carpal tunnel and trigger finger surgery

[DSOP]

Good luck with the procedure, and be sure to keep us updated as to your healing and recuperation.

[cjbdrm]

Da Chooch,

Check out Dr. Sarno's books on TMS syndrome. They may some relevance to you.

[ED_W]

Ed - after more than a decade of different excercises, accupuncture, splints at night, cortizone shots, stretching excerses, massage therapy, i've finally decided to undergo this procedure. i am still in waiting as to see what is covered and what my part of the bill is for me in regards to the procedure. i am amazed that the procedure takes about 15-minutes and only needs local anesthesia. i think the advent of newer and innovative treatments was i willing to go through with it. the doctor even told me the same thing. if i keep going on without this procedure i will have permanent nerve damage in the future.

trigger finger feels like someone jabbed an ice pick in between your joints and just left it there. then, your whole finger swells up almost double it's size (at least it does for me). the pain is so excruciating and i hardly slept that night. i've been having more problems with ea. finger to where i think it'll end up all ten digits as well. though i only plan to cover the index, ring, and middle finger and the carpal tunner for ea. hand. believe it or not, i am SO excited. i know, it sounds crazy but that's how much of a nuisance this condition of mine has become. i really thought i would need to find another kind of vocation as well as never play the drums again.

thank you all for your suggestions and thoughts. i will keep ya'll posted once i'm done.

Da Chooch, I never had swelling of the fingers from trigger finger but did have very bad pain in some of the fingers when they would get stuck. I'm sure the doctor won't do it, but whatever you do don't have both hands repaired at the same time. You will not be able to take care of yourself if you do. Its tough enough trying to do simple tasks with just one hand thats bandaged up. Insist on having some Occupational Therapy afterwards, it's a big help for getting back to drumming. Best of luck...

[Josiah]

ive worked with a decent amount of guys with cps or other issues... if you've gone to the cortisone injections with no luck, then surgery is the unfortunate next step.

like ED_W said - do them separate!

what do you do for work? I couldn't imagine that level of damage being done bilaterally from drumming alone.

[Old Pit Guy]

I developed an RSI that spread from my left hand-wrist up to the elbow - miserable. Surgery really wasn't a viable option, so it was a waiting game and a frustrating one at that. 18 months it took, and I'm betting it would have taken longer if I hadn't talked to a guy who recommended a site (I can't remember it now, sorry) about how to deal with these injuries after the healing phase, which can be quite awhile.

The tendency is to baby the afflicted tendon(s) until there's no pain, and that can take several months with a serious RSI; collagen takes a long time to regenerate, and repeated micro-tears without restorative recoup time create tears on top of tears. It's a messy injury.

Long to short, there's a mindset you have to get past at some point where you're basically accepting they'll be some discomfort and that it's normal and that it's part of the process as you work to strengthen the injured tendon. This won't apply to everyone, but a lot of injured players live in fear of being re-injured; you have to get past the tendency to worry because that creates tension and recovery becomes circular and leads to setbacks.

edit: typo

[JohnDrum]

Chooch,
sorry - late reply to your post -(I've been a little distracted with my wife's breast cancer issues and operation).

I had both hands operated on in '96 -one at a time...6 months apart: simple day case procedure,( I even watched the second one being done -fascinating stuff!) and once the stitches came out after 10 days, recovery was rapid, with noticeable improvement immediately. I was playing (albeit gently) about 4-6 weeks after each one, and I can say honestly, that I haven't felt so much as a twinge since then -over 15 years ago now.

I know the decision's slighty different for you guys over in the US with no National Health Service , but I would say go for it if at all possible.
Good luck, and keep us posted

John