Carpal Tunnel Surgery

I’ve read through past discussions. I’m wondering if anyone else would like to share their results following CTS open release. I’ve had carpal tunnel syndrome in my left hand since May 2017 and in my right hand now since early December 2017, and the right side already sometimes hurts more than the left. I had a cortisone shot in the left hand in August that made my symptoms disappear until November. I had the nerve conduction test today and was diagnosed with moderate to severe CTS in my left and mild CTS in my right. I am scheduled for open release surgery on the left side Monday.

I am currently unable to easily make a tight fist with my left hand. I can’t confidently hold a cast iron skillet handle with that hand. It gets better througout the day as I do range of motion stuff and grip my steering wheel. But every morning resets it to shitty. Ice climbing and gripping tools has been particularly affected, though open hand strength on rock is still pretty good.

It’s so frustrating—the past year has also been my most accomplished, having sent 5.13 for the first time and managed a few onsights of 5.12- sport and trad lines and V6 boulders. But I guess it makes sense that all this training and climbing might make injury more likely.

For what it’s worth, I tried the braces, and I got a cortisone shot, as mentioned. Surgery is happening on the left for sure. Right side is to be determined. For those of you who have had surgery on both hands, if I do the right side, how long should I wait between the procedures to be reasonable but still have the least total downtime? How much strength recovery did you have post procedure?

This is going to sound very hippie but it worked for me. It may not prevent surgery in your case but it helped a crap ton with swelling and pain in my wrists. Get 100 percent pure frankincense oil and put it on your wrist over night with a cotton ball or paper towel. It sounds like snake oil but it worked for me when I was desperate to try anything. It allowed me to really stretch it out and massage it without intense pain the next day and zero flexibility. Best of luck friend 

Thanks. I had the surgery 10 days ago, and my stitches come out today. When I go in, we'll talk about my other hand. Maybe I'll try to keep this post updated with progress for those who are facing the same thing.

As of today, the wrist that has surgery is still wrapped up in a splint and ace wrap. I seem to have full mobility in my fingers, and I can make a fist better than I could before the surgery. Almost all the tingling in those fingers went away immediately after the surgery. As of today, I can still feel a very mild tingling in the tips of my thumb and pointer finger if I try to think about it and rub them together. I have had no pain in that hand since the surgery.

4 weeks post surgery, and my left hand is feeling great. It is already stronger with more range of motion than the still-affected right hand that had a cortisone shot. I feel like I might be able to try to climb on it.

The right hand will have surgery Feb 26. I am hopeful that it heals as quickly. If I'm ready to start getting out again by the start of April, I'll be psyched.

Heck yea dude! 

It has now been 9 weeks since my second surgery. I have been climbing outside about once per week for the past 4 weeks, but today is the first day my hands have felt good. Most of the "bruised" sensation I have been feeling on either side of my incisions is gone. I'm psyched because today is the first day I have felt like I can finally start trying hard again.

On another note, my wife got out and climbed with me today in Linville Gorge. We did The Daddy, and she rocked it at 38 weeks pregnant.

I guess I might continue to update this thing for anyone in the future who wants one example of recovery time. 9 weeks from surgery to feeling not bad. Definitely a long way to go still, but not bad.

Brian,
Thanks for the continued updates. My doc is recommending the surgery for me. I’m thinking I’ll put it off until winter. Sounds like your recovery has been speedy, glad to hear it. Best of luck

6 months out from surgery, and I thought I'd give an update. The first 12 weeks of recovery changed a lot as I was healing quickly. The last 3 months have been slooooow. I notice small improvement every couple of weeks. I am now working V5/6, or about 2-3 grades below baseline. At this point, it probably has as much to do with lack of organized training as surgical impediment, as V5/6 is where I was a few years ago before I started training regularly. I'm still not climbing much on a rope.

Still doing pt?

I had both wrists done at the same time and I would highly recommend it. Same healing process but two for the price of one! I too experienced fairly rapid recovery and 10 years post-surgery have no complications and 100% relief.

Alan Coon wrote: Still doing pt?

I do wrist and finger range of motion stuff every day, usually several times a day

In 2021 at the age of 40, I developed avascular necrosis in my right hip, and I had to have hip replacement. I lost most of my climbing strength that year as I became less and less mobile. Between lingering mobility issues, conservative climbing in order to preserve the life of my new hip, and life in general, I seem to be stuck at V6. I’m starting school yet again next month, and that won’t help anything

Todd Berlier wrote:

thanks for the update. im 55 and have had worsening cts for 9 months and need to get it over with. sucks about your hip. aging really sucks. good luck getting as close to 100% as possible!!

JUST DO IT !  The procedure is simple, the relief immediate, and the recovery quick and (relatively) painless.  Find a good hand surgeon though.  The longer you wait, the greater the chance of permanent nerve damage. Speaking as someone who has had it in both hands and waited a bit too long to have the first one fixed.

Todd Berlier wrote:

surgery for me in 2 weeks....

Going for one? Bilateral? 

I had bilateral release done in May of 2021 when I was 42. Procedure was so fast. I was buzzing on Xanax, but remember there being music playing in the O.R. and the suregon had both C.T.'s released during just one song! 

I was able to manage pain with otc extra strength Advil and ice. No heavy stuff, just the Xanax for the procedure as I was super nervous. 

Recovery for me was quick. The first three days were humbling, but by three weeks out I was cutting rotten siding off my house with a skill saw. The suregon handed me a pamphlet with PT exercises and I started simple ROM stuff three days out. No formal PT/OT, but I had tried OT prior to committing to the cut so I integrated those exercises into my recovery when I felt comfortable with them. Nerve glide type stuff and wrist curls for strength.

As far as climbing mechanics, my pinch strength was most affected and will probably never be at 100% of what it was.

Good luck!

Todd Berlier wrote:

thanks for the positive encouragement!

Todd, do you mind sharing how your procedure and recovery went?  I’m 62 years young, climber for 46 years and furniture-maker/carpenter for 44 so my hands are kind of important to me…  

Meeting my primary care doc on Monday to set up an appointment in January with a hand specialist in Boulder who is also a climber so that makes me feel good, but not looking forward to being unable to work for an extended period. 

Todd, thanks for the beta, much appreciated. Your response definitely gives me a better idea of timeline for healing.

Met my primary doc today and he is advancing a referral to the hand specialist. He suggested surgery for my non-dominant left hand only which is exhibiting moderate-severe symptoms, whereas my right hand is only mild at present. My wife concurred that I should only do one hand after I related your ass-wiping difficulties; she did the whole ‘through sickness and in health’ vow years ago, but has her limits…

Because I’m a starving-artist type (better at the former than the latter) my insurance sucks and I’ll be paying out of pocket, so will wait until the new year so at least it will count against my massive deductible.  Until then the doctor recommended a wrist brace which I’ve ordered for both hands.  

Not familiar with this ‘instagram’ that you referenced, but I’ve been adding instapounds with all this decreased activity. Just adopted a new rescue puppy to help with that.

Cheers, and thanks again. 

Edge wrote:

Todd, thanks for the beta, much appreciated. Your response definitely gives me a better idea of timeline for healing.

Met my primary doc today and he is advancing a referral to the hand specialist. He suggested surgery for my non-dominant left hand only which is exhibiting moderate-severe symptoms, whereas my right hand is only mild at present. My wife concurred that I should only do one hand after I related your ass-wiping difficulties; she did the whole ‘through sickness and in health’ vow years ago, but has her limits…

Because I’m a starving-artist type (better at the former than the latter) my insurance sucks and I’ll be paying out of pocket, so will wait until the new year so at least it will count against my massive deductible.  Until then the doctor recommended a wrist brace which I’ve ordered for both hands.  

Not familiar with this ‘instagram’ that you referenced, but I’ve been adding instapounds with all this decreased activity. Just adopted a new rescue puppy to help with that.

Cheers, and thanks again. 

Good luck. It's a simple surgery with instant relief from the pain and a quick recovery. A trick if the pain is waking you up at night:  ice before bed and hang the affected wrist off the side of the bed.

FWIW, I had bilateral simultaneous surgery and was immediately capable of wiping my butt and generally taking care of myself. My grip strength has certainly suffered, perhaps by 20%? I would certainly elect to have the surgery done again given given complete relief of symptoms.