Carpal tunnel surgery

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Hey all!

Anyone have carpal tunnel surgery? I have a friend who had it this morning and is having horrible pain post op and their medications aren't really helping with the pain. Any helpful tips or encouraging thoughts? I hate to see them in so much pain!

Thanks a lot guys!

Jess

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Never had surgery, but several friends who did have carpal tunnel surgery.  I am writing because of my experience with pain medications.  Maybe she needs a different pain medication.  Vicodin, Demerol, Percocet, do not work for me and sometimes actually increase the pain.  Also I have severe reactions when novacain, carbocain, etc wear off.  These are rarer but not unknown reactions to pain meds.  Sometimes takes some convincing of the doctor.  Anti-anxiety med and tramadol work better for me.  She will need you as an advocate, as it is hard to be coherent or convincing when you are in severe pain.  Hope she feels relief really soon. 

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Thank you! He has tried norco, Tylenol 3, Motrin and icing it through the bandage (all what they suggested, obviously not all those meds at the same time) with little relief :/ hopefully it gets better over night otherwise I think a early follow up visit is in order. I don't think excruciating pain is normal, obviously some is expected in early recovery but I think this is a little crazy.

[Andrea, Belle and Honey]

How much Motrin did he take?  When I had a bunch of stitches in the palm of my hand, which has a ton of pain receptors, I told the doctor that 2 ibuprofen, which usually works well for my headaches, wasn't doing a thing for my hand.  She told me that taking 2 ibuprofen for severe pain is like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water; the 4 she told me to take definitely took the edge off the pain. Your friend might want to check the dosage with his doctor.  I hope he is feeling better soon.

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

He had taken 800 Motrin. Which I thought seemed reasonable but thank god he's feeling better today!

[Nancy & Echo]

I had bilateral carpal tunnel surgery (one hand at a time.)  It went really smoothly for me. I had it in a sling for 6 weeks. I'd make sure your friend took his/her temperature. I might have taken a naproxen or two, but I really had no big deal with pain.

Was the surgery done by a hand surgeon?  At work, we had one person who had carpal tunnel surgery, and insisted on having a general surgeon do the surgery.  She lived quite a distance away from the nearest hand surgeon and didn't want to make the commute. 

Bad decision for her.  The general surgeon made the incision (?in the wrong direction?), which caused scar tissue to form which made the situation much worse, not better.  She had to permanently quit the job and find another career.

My hand surgeon made the incision in one of the folds in my palm; another friend had carpal tunnel surgery (by a hand surgeon) in a different direction.  But both approaches turned out fine.  I know the surgery is done for your friend.  But I'd only want an experienced hand surgeon do this on me.  The nurse of my hand surgeon said my hand surgeon could do it if you just stuck out your hand at a drive-through meal place.  He could probably do it in his sleep.

I think I was told to remove at least some of the bandages in ?3 days, but of course each surgeon likes to do things differently.

I'd give a call to the surgeon and ask about the pain.  I'm not a nurse, but from what I understand, if you have severe pain then its good to check with a doc.

I hope your friend gets reassuring news soon.

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

I believe he had a hand surgeon do the surgery and a plastic surgeon did the closing? He needs to leave it on for 10days and now that the surgeon fixed it we are good! So frustrating that this whole issue was because it was wrapped incorrectly.

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Hi all! Thanks for all your advise, sorry I'm just responding. He's feeling much better he went back into the clinic and the doctor took a look at the wrap that they had put him in and the resident had wrapped it up wrong. So now that that is fixed we are good!

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Good to hear.  

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Glad he is doing better!

[Nancy & Echo]

What great news!  Hand function is so vitally important!  I'm sorry he had to go through such incredible pain, but I'm glad it was fixed so easily.

[linda giorgi]

I had carpal tunnel surgery about 6 months ago. The first two days were filled with pins and needles in all my fingers and hand. I wanted to cut my fingers off. LOL. After the first few days it started to get better. The doctor said if I needed pain meds to call otherwise advil. I did not call him. To this day I still can not lean on my hand to help myself up. Still puffy and hard in the area. I have to have my left hand done now. This is the price I paid for teaching computer for 28 years.

Hope your  friend feels better soon.

Lynn