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Have it recently diagnosed in right wrist and arthritis in left thumb and wrist. oh, so painful. We are trying all the simple things before even considering surgery.
If you need the surgery, and don't get it, there's a real danger of permanent damage to the nerves leading to the hand and fingers.
If you do some sort of repetitive work, sometimes a proper wrist brace will help. I had it done on my right wrist about 40 years ago. ( It's difficult to use a calculator all day if every movement of the fingers causes a great deal of pain.) I have not had any problem with it in any years since.
Everybody has a carpel tunnel in each wrist. It's the nerves that have to squeeze through that narrow opening that cause problems for a lot of people.
One word of warning, If you need it done on both wrists, have it done one wrist at a time. Otherwise, you will be sorry. As doctors sometimes say, be sure that your spouse loves you, because he/she is going to have to wipe your behind for you. You can't put pressure against the hand for a couple of weeks. Practice doing things just with the other hand for a while before you have the surgery..
I just have to tell you a personal story. A friend was going to have to have it done on both wrists. I warned him not to, but he was a big strong macho guy, and what's a little pain, Pooh! he felt that he could handle it. So he had both wrists done at the same time (doctor warned him too) He was going to be staying at his grandmother's afterwards. As he sat there on the toliet, he thought about what I had told him and almost cried. He knew that Grandma had changed his diaper many times when he was little, but this was different. He just couldn't call her.
I agree, do one hand at a time, but techniques have changed. My first hand was done with an open incision that took about 2 weeks to heal. My second hand was done maybe 10-12 yrs later, by a doctor in another state, and he went in through the area just above the wrist, with a much smaller incision. That one healed in about 1 week and was less painful. He was an excellent surgeon - I asked about complication rates b/c it is a slightly riskier surgery and he had the numbers to back it up.
Like southernbelleinutah, I've had both my wrists done, about 14 years apart. The second one (done in 2009,) was SO much easier. In some ways I wish I had had the surgery sooner, but I'm glad that the recovery was so easy. It's so nice waking up with hands that aren't numb and in pain, talking on the phone numb-free, and driving without my hands going numb. It's painful and debilitating. While no surgery is risk-free, this one is generally a very simple surgery. I noticed improvements within hours.
A swelling on your palm? That doesn't sound like the usual Carpal Tunnel problems. Did a doctor tell you the swelling was caused by a problem with the Carpal Tunnel? The usual thing is pain and/or numbness going up from the wrist to the thumb and forefinger. BIG Pain!!!
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