Right hand pain.

[Spirited-6]

Boy, do I got it !!! This has been going on for several years and has gotten to the point I can not ride a bike, atv, unzip my pants to pee. Any movement of right hand, thumb, causes a lot of pain. On a scale of 1 to 10, I think I need a 15. Dr. wants to open me up like a can of beans, with a 6 to 8 weeks rehab, and 6 months to feel "good". Call it Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or Arthritis @ base of thumb, it hurts to the point that I can not start my Ford Ranger with my right hand. Boy, this is a LONG story. My ???? is ; has anyone had the CUTTING on a hand that came out good / better than before. I have a LOT of work I need to do this Spring and I told my Dr. I did not want to be out of service during warm weather. Bottom line, I`m really out now because I can`t do S%^&. Let me hear your Storys and recovery if possible. Thanks for reading this life story. 

[Jack]

I had carpal syndrome and trigger finger surgery.  Both helped and rehap was about 8 weeks.  Actually, felt no pain at all within a year.

[R J]

10-04 what Jack says.

My surgeon cut in the heel of the palm instead of at the base of the hand.  I was laid up so to speak for like 5 or 6 weeks.   I did do my exercises faithfully.   That helps 150%.

To understand where he cut, look at your hand and arm.   There is a line where the hand ends, actually it is a crease.    He cut about an 1" above that line.

Had it done like 8 years ago.  NO pain riding anymore.   Also, my electronic cruise control helps.   If I'd go do a 1,000 mile or a 1,500 mile Iron Butt, I'd have some pain in that arm and wrist about 1/2 to 3/4 the way through it.

[solo1]

I've had right thumb and wrist pain for a long time. It isn't carpel tunnel, more likely tendinitis or arthritis.

Lately the left is starting some but at 84, I guess that I can expect that.

Last year my Urologist (kidney, bladder doctor) prescribed this on an official RX blank.  Buy honey that is collected locally within 25 miles of your residence and take one to two tablespoon of it each day.

Now for what it's worth. It HAS helped me.  Probably won't do diddle for you but my .02. It has helped me a lot in being able to turn the throttle. 

feel free to snope it, research it, add it to your black magic list, pass it off as the musings of an old fart, or whatever.

[bassman]

http://www.eatonhand.com/hw/hw003.htm

Been there....done that.....got the T-Shirt......ironically, I had it in both thumbs and decided to get the right one done first since one of the problems I had was as simple as holding a pen to sign my name to anything.  The left thumb was worse and I had it longer.  About two months AFTER the right thumb surgery, the left thumb pain disppeared and has not returned in two years.  Go figure.   Right thumb results are iffy for me.  Not POSTIVE I would do it again but time may be making me forget how bad it was before the surgery.  Doctor told me my right thumb would be about 85-90% normal after the surgery which is about what I notice now.  About the same strength as the left with a little less mobility - like touching thumb to pinkie finger.  Prior to surgery I could touch thumb to pinkie and slide the thumb along the pinkie to pretty much lay flat on the palm of my hand.  Now  I touch thumb to the tip of the pinkie and when I try to lay my thumb down flat onto the palm it only goes to the middle finger.  Thinking back I guess I am better off after the surgery even with the movement limitations as the pain is pretty much gone.

Good luck in your decision process......

[da prez]

  always,always, always , find out how many surgeries your Doctor does in a year.
 Make sure he (she) is fully qualified , and has done many of them.  When I had my first shoulder surgery, he claimed to be a beginner as he had only done about 750 of the type I needed. Practice makes perfect. Also, get an early appointment for surgery,
 not one after he has been working for many hours. Just my two cents worth (b4taxes)
                                                  da prez

[glideman]

I had gotten to where I had intense pain in boh of my wrists. My left hand would lose so much strength that I couldn't handle the clutch and my right would hurt then fall asleep. Couldn't handle the trottle once it started acting up. I had carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists within 2 weeks of each other. They did a cut across my wrist, right in the fold at the base of my hand. Only took about a month to recover and didn't have any further problems. As for pain, I really didn't have any within about a month. Now, I was a lot younger than I am now and that probably didn't hurt the healing process, but it is definitely worth having if you're in that much pain.

[Valker]

If, indeed, it IS carpal tunnel, I had both sides done. The first one about 15 years ago. I couldn't sleep at night for my hands going to sleep nor even write a full sentence without pain. I was riding my bike within a week. Second one was done about 4 years ago, and the recovery was longer, but I was riding the Valk within 10 days. Pain stopped immediately when they cut it.
I had a good doc.

[thumper]

Can't unzip your pants to pee!!!!

You might want to ask Oss if he has a special assistant that can help you with that.

[RainMaker]

I keep seeing the commercials from the Brown Hand Center where they claim to be able to do this carpal tunnel surgery quickly with fast recovery, but stay away from them.  The reviews are pretty universal that they are ripoff artists.

[alph]

i work in a company that makes adult diapers, if your hand hirts too much, let me know, i'll get you set up just fine!!!   

[bassman]

Just saw this on the web this morning....can NOT attest to any of it but may be useful
for some.....

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/pain-management/rheumatoid-arthritis/dmards-powerful-rheumatoid-arthritis-drugs-to-stop-or-slow-joint-damage

[steve 3054]

My wife had this surgery years ago, she is and was a cake decorator so you can imagine the use of her hands...it did turn out well for her...a side point, this was a in office procedure about 20 years ago and is now a full blown surgery...go figure

[Spirited-6]

Thanks guys for in insight. I`m at the point of pain that I have no other choice but to have surgery.

 

BTW, I have mastered to pee thing useing my left hand.