in excess of 1500 of them with a 100% success rate and has published the results related to the more successful outcomes. He also is in the minority of Dr.'s who use this method as, in his opinion, Dr.'s are leary of newer methods due to the risks of their doing it wrong. Yes, you need to find someone skilled in this method. Perhaps you could focus on this person's problem instead of picking apart every comment I make. I don't believe I've given him medical advice, just options to look into himself. And encouragement to not be afraid to take the surgery option with the possible outcome of living without the pain. It sounds like he's been told he has CTS as well as the severity through an EMG which is the same protocol used here. The next step would be exploring the injections and pain killers and splinting which he has. The next logical step is speaking to a surgeon which I recommended. I lived with this for many more years than I needed to when the surgery was available and safe and regret that. Of course I'm going to extol the virtues of surgery.
So, here's what you're looking for so you can focus elsewhere.
I am not a medical Dr. and am not giving medical advice or treatments that you should follow. That is for your Dr. to do. I am simply telling you my experience with this problem and what I would do if in your shoes.