Carpal tunnel wound recovery time

[Flower]

Please can anyone who has had carpal tunnel surgery tell me how long it took for the wound to heal? I need surgery on both hands but had to take myself off the list last year due to needing surgery to try and save my leg. My right hand has got too painful now and I saw the surgeon today and need to go on the list for surgery but I need crutches to walk as my leg is in a cast long term so it's going to be impossible to avoid pressing down on the area of the wound!

I realise the time to heal will vary but just a general idea of how long it needed to be bandaged for would be great as initially that will stop me from walking. Also does the wound extend up towards the palm of the hand or is it just on the back of the wrist?

Thanks 🙂

 

[Owen]

Please can anyone who has had carpal tunnel surgery tell me how long it took for the wound to heal? I need surgery on both hands but had to take myself off the list last year due to needing surgery to try and save my leg. My right hand has got too painful now and I saw the surgeon today and need to go on the list for surgery but I need crutches to walk as my leg is in a cast long term so it's going to be impossible to avoid pressing down on the area of the wound!

I realise the time to heal will vary but just a general idea of how long it needed to be bandaged for would be great as initially that will stop me from walking. Also does the wound extend up towards the palm of the hand or is it just on the back of the wrist?

Thanks 🙂

Also interested to know

 

[AJLang]

Flower so sorry that you've got to have this done now. I had both of mine done 15 years ago so my memory is a bit hazy. They left a month between each hand and I think the bandage was on each hand for two weeks and it was recommended that I wear a sling. However I'm not convinced that I would have felt comfortable using crutches after just two weeks. The scar is thin and my surgeon cut it to run along the "life line" on my hand - it is between a third and a half way up the inside of each hand - that is the amount that is still visible. It barely goes into the wrist.

 

[AJLang]

I'm not sure if you can see the scar on this photo if someone with very good sight on the forum can describe the positioning of the scar.

 

[AJLang]

Sorry here is the photo.

 

[Flower]

Fabulous thanks Amanda 🙂 Hhmm that's really going to cause problems with crutches! Complicated complications strike again 🙄🙄

 

[AJLang]

I was really feeling for you Flower as I typed my post.

 

[HOBIE]

Good luck Flower ! Hope the opp is successful & heals quick. 😉

 

[mikeyB]

You shouldn't really have a problem with crutches with just a lump of foam padding over the wound. It's position on the hand means that it is virtually impossible to stretch the wound laterally, so you won't interfere with wound healing. Don't worry, Flower, you'll manage.

My scar is actually blended perfectly into palmar creases now, so if a palmist looked at my life line I'd be declared immortal, though this evidence does not convince life insurance companies.

 

[Flower]

Thanks for that Mike.

I didn't realise that carpal tunnel could cause agony from my shoulders through my elbows down into my fingers. I thought- before I got it - that it was confined to causing numbness and pins and needles in the hands. It is a seriously painful condition to get and I really hope the decompression eases the problems.

 

[Amigo]

Thanks for that Mike.

I didn't realise that carpal tunnel could cause agony from my shoulders through my elbows down into my fingers. I thought- before I got it - that it was confined to causing numbness and pins and needles in the hands. It is a seriously painful condition to get and I really hope the decompression eases the problems.

It's because the median nerve runs right along that area down the arm into the thumb and two fingers next to it, As I understand it, the ring finger and little finger aren't affected by that nerve but I could be wrong. I can remember waking every morning trying to shake my hand back into life! My scar is almost invisible now but I recall it hurting like hell just after the op for a day so good pain relief necessary for that period. The worry was worse than the procedure though and the relief worth it. Good luck x