Carpal Tunnel surgery?

[BabyRue]

I am going for carpal tunnel surgery on July 5. I am livid it is in the middle of show season with my horses *sigh*

My surgeon said it will be 2 months before I ride again but this just doesn't seem right. If you have had carpal tunnel surgery how long did it take you to recover? I am only having my right hand done now and in a few months he is doing my left.

I am taking this chance to brush up on all my horsey theory and write my exams and get my mentoring hours in for my coaching certification. But I am hoping I can get back in the saddle by August and finish out the show season.

So yea... is my surgeon just saying 2 months to be cautious? And none horsey people please tell me how long it took you to get full use of your hand back

 

[fuzz16]

Maybe longer depends how fast you heal and how in depth it is. Sometimes a simple surgery will turn into a long one due to the difficulty of unpreceived things. I had knee surgery, took me 6 months to run without pain. Every now and then my knee locks up and feels stabbed when it bends.

Make sure you take msg and joint suppliments. You will prob get artritis young and possibly have nerve damage. you may not be able to move your hands certain ways ever also.

 

[ZRabbits]

fuzz16 wrote:

Maybe longer depends how fast you heal and how in depth it is. Sometimes a simple surgery will turn into a long one due to the difficulty of unpreceived things. I had knee surgery, took me 6 months to run without pain. Every now and then my knee locks up and feels stabbed when it bends.

Make sure you take msg and joint suppliments. You will prob get artritis young and possibly have nerve damage. you may not be able to move your hands certain ways ever also.

Agree with Brenda, really depends on how fast you heal. Don't rush back after surgery. Not worth it. Let your body heal.

K

 

[LakeCondo]

I'd be more concerned about the long-term rather than about August. Have you figured out what caused it, so you don't keep re-injuring yourself.

 

[degrassi]

What exactly are they doing in your surgery?

My mom had carpal tunnel surgery maybe 10-15 years ago, in both hands(at different times). She had maybe a 1" incision in the bottom of her palm,I think she just had the "twilight sedation" for it too. She was off work for a couple days/week and full healing(till she had most of her strength back) took a few months. Her hands felt ok afterwards its just getting the strength back in them. She was able to do her job(elementary teacher) the whole time. Her surgeries were 100% successful. She had very back carpal tunnel in both hands and being a teacher she needed to write all day. After the surgery she never had any more problems. But thats not always the case and I think carpal tunnel surgery has one of the lowest success rates of surgeries. So the healing time really depends on how the surgery goes and how much its actually helped the issue.

For working with horses and needing a strong grip it might take a few months before that is back to normal. Doesn't mean you can't do it, it just might not be 100%.

 

[BabyRue]

I am having two incisions made in the palm of my hand where it meets the wrist(if that makes sense) then he is cutting the ligament in the hand and doing injections to the top tendon in my hand(I can't remember what one he said but it runs in the top of your wrist down towards your thumb). I am then in a cast for two weeks.

I intend on following the orders of down time but its hard because I am in the middle of retraining my horse for jumping and getting her in the show ring so I can breed her in 2013 for a 2014 foal. She is 19 so this is my last chance to breed her and I want a good show record under her though its not super important and she has great blood lines and beautiful conformation and the stallion I picked compliments all her faults.

I am just going to use the down time to get my mentoring hours in and write all my exams so I can do my coaching exam in the fall.

Horrible timing to lose my right hand lol. It needs to be done though. I've broken my right wrist 3 times and sprained it many times and the trauma is just to much that I can't even hold a pencil most days and typing is painful and sleeping even with a brace is really uncomfortable.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

The "Brown Hand Center" here does it endoscopically and claims you can go back to work the next day and engage in athletics within a week. Maybe a second opinion is in line.

 

[BabyRue]

My options are very limited here. We only have two surgeons that do the surgery here and I do not have the money to travel. The surgeon I am using is highly qualified. But I am in the land of public health care and you can only have the surgery by referral from your family doctor. I have gone through the list of testing and therapies. The surgery is the last ditch effort for me to use my hand properly again.

It bites that its going to cut into my summer show plans but it is what it is. I think I have one of my students who might be able to ride my mare for me. And like I said its my excuse to get off my behind and write my exams lol