Anyone Have Carpal Tunnel Experiences?

[goldtopper]

Lately I've been waking up several times a night with my left hand soundly asleep. I practically have to hit it against the wall to regain feeling. I'm starting to wonder if I'm getting the beginning stages of CTS. I have no other pains- thumb or otherwise. I use my hands pretty intensly-guitar, mandolin, former tree surgeon and present chef- thank the Lord I'm not a bachelor too!! (Just Kidding!)
Anyone out there have any opinions/tips/helps that can get this nipped in the bud before it gets worse?
Thanks all!
Jay

[Heather Anne Peel]

I don't have firsthand experience, but I do have a friend/fellow player who has it and actually had surgery to improve it that somehow ended up making it worse, according to her!

[woodman]

yeah, surgery sucks, definitely a LAST RESORT ... sounds like you might need a checkup (X-rays etc.) to pinpoint the problem. may be a repetitive stress thing but not necessarily carpal tunnel. your avatar doesn't show your age, but many of us who've picked for many years develop degenerative arthritis as the padding in the joints wears down.

[eryque]

The Woodman's right on. There are LOTS of repetitive stress injuries that cause a variet of symptoms. Carpal Tunnel most usually presents as numbness of the thumb and first two fingers, but not the whole hand.

And it's also not out of the question that lately you've just been sleeping funny. I went through a period in college when I'd wake up from afternoon naps with my left arm so dead asleep that I could barely move it. Wouldn't happen during normal sleep, just afternoon naps. I slept so soundly that I couldn't even wake up from the pain.

[goldtopper]

Originally Posted by woodman1

yeah, surgery sucks, definitely a LAST RESORT ... sounds like you might need a checkup (X-rays etc.) to pinpoint the problem. may be a repetitive stress thing but not necessarily carpal tunnel. your avatar doesn't show your age, but many of us who've picked for many years develop degenerative arthritis as the padding in the joints wears down.

I'm 44, and you're right about the joints. This problem has hit my knees. I've been pickin for 28 years, I suppose I'm overdue.

[Fatmanstratman]

Originally Posted by Heather Anne Peel

I don't have firsthand experience, but I do have a friend/fellow player who has it and actually had surgery to improve it that somehow ended up making it worse, according to her!

Ditto +1. My mother-in-law had surgery, and it made it worse!

And NO, I wasn't sticking pins in the hands of a little voodoo doll either.......

[eddiewagner]

i had it a long time ago. thats when i started to play slideguitar.

[g-Paul]

I get numbness right down my arm into the hand plus a loss of strength in my hand - it turned out to be damaged discs in my neck that were pinching the nerves. Did you play a lot of contact sports?

[chet]

Originally Posted by goldtopper

Lately I've been waking up several times a night with my left hand soundly asleep. I practically have to hit it against the wall to regain feeling. I'm starting to wonder if I'm getting the beginning stages of CTS. I have no other pains- thumb or otherwise. I use my hands pretty intensly-guitar, mandolin, former tree surgeon and present chef- thank the Lord I'm not a bachelor too!! (Just Kidding!)
Anyone out there have any opinions/tips/helps that can get this nipped in the bud before it gets worse?
Thanks all!
Jay

Oh, you're left-handed?

[Telenator]

I sleep with splints on both hands and it helps alot! I also take glucosamine and B6 complex to help stave off the further advance of my condition.

[Gespenst]

If it's CTS you would get it during playing. It doesn't hit you after the fact.

I got it when I was fresh out of high school. I could feel it while doing 10-key so I just swapped hands when it went numb. Kept going till both hands were numb and it took a good solid 3 weeks before I could feel anything again. We didn't know about CTS back in the 80's so I though nothing of it. Since then if my hands even think about going numb I just stop. Haven't had it return in over 20 years.

My father had surgery and it helped him. The key is that the damage is permament so if you feel it don't be a "man" or you will feel it every day. Surgery is nothing more then routing out your wrist to make more room for the nerves. It doesn't really fix anything. The nerves are still torn and scared, they just have more room to swell. Once the nerves are swollen you loose feeling in your finger tips and it works it's way down. When the swelling goes down you gain feeling, finger tips are last.

[0le FUZZY]

YUP!

Die-ugg-nosed in 1971 and the bone quack couldn't gar-on-tee a hossterration wood make it better and/or make it worse.

I been wearin these on both arms cents then and seldom if ever dew wye haff the pain. I could knott dew anythin before I did this. The pain waz awful.

Tew each hiss zone!!









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Please visit my page

[CharlieO]

I had cubital tunnel syndrome, which is similar. The symptoms lasted for a few months before I went to a neurologist. She did some tests and recommended surgery. Fortunately, she sent me for a pre-surgery consultation with a neurosurgeon, and he said "I won't do surgery when it isn't necessary. Let's keep an eye on the situation for a month or so." I made an effort to keep my left arm off of my desk, and I also made note of how I was sleeping. I discovered that I often sleep with my arms crossed in front of me, with my left wrist bent and pinned by my right arm. I made an effort to sleep in a different position. In a few weeks the symptoms were gone.

That neurosurgeon sure has my respect.

This probably had nothing to do with my problem, but guitarists should probably know about it:
http://www.museweb.com/ag/cubital.html

[claudel]

Originally Posted by goldtopper

Lately I've been waking up several times a night with my left hand soundly asleep. I practically have to hit it against the wall to regain feeling. I'm starting to wonder if I'm getting the beginning stages of CTS. I have no other pains- thumb or otherwise. I use my hands pretty intensly-guitar, mandolin, former tree surgeon and present chef- thank the Lord I'm not a bachelor too!! (Just Kidding!)
Anyone out there have any opinions/tips/helps that can get this nipped in the bud before it gets worse?
Thanks all!
Jay

I was having a similar problem and the doc I saw nailed it on the first try.

It turned out that when I was sleeping I was folding my left hand up
under my head because my pillow was too small and my neck was bent.

I was bending my hand into my arm all night with the weight of my head
stressing the wrist joint and causing the same type of symptoms that you are having.

The solution for me was to get a wrist splint and wear it at night.
This kept me from bending my wrist and eventually ( 3-4 months ) it healed on it's own...

Plus I got a pillow that allowed me to sleep with my neck at a straight angle.
This allowed a bunch of other problems to heal themselves.

As always, see the doc and YMMV.

[roadkillbill]

Originally Posted by Telenator

I sleep with splints on both hands and it helps alot! I also take glucosamine and B6 complex to help stave off the further advance of my condition.

I went to a Doc with these symptoms a couple years ago and was told to sleep wearing splints for a couple nights, and take Ibuprofin before bedtime, and it actually worked!

[Tim Armstrong]

I've been having problems with my left arm, too, and the cause was some neck misalignment, caused mostly by improper sleeping posture. I gotta get both a better mattress and a better pillow!

Cheers, Tim

[Ptrallan01]

I have a question, Do you sleep on that arm? When I was a teenager I used to sleep on my stomach with my arms under me. I often would cut off the circulation to my arms and wake up without any feeling or control of my arms.

They felt like they were dead! The first time they flopped around like a dead fish until I started hitting it to get the feeling back into them. I changed how I slept and the problem went away.

Good luck and I hope you solve it as easily as I solved mine.

Peter

[Ptrallan01]

I have a question, Do you sleep on that arm? When I was a teenager I used to sleep on my stomach with my arms under me. I often would cut off the circulation to my arms and wake up without any feeling or control of my arms.

They felt like they were dead! The first time they flopped around like a dead fish until I started hitting it to get the feeling back into them. I changed how I slept and the problem went away.

Good luck and I hope you solve it as easily as I solved mine.

Peter

[Johnny Caster]

Originally Posted by 0le FUZZY

And it looks pretty hip too. Hehe, it's funny how fuzzy has a picture for just about every occasion (even the most mundane ones).

[Lost_N_Austin]

After 30 plus years of doing sculptured nails, my wife had the carpal tunnel surgery to correct the problem of pain and numbness which would cause her to take lots of pain medicines and often wake her in the middle of the night with no feeling in her hands. She tried splints, braces, salves and potions. The surgeon told her she had two options.

1. Pain and loss of feeling and motor function or
2. Surgery.

If it comes to that for you, having a high tolerance for pain and a sense of humor will help as will having a supporting and trusted caregiver. With her permission, I submit the following in hope that it is constuctive and helpful. You are fortunate that you just have it in one hand.




My wife had a very satisfactory result and if given the chance to do it over she would , only she would have done it sooner. Good luck with your diagnosis and cure.

[Nub]

Lost N Austin,

Great pics! I had surgery done a few years ago, but I had my hands done about a month apart (for the very reason in your picture). My surgeon was great, went in through my palms, like with your wife's hands; that method heals much quicker than when they cut across the wrists.

My hands felt noticably better, right out of surgery; there was very little incision discomfort, and I was able to start using each hand (carefully!) the next day. Both times, I gigged a week later; and I agree, I wish I hadn't waited so long to get the surgery!


And for all you guys who aren't sure if you have it or not...
Go to a good orthopedic surgeon, and get a Nerve Conduction Test done. It's a simple procedure, and it will show EXACTLY what's going on in your wrists, and whether or not you really have CTS.

[idylldon]

I had bilateral CT surgery about five years ago. Did both wrists at the same time and I have been symptom free since. Came home from the surgery and started typing and doing what I could as that helps a great deal during the recovery process. I had tried everything before allowing the surgeon to do his thing, and he even tried other ways to deal with it before we went for the big cut.

The BIG problem with this condition is that at some point the nerve WILL get damaged beyond recovery and you'll have numbness and/or pain the rest of your days. Get it checked out by a specialist because this nerve can also be stressed in the elbow and shoulders/neck, so you want to make sure it's not coming from there.

Carpal tunnel numbness (caused by a pinched median nerve) affects the thumb, the index, the middle, 1/2 of the ring finger, and none of the pinky. Another nerve, which doesn't go through the tunnel, controls the other half of the ring finger and the pinky.

My surgery wasn't nearly as invasive as the pics above. The guy I went to was one of the guys who developed a modified arthroscopic surgical method for CT, and he used it on me. He made small cuts in the middle of my palms and went in laterally. With a "hook" scapel, he cut the carpal ligament that holds the tendons and nerves in the carpal tunnel, which is surrounded on the other three sides by bone. When the ligament heals, the scar tissue makes it about 25% looser than it was, which gives the nerves and tendons more room and that prevents the nerve getting "pinched." If I showed you my palms, you wouldn't even notice the scar as he went in on one of the lines in my palm. He was an amazing surgeon who only did hands, elbows, and shoulders.

My sister also suffered from CTS and she went to the same guy and had similar results.

Cheers,
--
Don

[SteveY]

I had CTS surgery almost ten years ago.
Have had zero symptoms since.

[goldtopper]

I sleep on 3 pillows- acid reflux too, gosh I'm falling apart-, with my left arm pointing up on the pillows. Sounds like I may be just pinching a nerve funny or something, though I have slept this way for years.

Thanks for all of the excellent advice folks. I'll head to the Dr.