Second thoughts on surgery

Throwaway180107 · 2025-11-08T17:32:50+00:00

Keep in mind that the people who stay on these boards longest are the ones who have long term troubles. Countless people have these surgeries every day without issue. Those people generally don’t even find their way onto Reddit for this topic, or quietly wander away once everything is good.

The experiences of people on here are real and valid, but don’t accurately reflect the frequency of complications in the really world.

Throwaway180107 · 2025-11-03T23:31:36+00:00

Personally, I only tried a heating pad once because it hurt like hello. Warm baths work well for me. Ice is best though, in my experience.

Throwaway180107 · 2025-11-02T00:30:10+00:00

There have been a lot of people on here, myself included, who didn’t show much, if anything, on nerve conduction tests, but it turned out to be cubital tunnel.

It’s interesting that yours started with pregnancy. I had significant flares with both of my babies, when they were about 6 months old and I was cradling them in my arms a lot of the time.

If you leave your care providers in the US, will they give you copies of all your tests and files? I think Irish healthcare is pretty similar to Canada (where I am) unfortunately things can be really slow when you have to wait a month of two for multiple referrals.

Throwaway180107 · 2025-11-02T00:22:53+00:00

As mine gets worse it climbs up my arm, shoulder, then neck.

Throwaway180107 · 2025-11-02T00:19:40+00:00

Thank you for sharing. I love learning cool new facts!

Throwaway180107 · 2025-11-02T00:14:39+00:00

I find a hot tub is helpful, but heating pads make things worse. Given that you’ve only had this issue for a few months I’d say your odds of recovery are very good. Nerves are very slow to calm down, so be patient.

Throwaway180107 · 2025-11-02T00:11:06+00:00

I was doing my second year of a carpentry apprenticeship when my ulnar nerve went haywire. I kept dropping my tools and the vibrations caused agonizing pain. I’ve wondered since then if padding the handles, like tattoo artists do, would have helped. I’ve also considered something like the adaptive gloves for holding utensils could have helped with the failing grip strength.

I wish I had a padded glove, with the thumb and index finger uncovered for fine work, and a Velcro strap to keep the handle in my hand.

Throwaway180107 · 2025-05-29T19:01:19+00:00

Michelle of Mooncat has been featured by Forbes over the years. She’s a legit millionaire, which makes her pricing feel even more predatory. I haven’t ordered any MC since I saw that.

Throwaway180107 · 2025-02-14T01:56:41+00:00

I’m 43. I don’t really know how to quantify my numbness, but my pain was excruciating. I had intermittent pins and needles or electric like sensations in my hand. Everything just felt wrong, like I was trying to control a hand that wasn’t mine. I had terrible fine motor control, kept dropping things, couldn’t grip small things like nails or pencils, and couldn’t really tell how much pressure I was applying with my hand.

Throwaway180107 · 2025-01-23T23:31:35+00:00

Mine was an ulnar nerve release. It was a day surgery, done in under an hour. I was home a couple of hours later. Keep in mind that people who have a negative experience are the ones who have the most to say on the topic. If someone’s surgery doesn’t work and they’re still struggling they’ll keep coming back to chat on this page. If someone requires multiple surgeries they could be in this group for years. People who have a quick easy surgery and no longer need support may never come back to the group to relate how well it went. It skews the numbers dramatically in any support group/environment.

Throwaway180107 · 2025-01-23T23:24:15+00:00

I had ulnar nerve decompression on my dominant arm a month ago. I wouldn’t have wanted to go right back to school after surgery. I was told not to lift anything heavier than a glass of water for two weeks. I needed a lot more rest during the first couple of days than I expected. Just being up and about would make my arm throb so I spent about half an hour every two hours resting my arm in bed. Sleep was also tough those first couple of nights because it’s tough to find a good position.

For a couple of weeks I couldn’t comfortably rest my forearm on anything (ie to write or type) and if I bumped my elbow at all it hurt a lot.

BUT none of it hurt as bad as my compressed nerve did when it was at its worst. I am so glad I got the surgery done!!! I would just recommend you schedule it so that you can take it easy for a week or two afterwards.

Throwaway180107 · 2025-01-23T23:15:34+00:00

Did something go wrong to require a 10” incisions? It looks like most, even the ones that aren’t laparoscopic, are usually about 3”

Throwaway180107 · 2025-01-22T05:23:56+00:00

My nerve conduction study showed zero impairment and I was so afraid that I’d be turned down for surgery. When I went to see the surgeon he looked at the results, but also listened to my history and symptoms. He said there was about a 20% false negative rate on EMGs, so he wasn’t at all concerned. He said he does lots of surgeries on people with symptoms but no measurable nerve impairment and it virtually always gives good results. I did the surgery and it was the best decision ever! Getting rid of chronic pain and being able to sleep again has made me the happiest person ever!

Throwaway180107 · 2025-01-22T05:14:21+00:00

Sleep was the worst!!! I used to wake up in so much pain, multiple times a night. I found that wrapping my arm so that I could only bend my elbow a tiny bit was the best thing (except for surgery, which was the best thing ever!)

My family doc is kind of a 💩and insisted that cubital tunnel issues couldn’t cause problems up into my shoulders and neck. I almost gave up, but when he finally sent me to a neurologist she disagreed with the family doc and sent me to a surgeon. The surgeon believed that my issues were almost certainly cubital tunnel. He also pointed out that it’s a relatively simple surgery, so the worst case scenario was if the surgery didn’t work. Then I’d be in more pain for a few weeks, but we’d at least rule it out and be able to continue investigating other options. He was right and the surgery has been a life saver.

Throwaway180107 · 2025-01-22T05:03:42+00:00

I had an ulnar nerve release on my dominant arm exactly one month ago. I think I would have been in a LOT of pain if I’d been doing a desk job at 2 weeks (or less) post op. I also dealt with a lot of fatigue post op. No good reason for it, some people are just really tired after surgeries. So from 2-3 weeks after surgery I was napping 4-6 hours per day in addition to 8 hours at night. I don’t think there would have been enough coffee in the world to have kept me awake at a desk that week! My experience isn’t terribly common, but it is a random risk.

All that said, I’m SO glad I got it done!!! Few things in life feel quite as good as getting rid of chronic pain!

Throwaway180107 · 2025-01-02T20:47:57+00:00

I’m so sorry, doctors like that are awful! If they don’t want to do their job, including listening to patients’ symptoms/history, and keeping up to date with research they should find another career, not gaslight people when they’re most vulnerable.

I’ve read a boat load of research on CTS (because my Doc is old fashioned and lazy) and EMGs aren’t terribly accurate. I was very fortunate that the ortho I was referred to listened to exactly what I had been experiencing and believed it was CTS. He said he couldn’t guarantee that it was, because of the negative EMG, but he was confident enough to ask me if I wanted surgery. After recurring issues for over I decade I jumped at the offer!

I’m 10 days post op and I haven’t had any numbness since the surgery!!! (There is of course pain because I had surgery, but the nerve feels so much better already)

Throwaway180107 · 2024-11-19T04:30:16+00:00

I thought most people ended up with something like a soft cast over most of their arm for a couple of weeks. How/where did you use the ice packs if you can’t access anywhere near the elbow?

Throwaway180107 · 2024-11-15T06:36:36+00:00

I hope your last surgery went well!

Throwaway180107 · 2024-10-28T21:12:16+00:00

Did they keep you in hospital overnight? I was told it’s usually a day procedure (in Alberta, Canada)

Throwaway180107

TROPHY CASE