I'm Having Carpal Tunnel Surgery...

[IbanezATK]

Anybody else here had it recently?

I was diagnosed with CTS at 13 and have dealt with it until now... mainly because way back then it was pretty serious surgery and the Dr. told me the odds of losing feeling forever in my hands was about 50 percent. I've also had 2 operations, but both were arthroscopic and I was awake through them. They were on my elbow, and both failed. I've never been put to sleep before, and I'm a bit freaked about that.

I talked to my Dr. today and she said it's no great shakes these days and referred me to an orthopedic surgeon. She said she could shoot me up with cortisone but that the only "real" fix is surgery.

In the 23 years that I've had it I've learned to play through the pain, although there have been times when it was so bad that I cried... and I'm not a "pussy." The numbness is nothing, I can play with 0 feeling in my hands, I've just learned to deal with it. The pain is another thing entirely...

She said I could return to work as a network admin 48 hours after I have the surgery and shouldn't have any problems typing. She however didn't know how long it would be before I should play bass again. Anybody know how long it will be before I can play bass again after the surgery?

[MaskedJackal]

I can't answer your question, but hang in there, buddy. Tough stuff, to say the least.

[LongHairFreak]

There's no reason you should be put under for such a surgery. Local anesthesia is all that was used on me; though I'll admit, that was the most painful shots for a local I've ever recieved.

I had CT surgery on my fretting (left) hand on the 20th of last month. At the same time, I had Trigger Release surgery on both ring fingers; which added a bit more distress for both my hands.

I could not play at all for the first two weeks post surgery--not because I was told not too, but I couldn't--and was told to play only five minutes or so a day for the next several weeks. Though I'm going against medical orders--and I've pushed it too far sometimes--I'm now up to 20-30 minutes a day. My strength and flexibility are still crap and I'm guessing that'll be the case for quite a time yet.

Though the information source was most likely the same, two different doctors (I wanted a second opinion) said there's a 97% recovery rate for this surgery. Don't worry too much man.

[tplyons]

Let me know how it goes. I was diagnosed with CTS five years ago when I was seventeen. My left (fretting) hand/wrist gets sore, but my right is the one that will sideline me for a week or more. Had to give up playing upright because of this.

Best of luck.