Carpal tunnel surgery & Excercise

Goldeeloks615 · February 2014

Hi all, looking for some advise on how to move forward. I had Carpal tunnel surgery on both hands/wrists in November. I am trying to start a fitness routine an want to tone my arms. I can't do pushups because it's too painful to put my hands at that angle, I've tried the machine for Lat pulls and the rowing and well.. OW! It's as if I can feel the tendons in my wrist snapping!
Any other suggestions to incorporate with light weight that won't require a pain pill prior to a workout? I can do wall pushes with my hands in a fist keeping the wrists straight but that doesn't seem to be doing anything.

Any suggestions are welcome!

Thanx!

Panthers89 · February 2014

I had the surgery in 2010 and the doc told me I would feel pain for 6 months, and he was correct. I would let those tendons heal and work on your legs with cardio until the pain goes away. You should also talk to your surgeon to see what is recommended, since I am certainly not qualified medically to answer anything regarding your hands and wrists.

Lizbalzog · February 2014

Hi
How about some boxing routines? We do them at the boot camp I go to, I was really sceptical about them at first but they really do work. Seems to me this would work you arms without putting any pressure or impact on your hands while they heal.
Hope you surgery was successful.

Liz

CTcutie · February 2014

I had carpal tunnel surgery in May 2013 (so about 9-10 months ago) on my right hand (righ-handed)... You are going to need to give yourself a lot more TIME to heal, I think. I tried to do some down-dogsat home because I wanted to do yoga again @ 6 months post-surgery, but there was NO way my hand was ready for that!! I haven't tried in a couple months, but my point is that your hands will never be 100% as good as they used to be (according to my surgeon), BUT they will get better in time.

You WILL feel that feeling for quite awhile, but it DOES get better. (Mine hardly ever feels that way now, but for the first few months I had issues with doorknobs and water bottles... perfect now!)

I have a little trouble with the bicep curl machine (where I notice loss of hand/wrist strength), but the lat machine isn't bad for me at all now. Strength improved over the last month when I started strength training.

Are you massaging your incision sites with lotion or oil? That will assist in breaking down some scar tissue.

My surgeon said that I did not need physical or occupational therapy, but maybe you do??

Keep stretching/massaging and listen to your body. If it hurts, then stop :flowerforyou: Good luck!!

shmulyeng · February 2014

I agree with panthers. Lay off the wrists for now. Trust me, you need to let the wrist heal. It will take months.

That being said, I don't have any experience with it but I've seen videos where people are doing pushups using these handles (no clue what they're called). It looks like it keeps the weight on the hands and allows the wrists to stay in their natural position. I assume it would feel much better.

hollyk57 · February 2014

I had carpal tunnel surgery on my right wrist in Aug. 2012 after months of terrible pain. When they went in to do the surgery, they also found that I have a severe TCFC tear and a tendon tear, as well as two cysts in my wrist. Fun times. I had a lot of pain following the surgery and to this day - I still have pain in my wrist. I agree with some of the other comments - talk to your surgeon to find out what they recommend from a medical professional standpoint. I think you need to give yourself ample time to heal so you don't cause more damage - like a TCFC tear which is horrible. They may recommend some physical therapy. Doing hand strengthening is good too - I know it sounds lame, but even just doing some reps squeezing one of those little balls really helps strengthen the hand and wrist. I still take it easy on mine because I have so many issues. It's also good to talk to your surgeon because there are some restrictions on how much you can try to lift after surgery - in some cases, that's a restriction for life. I wish you all the best! *hugs*

geebusuk · February 2014

In - because I believe I've got Carpal Tunnel issues and was wondering what surgery was like.
Not great, it seems.

hollyk57 · February 2014

In - because I believe I've got Carpal Tunnel issues and was wondering what surgery was like.
Not great, it seems.

Just wanted to comment on your post. The surgery itself really isn't that bad, and if you have carpal tunnel - it can be a miracle worker. Mine was so bad because I had a slew of other problems that they didn't find until I was in surgery. My husband had terrible carpal tunnel in both wrists - so bad that he wore braces almost 24/7. He had surgery on both wrists just a few months before mine - and he's in awesome shape now. He has no more wrist pain and never wears the braces anymore. The actual surgery is over in less than 15 minutes, and for him, recovery was VERY quick. There's also almost no visible scar. I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from getting the surgery if it's truly warranted, because results can be great. I also have several friends/coworkers who had it with equally positive results.Best of luck to you!

CTcutie · February 2014

I also feel mine was great! My neurological tests (nerve conduction/myogram) showed severe to profound CTS. I had surgery about 10 days or so later. I had no steroid injections (contraindicated based on my results), but I had pretty severe nerve pain and numbness (that started at night) that came on quite suddenly at the time of diagnosis. I wore the brace only at night until the surgery. My surgeon was adamant that I NOT wear the brace during the day because you can cause muscle atrophy by doing so... which is a pain because it did feel so much better in the brace during the day (but totally interfered with my work, too).

The pain and numbness was gone immediately after the surgery, recovery was great, and no complications so far, anyway. Really, the worst part was not being able to blow dry my hair or put a proper bra on for a few weeks :blushing:
EDIT to add that my scar is hardly noticeable, and I really don't care if it was or not.

Goldeeloks615 · February 2014

Thanx so much for the responses.

Indeed I'm thinking it's just going to take mo re time before some of these things can happen.

I do like the idea of the handle things, or I might just do the hand exercises until I go back for my next follow up. Cardio and legs are in my future every week though.

To answer the surgery question, how amazing! The surgery produced amazing results. The constant pain in my thumb, fingers and wrists is GONE! This was pain that would wake me up at night, cause me to cradle both hands in the crook of my arms, wear braces 24/7 and it was awful.

So the workout challenges are just a set-back. (That's my happy bubble and I'm going to make it work!) I'll give it more time and keep trying a little at a time. I am not a believer in the No pain, No gain school of thought, but I will continue to try.

tennisdude2004 · February 2014

In - because I believe I've got Carpal Tunnel issues and was wondering what surgery was like.
Not great, it seems.

Hi which part of your wrist is hurting. I only ask because I thought I had picked up either carpel or some other tendon damage in my wrist. After a lot of research and investigation, I located the cause of my problem to the mass of tendon on my forearm (just below my elbow). Where I had damaged my wrist by hyper extending it around whilst playing tennis, I had actually caused a knot in this area of my arm. Which transferred pain down to my wrist.

It made my hand and wrist feel stiff sore and bruised - so could not really believe the problem was not even located in my wrist.

After some myofascial massage (plus I learned how to do this myself as well). 6 months on and all the pain is gone (when I grip anything and even when I make a fist and move my wrist up and down.

This may not be what you have and you may need to have surgery (but from what I have read and I am sure other people who are posting will probably say - it's gotta be the last resort).

Research into it a bit - it may help.

Good luck

And a big good luck on recovery soon for the OP.

BreeJaxon · February 2014

I had the surgery a year ago and I'm fine, push ups, pull ups and lifting weights within about 6 months.

geebusuk · February 2014

Thanks for the thoughts.

I can't be sure it is a Carpal Tunnel issue.
I CAN avoid it in most areas of life.

The bit that annoys me most is it flares up when riding off road, especially enduro or motocross. It gets to the point I would do half a lap of a motocross track and have to stop because my wrists were seizing up too much.
It also causes me problems when doing some manual work - using a screw driver to get tough screws in seems particularly bad.
Also, sometimes if 'playing rough' with my dog for extended periods - he's 100lb and likes to have a bit of a 'tumble' occasionally - to the point if I haven't for a while he'll start mouthing my hand.

I've done a lot of research, but not even sure if it is Carpal Tunnel or something else, but this seems the most likely problem. Initially I thought it was just 'arm pump', but seems to be more than that and more focused on the wrist.
Could possibly be arthritis based, or various other bits and pieces - but Carpal Tunnel does seem to the best fit I've seen so far.

Goldeeloks615 · February 2014

My symptoms started much the same way. Eventually though, I reached the point that the pain was constant. I had stopped needle point because there were times where I couldn't move my fingers. They would 'freeze' and I would have to straighten or bend them with the other hand. (Which was a hobby that I and the people that I embroidered for really enjoyed). Then crotchet, then eventually I couldn't grip the handle bars of my bike!

When I could no longer function at my job, and I do a lot of data entry and the overtime we were putting in was killing me, I finally went to the doctor.

Sounds like it's time for a trip to the neurologist to have a nerve conduction study done. Don't wait until you can't do every day activities, trust me!

geebusuk · February 2014

I've seen two or three separate (NHS) doctors.
Their answer has been, "well, don't do stuff that cause you problems, then" - and this includes when I made it clear it was causing me issues in my job. Have had help with other issues like lower back pain.

I've been aware of it for 4/5 years and it hasn't got much worse - a few years ago I was doing enduros every weekend, then doing extra wrist exercises to try and strengthen them. Got really bad around then, but I'm not sure if that was actually worse, or just proportional to amount I was using them.
Go back 8/9 years and there's cases I can remember I had similar (first one that was SIMILAR was using an electric drill for screwing wood screws loads one day, then the next not even being able to open a sauce packet.)

So, overall I don't think it's a massive thing so far - if I get the sort of contracting job I'm aiming for later in the year and keep that sort of job up for a while then seeing a proper specialist is on the list of stuff to spend some money on.

geebusuk · February 2014

Oh, on the specific part of the wrist that's hurting - it's hard to say as I haven't had it much recently as mostly not done the sort of stuff that cause problems.

However I'd say it was kinda inside the wrist it's self and thumb/first fingers.
Part of the problem is that it is likely to be part arm-pump too when off road riding.

Goldeeloks615 · February 2014

Sounds really similar! I had it in the thumb and first finger, for-ever! And yes, it seemed to flare. I know that after a little bit of 10 hour days, rest didn't 'fix' it anymore.

I won't be trying push up's again for a while.. cuz one hand still hurts today!:sad:

geebusuk · February 2014

Cheers, good to at least have a better idea of what it is!

Incidentally, you can get those push up stand things quite cheaply, which might help as they mean your wrists don't have to be at an odd angle (I don't have any significant issues with doing them as far as my wrists etc go, but happen to have a set lying around.)

ckish · February 2014

I am a bookkeeper and spend endless hours on computers. I don't have CTS per se but can have pain in my wrists and thumb periodically. So I am very cautious about the exercises I do. I do so me mild stretching and hand exercises. I also use elastic band that allows me to exercise my biceps and triceps without having to involve my wrists. Anyone who has had pain from surgery or injury can easily distinguish between that type of pain and the mild discomfort or pain associated with healthy muscle fatigue required to work thru to achieve optimal fitness. Working thru the wrong type of pain is destructive. Trust yourself and listen to your body.

alfiedn · February 2014

I'm sorry you're having such trouble with your CT recovery!

I had really bad tendinitis in high school. I felt it especially after working out hard (I rowed and biked and I'm also a violinist). They always tested me for CT and decided I never quite developed it. I remember how weak my hand was and how bad my pain was. I had to wear a brace when swimming in the winter and couldn't practice my violin for almost 6 months. I couldn't carry books or open doors. I felt pain even when my hand/arm was at rest and the pain spread into my elbow.

That being said, after significant rest and recoup, I was able to resume my normal activities slowly. I still feel it flare up if I'm especially stressed or practicing a ton, but now I know what it is. I know to give myself ice massages, go to the chiropractor (sometimes my wrist hurts because there's a kink in my neck, oddly). Now I'm fine. I really don't feel it in my normal life.

I wish you all the best of luck and to those of you who think you may have CT, it's also possible it could be more simple tendinitis.

Edited to add: I do stretch it every day still and make sure I stretch if I feel any tightness at all, ever.

shmulyeng · February 2014

Just an FYI on this topic.

I had surgery for my CTS about 3 years ago. The surgery was a life saver but it didn't take away the pain completely. It would still flare up once in a while. I don't know where any of you are up to in regard to weight loss, but I recently noticed that since I lost some weight my problems pretty much disappeared. I recently realized I haven't worn my brace in a few months now. I used to need it at least one night every week or so.

cmfisher84 · January 2015

I have mild bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. I have been off work for two months because I drop things and my hands go numb. I have tried braces and they don't work for me. We have also tired nerve pain medicine and it doesn't work now either. I go Monday to the hand specialist. Hopefully we get answers. Can't keep missing work. If it was up to me I would have the surgery and get it over with.

goll333 · December 2016

Hmm. Well I had the CT surgery in both hands, year apart and 15 yrs later than I should have had it. The symptoms form the Carpal are gone but yeah Push ups are a problem.

Started working in Construction and yeah using fine motor control is ok but when it comes to using screw drivers or doing continuous wrist movements the pain shows up. Different from the CT, the forearm feels swollen and there is cramping in the hand, not fingers. I figure that the muscle the surgeon cuts is now weaker overall because its been split. Yoga is ok, as I've used that to help stretch out the forearms but I'm going to grab some push up bars. Only because I remember them from the P90x dvds

plumbguy101 · December 2016

I had CT surgery years ago ....I bounced back pretty fast. The doc said it was due to me being in my late 20s and I was in good shape. I guess if I were older the recovery would maybe have been different. Hang in there! Strength will return.

Carpal tunnel surgery & Excercise

Replies

Categories