Surgery for carpal tunnel and de Quervain's In both hands
October 31, 2019 2:24 AM Subscribe
I know it differs from one individual to another, but what's my recovery time look like?
I developed de Quervain's in my dominant hand (and subsequently to a lesser degree in my other hand) about a year ago. Eight weeks in a splint and two steroid injections later and the de Quervain's hasn't been resolved.
In the meantime, I developed carpal tunnel in both wrists. I've been referred for surgery to treat both (they're doing both hands at the same time) and wanted to check what to expect in terms of recovery period. I'm an academic proofreader/fiction editor/writer, so I do a lot of laptop work. I also do woodwork, working on a lathe and using other tools such as a scroll saw.
I realise I will probably be able to return to laptop work sooner than woodwork. FWIW, I'm female, in my mid-40s. High pain threshold in general, but you know I'm going to make sure I get painkillers if I'm gonna need them!
I developed de Quervain's in my dominant hand (and subsequently to a lesser degree in my other hand) about a year ago. Eight weeks in a splint and two steroid injections later and the de Quervain's hasn't been resolved.
In the meantime, I developed carpal tunnel in both wrists. I've been referred for surgery to treat both (they're doing both hands at the same time) and wanted to check what to expect in terms of recovery period. I'm an academic proofreader/fiction editor/writer, so I do a lot of laptop work. I also do woodwork, working on a lathe and using other tools such as a scroll saw.
I realise I will probably be able to return to laptop work sooner than woodwork. FWIW, I'm female, in my mid-40s. High pain threshold in general, but you know I'm going to make sure I get painkillers if I'm gonna need them!
I concur with GenjiandProust: I am one month out from my carpal tunnel release on my dominant hand and 2 years out from the DeQuervain's release on my non-dominant thumb. Female, mid-50's. The DeQuervain's was a total breeze. I barely had any pain or issues post-surgery. I did have pain-killers, but didn't need them. Had 2 sessions of PT, did my exercises and massaged the area and it's like it never happened, except for the faint scar.
The Carpal Tunnel release was a fair bit more irritating than I anticipated. I didn't take any pain meds, except for some extra-strength tylenol (and now just occasional Advil); in fact, I brought in my 2 year old pain meds and was told I could take them if I needed them, but they don't even prescribe them anymore. Had the surgery, kept the hand bandaged for 4 days; I went back to work and gingerly keyboarded the day after surgery. Not sure that was totally wise, but here I am. The surgeon did not prescribe any PT because we both felt "I knew what to do" from the DeQuervain's surgery. It would have been nice to have someone else massage my hand, but I am perfectly capable of doing that myself.
After one month, I do have full use of my hand, my tingling fingers no longer wake me up at night. I am surprised that after a fair amount of use, my hand is achy at night. My fingers are still a little bit tingly (but no where near as bad as they were pre-surgery). The incision area on my wrist is still swollen and sore - I was told that both of these may take a few months to subside. I am annoyed that I don't have the strength in my hand to hold/lift things, like a full dinner plate being held with fingers underneath and thumb on top, but that too, will get better with time. All in all, I'm doing most everything I was pre-surgery.
I do make jewelry - I've avoided a lot of hammering and repetitive sawing, but I bet you could manage the scroll saw and the lathe, as long as you didn't need a lot of strength in manipulating the piece under the saw or pressing the gouges into the piece on the lathe.
posted by sarajane at 8:29 AM on October 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
The Carpal Tunnel release was a fair bit more irritating than I anticipated. I didn't take any pain meds, except for some extra-strength tylenol (and now just occasional Advil); in fact, I brought in my 2 year old pain meds and was told I could take them if I needed them, but they don't even prescribe them anymore. Had the surgery, kept the hand bandaged for 4 days; I went back to work and gingerly keyboarded the day after surgery. Not sure that was totally wise, but here I am. The surgeon did not prescribe any PT because we both felt "I knew what to do" from the DeQuervain's surgery. It would have been nice to have someone else massage my hand, but I am perfectly capable of doing that myself.
After one month, I do have full use of my hand, my tingling fingers no longer wake me up at night. I am surprised that after a fair amount of use, my hand is achy at night. My fingers are still a little bit tingly (but no where near as bad as they were pre-surgery). The incision area on my wrist is still swollen and sore - I was told that both of these may take a few months to subside. I am annoyed that I don't have the strength in my hand to hold/lift things, like a full dinner plate being held with fingers underneath and thumb on top, but that too, will get better with time. All in all, I'm doing most everything I was pre-surgery.
I do make jewelry - I've avoided a lot of hammering and repetitive sawing, but I bet you could manage the scroll saw and the lathe, as long as you didn't need a lot of strength in manipulating the piece under the saw or pressing the gouges into the piece on the lathe.
posted by sarajane at 8:29 AM on October 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks for the extended replies, really appreciate it!
posted by New England Cultist at 12:23 PM on November 1, 2019
posted by New England Cultist at 12:23 PM on November 1, 2019
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My non-dominant hand was similar but much less impaired/painful. I suspect that was more anatomy/specific surgical situation than anything else.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:03 AM on October 31, 2019 [1 favorite]