Thu 18 Jun 2009
Do you have a burning sensation in your wrists or forearms? Do you type all day long until your fingers feel week and dysfunctional? Are you a construction worker who hammers all day long and have pains in your elbow? If so, these symptoms could be the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome. For those who suffer from it, you understand the chronic pain and frustration that go along with the condition, and you’ll do just about anything to get some relief even if that means surgery.
But surgery is extreme, and you really have to think whether it is worth it. The compression of the median nerve, which travels the length of the arm, is the main cause of carpal tunnel syndrome. There is a point in the wrist where the ligaments of your arm are bound together by the transverse carpal ligament. This point is where the median nerve becomes compressed. The repetitive motions of some jobs and hardening of soft tissues in the hands cause the compression.
If you have had no luck with other treatments, surgery might be your best option to remedy your carpal tunnel syndrome. But if your livelihood depends on your hands being operational, surgery could cause major problems. The recuperation time can be nearly 2 months, or longer in some cases. Plus, carpal tunnel surgery is not cheap. The procedure can cost upwards of $10,000.
The surgery is actually considered a “light surgery” and is about as un-invasive as they get. A twilight anesthetic is all that is needed in most cases. But no surgery should be taken lightly, especially when it is being performed on a complex area like the hand.
Carpal tunnel surgery consists of the surgeon cutting the transverse carpal ligament. Severing this ligament completely relieves the pressure on the median nerve immediately. While this can bring instant relief, the ligament needs to heal, so you will probably not be able to go right back to work. Once your wrist is healed, you should experience less discomfort and a better range of motion, but there is a good chance that you will lose some of the strength in your hand.
You might be interested to know that you don’t have to go through all of that to relieve your carpal tunnel syndrome. If you contact a therapist or look on the web, you’ll see there are several very simple exercises you can use to loosen the transverse carpal ligament so that the pressure on the median nerve is released. Also, consider having your hands massaged so the soft tissue there remains relaxed. And finally, try to maintain good posture and ergonomic technique when you do your job, so the pressure on your hands and wrists are greatly reduced.
It might come as a shock that these other methods for preventing and curing carpal tunnel syndrome exist, but they do. Be careful when considering surgery because the results are not always predicable, and you can end up in a much worse situation than when you started.
