Are you suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome? This is a condition that affects something called your median nerve. This nerve goes through the length of your arm and through a part of your wrist called the carpal tunnel.
It allows you to control and move your hand. If this tunnel becomes narrowed by inflammation, impingement, or injury, then you can experience a number of negative side effects.
These carpal tunnel symptoms include weakness, burning, numbness, and tingling in your hand. In the past, experts believed that overusing your wrist or hand in a repetitive motion was the cause for carpal tunnel syndrome.
While this may be the case, hand specialists in Omaha, NE now believe that people simply have a genetic likelihood of having smaller carpal tunnels than others. This makes you more prone to getting carpal tunnel syndrome.
Carpal Tunnel Causes
Other conditions that can cause carpal tunnel syndrome are diabetes, pregnancy, rheumatoid arthritis, and thyroid disease. Even sprains or fractures can make you more likely to have this condition.
Therefore, let’s talk about ways to treat carpal tunnel syndrome and what you can expect after a carpal tunnel surgery.
What To Expect After Carpal Tunnel Surgery
It’s important to know what to expect with carpal tunnel surgery, but also to know all of your options. Sometimes carpal tunnel syndrome can be treated without surgery.
For instance, hand specialists in Omaha at Midwest Pain Clinics may be able to help you with holistic treatment. This could include holistic approaches instead of operations.
However sometimes carpal tunnel surgery is necessary in order to resolve your condition. If this is the case, there is something called carpal tunnel release surgery.
What To Expect After Carpal Tunnel Release Surgery
During this surgery, the doctor makes an incision on your wrist and uses a tool to widen your carpal tunnel. This relieves the compression on your nerves. However there are some side effects after the surgery.
What Can I Expect After Carpal Tunnel Surgery?
You can expect some swelling, stiffness, pain, and a recovery period after your carpal tunnel release surgery. Here’s a typical timeline of what to expect:
One week
After one week from your surgery, your stitches and bandage can be removed. You may start undergoing physical therapy to restore your range of motion. However you’ll still be quite restricted in the use of your hand or wrist.
Two to four weeks
You can start using your affected hand more and more. You might be able to return to work if you don’t need to do any heavy lifting with your hands.
Your pain will start to fade slowly. Keep your scar moist with lotion so that you feel comfortable.
Four to five weeks
At this point you should have full use of your fingers again if you’ve been doing physical therapy like the doctor suggested.
Six to eight weeks
You should be able to resume full activity. You might still have some numbness in your fingers or some soreness in your palm.
A year after surgery
You should be able to have all the full benefits of a carpal tunnel surgery after one year. Nerve damage or muscle atrophy may be something that you need to work through in this first year with therapy. However recurrences are very rare so it’s unlikely that you’ll get carpal tunnel syndrome again.
Carpal Tunnel Surgery What To Expect And How To Proceed
See a hand and wrist specialist today to understand if you have carpal tunnel syndrome. The doctor can let you know your options for treatment and what to expect if you need to undergo surgery. You deserve to have a full range of motion and not have any pain. So it’s time to take the next step.
