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| Image from WebMD |
So over the
holiday weekend, I started really delving into the pain in my hands and wrists.
What I’ve been experiencing makes it feel like my wrist is going to break when
I’m applying pressure of any sort. This has also been accompanied by a general
lack of strength in the same hand. I can’t seem to open screw top lids, either
small ones or large ones.
So I decided
to start research what kind of hand surgery it looked like I may end up
receiving. Yup, I’m the impatient sort who can’t wait for a doctor to tell me
what is wrong with me. Some call this a touch of hypochondria, but I just call
it being informed.
So my first
stop was I hear the most about, carpal tunnel. I have known many people who
have had carpal tunnel hand surgery, and sometimes it works and sometimes it does
not.
So what is carpal
tunnel after all, and what are the symptoms?
According to
the WebMD, carpal tunnel syndrome is a narrowing of the carpal tunnel, a small
space in your wrist where the median nerve passes. When this happens, it essentially
pinches the nerve. This pinch then causes the symptoms of Carpal Tunnel, which
are primarily tingling, numbness, weakness, or pain in the fingers or hand.
Boy, that
sounds a lot like what I’m having, but will I end up having carpal tunnel hand
surgery? I don’t know.
According to
the May Clinic, tests for carpal tunnel syndrome include not only a physical
exam, but also an x-ray, electromyogram, and a nerve conduction study. So far,
I have only had a physical exam and just had some x-rays. Hopefully the hand
surgeon I’m seeing will order some of these other tests as well.
Have any of
you experienced carpal tunnel, or had hand surgery as a result? I am curious
about what the outcome was like. I have heard a few people talk about how the
surgery immediately relieved their symptoms, but others who have talked about
having the hand surgery more than once in order to achieve relief on the nerve.
I’ll be
honest, I am not a fan of having hand surgery, but I will if it’s needed. That
said, I would really like to make sure the first hand surgery I have is the
last one needed for the same problem. Too bad it’s not like building something,
where you know if it’s done right the first time then it’s a done deal. It’s
more like fixing a car, where the hand surgery is attacking a problem, with an educated
“guess” as to what’s wrong, but it may turn out to be something completely different.
Let me know
your thoughts. I’d love to hear your experiences with Carpal Tunnel or the Chicago
hand surgery to correct it.
