I am now three weeks out from carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists. The surgery (performed endoscopically) was quite sucessful with all signs of nerve tingling and numbness gone. My problem is that the muscles in the base of my hands still hurt and I can’t open large jars or do some other tasks requiring manual dexterity. Surgeon said it would take six months but I don’t think my DH is going to have that much patience and there are 16 horses to care for at our farm. Exercises given to me by the hand therapist don’t seem to be doing much of anything. Any suggestions where to look for more agressive therapy exercises or other advice?
Hey there! I had surgery for cubital tunnel which also completely relieved my numbness, tingling and most of the pain. Upping my physical therapy really helped get my full mobility back but five-six months was pretty accurate for the full capacity, I’m sorry. Opening tough jars and riding took maybe two months until I could do it just not super securely. It’s just nerve regrowth in increments so you can’t really speed that along even though our horses demand that we do!
Doing the physical therapy homework more regularly really helped me though. I wasn’t improving a ton and didn’t have full extension of my arm to the point my surgeon was concerned that i wasn’t going to achieve full extension (she moved my nerve at my elbow), so I decided to over-do the therapy exercises and she was shocked at the next post-op. I did also purchase one of those spiky rollers.
I hesitate to to tell you that three years later I still don’t feel like my old self, but I was a pretty extreme case and still don’t take care of my elbow the way I should. Be nice to your wrist! 
Good luck to you! I know it’s frustrating but you’ve got this!
Unfortunately you can only heal as fast as the cells can get it done. Treat yourself like your horse. Do the PT, but three weeks? You are barely healed from the surgery and your hands have been compensating for how long? They need time to rebuild. I went through this when I had my acl repaired and it was maddening but I really did fully recover. It just took a lot more time than I wanted it to.
I suspect I may need this surgery, but everyone I know tells me what a simple procedure it is. You guys are making it seem much more complicated than I was expecting, I thought the surgery would be an instant success.
I had one doctor tell me i have carpal tunnel. Another doctor said i don’t and that I should just go straight to physical therapy. My problem is that mucking or heavy lifting tends to aggravate things. So i try to limit mucking but still build up the muscles in my arms, so if I do lift something heavy i don’t strain my wrists.
I have had minor symptoms of carpal tunnel too and follow physiotherapeutic regime for the same. With my morning stretches, i have added an entire part dedicated to the wrists
I had one done years ago, but I don’t remember how long the rehab took. I think i was able to ride afte rhte stitches came out and I used a brace. I put off the surgery for a while because the MD told me I could do cortisone shots. They worked, but they don’t last as long each time you get another one. I finally threw in the towel, went to the surgeon and got the surgery. I wish I hadn’t done the shots because the surgery worked so well.
For everyone who wants the surgery, Back on track wrist bands removed the need for surgery for me completely. I went 5 years without a flare up until this year, and I have the wrist brace back on and the pain and numbing is gone again completely.
Both hands at once? How did you finally heal up?
The answer is that I have not healed up completely in the 4.5 months since the surgery. I still have obvious swelling in my left wrist where the incision for access was made. This is just cosmetic and I don’t care. More serious is the fact that I still have a palpable lump in the heel of each hand which I assume is the cut ligament. It is painful to put pressure on my flat hands such as one might do when doing a pushup. I also find it painful to pick up objects of any weight when I grasp them with my hand spread as one might do if grasping a 2 pound can of coffee by the top to lift it. On the plus side, the nerve tingling and numbness is completely gone with no sign of returning.
My only problem with both hands was in the first three weeks when the surgeon had instructed me not to get the bandages wet. Once the bandages were off and the stitches removed, I simply got on with farm tasks and only requested help when something proved too hard. I admit I have gotten good at letting the staff at Fleet Farm load the bags of feed into the car trunk and letting my DH get them out once home.
Get yourself a strap wrench for the jars. They work great and then you don’t have to bother any dudes to help you with jars. Even if you’re healed enough now, you still need one.
I have one all the time, but it was invaluable when my hand was injured by a naughty animal and I couldn’t even open easy jars.
It takes time to heal, and being impatient won’t change it. For perspective, remember that having full use of your hand back in 6 months isn’t such a bad deal compared to all of life’s possibilities. I’ve learned to be a bit humble about how important it is not to be a single point of failure.
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