Thumb, middle, and ring finger are number after surgery
I think this was discussed before, but I can't find that post. I had surgery on both hands two weeks ago. My left hand is great. The thumb, middle, and ring finger of my right hand are numb. The fingers are also cold. My doctor really didn't give me any reason for this when I saw him this week. He just said to give it time. The loss of sensation and movement is not getting better. I can't type well at work, and it affects everything I do. What would cause this and what can I do?
As usual we have to start from what the situation was like before surgery - what were the symptoms like? Were any treatments other than surgery tried? Were any tests done to document the situation before the operation? If we have those as a starting point we can try to work out what to recommend next. For moderate CTS it really should be feeling somewhat better by now, like your other hand, so there may be a problem but a lot depends on the pre-operative situation. Were both operations done at the same sitting? JB
Thank you for your response. I started having pins and needles sensations in my hands 10 years ago. Mostly I noticed this in the morning. I started sleeping with wrist splints. As the years progressed, my wrists were painful with my hands fallng asleep when I did repetitive work like typing or driving. I took anti-inflammatories for the pain. I then started having cortisone shots in my wrists which worked for a while. I had an EMG in November which confirmed that I had CTS, but I don't know the numbers. I do know that the CTS was somewhat worse in my dominant right hand. The numbness and icy feeling encompasses my whole thumb and the insides of my middle and ring fingers.
I had surgery on both hands on the same day. The numbness was there from the first day. The pain in my hand didn't start until post-op day 3, and I've experienced that almost every night since.
So we have pretty good evidence of CTS and the problem side now was thought to be worse before surgery on the NCS but it sounds as though the sense of touch in the thumb, index and middle fingers is less sensitive now than it was before the operation? The next bit of information we need comes from examination - have you also lost power in the muscles at the base of the thumb? Put hour hand flat on a table, palm upwards, and without moving your hand try to point your thumb up at the ceiling. Once it is up as far as you can get it, get a helper to try to push it back down towards the table. Compare with the other side. Is the right thumb weaker. If it is very weak you will not be able to point it upwards at all. Secondly how bad is the numbness - can you feel a pinprick in the affected fingers? Out of curiosity, how many times did you have them injected? JB
I still am able to point my thumb up during this exercise. It is weaker than the left, however. As far as a pinprick, I can feel pressure but not the pain in the affected areas as I do in my left hand. Making a fist with my right hand is also more difficult than with my left.
The sense of touch is much more diminished after the surgery. I didn't experience this sensation before. The numbness never subsides. The numbness, strangely, only affects half of each of the three fingers.
I had 3 injections in each wrist with 3 months between injections
OK if it stays like that then you should have some repeat nerve conduction studies done - in my view about 6 weeks post-op though many surgeons leave it much longer than that. They should be repeated ideally by whoever did the pre-operative ones and if there is anyone good at ultrasound scanning of nerve available it is worth considering that at the same time. Given most UK areas demand for NCS the best way to approach this is to book them now and cancel if the problem goes away before the appointment comes round (my wait is about 3-4 weeks at present for example). JB
Thank you so much for the advice. I sincerely appreciate you answering my questions.
I also have intense, cramping pain in my right hand at night.