Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

[Ron Patrick]

I know how you feel Jeff , I had a knee replacement five years ago . I believe I would have been better off if I just tolerated the pain and not had the surgery done . The artificial knee is no where the knee that you were born with .The results were swelling in the leg that had the surgery , cannot ride a bike , cannot put my knee on the floor ,added ten stokes to my golf game ects . But it did eliminate the pain .Sometime surgery corrects one problem and adds more . Ron

[Larry King]

Roger....yes and I've had two treatments thus far. I was much improved after the first one and didn't have as much improvement after the second time. I am scheduled again on Friday . I'll stay with the regimen for the time being , giving it every possible chance. After hearing his explanation , surgery will be my last resort. IF ! I must do surgery , I'm going to use Ron Sodos' surgeon. Like I say though , we'll try this before throwing in the towel , so to speak.

[John Roche]

Larry. I had my right hand done a few years ago, no more problems since. I was wide awake during the operation . I was back playing soon after.
A word of advice , don't have both done at the same time.. You can't wipe your bum..

[Ted Solesky]

Larry, I got carpal tunnel problems for over a year and the band put up with my inferior pickin-wwhheww. 2/3 months ago, I had my right hand done and my pickin improved 80% and the docs says, in a year, I'll be back to normal. I'm surprised to see other pickers had it too. I bumped into Johnny Cox and he showed me his scars. He said he couldn't hold the bar and had the left hand done first. And when I talked to other people that had it done, they said everything is back to normal. I did use a recommended doc on my right hand. The doc says he does a lot of musicians because the stress of picking up, for example, a heavy amp and lifting it to the trunk, takes a hard toll on the wrist. I use light stuff now. I was young and dumb 20 years ago. Although I loved the geetar and Zane was a good friend, the ZB or BMI and a heavy amp did me in. I also have serious lower back problems. It does catch up to you. Don't mean to sound like a mother-in-law but that's real world. Learn from it. I talked to big guys that had surgery over heavy equipment.

[Tony Glassman]

I thought I might chime in as I'm both a steel player and a physician that specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

If you look at the figure above, you can see the "carpal tunnel" (the white area in the cross section). Basically, it's an unyielding "vault" containing various tendons, arteries and the Median nerve (which is the most delicate of the structures).
The "tunnel is bordered in the back by the Carpal bones of the wrist....and in front by a tough gristle like fiborous band called the Flexor Retinaculum or more commonly the Tranverse Carpal Ligament.

Long story short............The space in the tunnel is small and anything that reduces that space increases the pressure on the contents within the tunnel. The tendons and artery withstand pressure well....the median nerve doesn't. [It's the Median nerve which gives the sensation and muscle control to your thumb, index and long fingers so necessary for picking and bar control].

With repeated wrist and hand use (i.e. steel guitar playing), the TV Ligament can become irritated and inflamed. When things become inflamed...they swell, and in this case the swelling increases the pressure within the tunnel. Since the only other border of the tunnel consists of very "unyielding" bones, the tunnel cannot expand, thus internal pressure in the Carpal Tunnel builds up which may ultimately "squish" the nerve and damage it.

Diagnosis is made by clinical symptoms: numbness in the thumb, first 2 fingers (initially during sleep or hand usage), clumsiness, thumb weakness and atrophy). The longer the pressure is allowed to continue the greater the potential for nerve damge, which at best recovers very slowly...if at all.
Nerve Conduction Studies, which measure the "elapsed time" for a nerve impulse to travel a certain distance can confirm the problem.

Treatment usually takes one of 2 paths depending on how close to permanent nerve damage is estimated.
Conservative care: includes anti-inflammatories, steroid injections and wrist immobilization splints; all aimed at halting and reversing symptoms due to inflammation. Mild or moderate CTS may be treated this way.

If the nerve is deemed to be in jeopardy, surgery is recommended. This is usually done through a scope to lessen scarring and post-op recovery time (12 weeks+/-). Basically the ligament is cut, decreasing the pressure in the tunnel.

Caveats:

a)See your MD !!!!!!!........"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".


b)A trial of conservative care may be fine unless you have significant risk of nerve damage....at that point avoiding surgery might be likened to "burying your head in the sand".

c) prevent nerve damage...... recovery is tediously slow at best....and if severe enough, the damage can be irreversible.

[Jeff Hyman]

Tony,

Is there any history where CTS and Authritus are connected in any way? Once I had the CTS operation on my right hand, within a few months Authritus set in. Authritus also has set into my left (bar) hand but only very mild.

PS: Sorry for the typos

TIA,
Jeff

[joe wright]

Hello Larry,

I go to a chiropractor who does Applied Kineseology and it works for me. No pain, no pills just realignment of the bones. He also adjusts my elbows, knees, ankles, as well as my neck and back. They are all connected.

It works.

I now adjust my wrists and elbows myself.

I've experienced all of the numbness, pain, swelling, etc. Its gone....joe

[Scott Henderson]

Larry
I obviously agree with Rickey. If you like, contact me via email and I will get you my sons email. Maybe he can help you with advice and possibly a referral of a Chiropractor in your area. His website is http://yourlivingwellchiro.com/ Tell him Ole Dad sent ya! ( And call him Dr Dusty, with a west texas accent hehehehe inside joke)