Carpal tunnel surgery
In 2024 I had a bad fall and I landed on my knees and hand/wrist. This happened at work. I broke the tip of my 4th finger and according to mri and nerve conductive study I have carpal tunnel and a tear to tfcc. I've had 3 steroid injections and three rounds of hand therapy with not much improvement. They have decided that they want to do surgery.
When I asked how long I would be out of work the doctor said 2-4 weeks. I lift heavy. Is this about right? I have pain and numbness all the time but still have my strength. For the tfcc the doctor wants to just scope it out.
This is not a convenient time for surgery but they keep pushing me for a date. Is it wise to get the surgery and when will I really be back to work?
Thank you!
All 3 steroid shots were put in the tfcc and brought relief for a short while. I believe they were every 3-4 months. Nothing alleviates the numbness of bottom half the hand on the pinky side. It has remained numb over a year. I'll try to find my nerve conductor study. I just don't want to go through surgery if there will be no change.
Thank you very much.
So they haven't been injecting the carpal tunnel. The nerve conduction studies really would be useful. It would also be a good idea to do the symptom questionnaire here. JB
For heavy manual work I usually estimate 6 weeks off post surgery for conventional open carpal tunnel decompression. Answering much of the other stuff would depend on knowing exactly what your nerve conduction results look like. I would also be curious as the exact details fo the steroid injections - site, dose and any transient effect on symptoms. JB