The procedure
The surgical solution is frighteningly simple. The symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome are caused by the median nerve being squeezed for space in the carpal tunnel. This tunnel has a roof formed by a ligament attached to the bones on either side of the hand. To give the nerve some more space the surgeon opens up the hand, cuts the ligament in two and sews the hand back up. As I said, frighteningly simple. For more details, including videos(!), just search for carpal tunnel release surgery.
My experience
I was very apprehensive on the day of the operation but I have to say that the hospital staff made the whole thing a lot easier. I was most amused during the pre-op checks when I set off the alarm by having a pulse rate that was too low! The benefits of cycling....
As the procedure was done under local anaesthetic I was aware of all that was going on. It's a very strange feeling when you know that the surgeon is working away on your hand but there is no associated pain. The theatre nurses were amused at my calming method, I spent time on the table imaging I was climbing the Inn Pin on Skye!
When the surgeon was finished I declined his invitation to "have a look". No thank you.... And then, very quickly, they had my hand all wrapped up in an enormous bandage with my fingers sticking out.
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| Not the best photo - but you get the idea... |
Initial recovery
I was instructed to keep my fingers mobile and take painkillers as required. Apparently you don't want it all seizing up. I was allowed to reduce the dressing after 3-4 days and I did this. Mostly so my hand would pass through my coat sleeve, allowing me to go out for a more comfortable walk than when I tried to with my coat wrapped around the spare arm. Reducing the dressing ended up with me getting a glimpse of the wound. Not pretty, and I was glad to have it wrapped up again. Given the way my hand felt over the next few days I did wonder if I should have left the bandages alone. In the end I think it was ok.
After 10 days I had the stitches out. To be honest this was probably the worst bit. The picking and pulling around the cut was not pleasant.
Onward recovery
With my stitches out I was back to work. At this stage I was somewhat wary and slightly concerned that the wound would split open. It's very disconcerting. By now I also had my exercises to do. I will admit that work was being done with one hand mostly. But it was good to be back at the desk.
Improvement, since then (9 weeks ago), has been steady if not as fast as I would like. The interesting bit has been the regular step-wise improvements. I would be worrying that no progress had been made for a week or so and then, overnight or over the course of an evening, a rapid change would take place.
It's not perfect yet but I've only had a couple of re-occurrances of my symptoms and they've not hung about. The surgeon did say it might take up to a year, even 18 months, for it to settle down properly. It's nice to be sleeping with one splint only. I haven't tried riding a road bike yet; the small amount of residual swelling is still putting me off. I've not tried golf either. But a lot of "normal" activities are exactly that now, normal. Every now and again I do something that reminds me all is not as it once was and feeling the tendons floating about a bit is strange.
So, for now, it's onward with the exercises and the trike riding. I will wait and see how it goes before committing the right hand to the same treatment. With it being in better shape than the left one was it might be a while before it is even necessary.
