Re: Changing CTS symptoms and other questions

In Reply to: Re: Changing CTS symptoms and other questions posted by Melani on November 14, 2003 at 04:17:38:

: : Hi everyone,
I first noticed my hands tingling especially my left then the numbness and the elbow was hurting. at first i thought it was a pinched nerve. but, now it is in my right hand and my index, and middle finger is numb on both hands as well as swollen at times. how do i relieve it with out surgery?
: : I first noticed CTS symptoms at the end of March, when I woke up one morning with my right hand feeling numb. It actually felt "pruny", as if it had been in water too long, and while it could feel temperature changes and sharp pointy objects, the "prunniness" overrode any sensation of texture. The numbness was constant, not just after sleep. The day before this happened I spent neary 24 hours in a row typing up my thesis, so I guess that was the last straw added to my computer game obsession.

: : Being the fool that I was, I didn't go to Student Health for 3 weeks, and they gave (well, sold) me a wrist brace. So I started wearing the brace, and tried to limit myself to computer games I could play with my left hand. By the middle of July, the general numbness receeded, but was replaced by the fingers feeling swolen for a few minutes every day when I woke up. And now my left hand was mimmicking the symptoms of the right, though to a lesser degree. At this point I had an EMG taken on my right hand/arm, and was told something like "you have a mild entrapment of the sensory fibers of the median nerve" and that if I continued wearing the brace, the CTS would go away.

: : Well, it didn't. The "swolen fingures upon waking" gradually grew less noticeable (though its still there), but then my wrists, hand, and fingres started aching several times a day. And just today, I've had shooting pains in my forearm (right under the elbow.)

: : Are CTS symptoms supposed to change like this, with some symptoms growing better, and others appearing? Also, the weird thing about the aches, and particularly the shooting pain, is that they often happen when even when I'm wearing the brace and not doing anything with my hands at all!

: : By the way, I am a computer programmer, and cannot avoid using the computer (I do use an ergonamic keyboard now.) I also should not take anti-inflamatory medicines because I have acid reflux from a hietal hernia.

: : Finally, I've heard some horror stories about CTS surgery going wrong, making the victim handicapped for life. How often does this happen? And has anyone tried The Green Technique ( http://www.carpaltunnelquickfix.com ), which claims to fix CTS by relieving the pressure on the median nerve in the neck.

: : Thanks in advance!

: Yuriy, I will share my symtoms but mine never stopped then got bad again. My elbow hurt all the way down to the wrist. It was a feeling like I had been hit by a 2x4, then down into my wrist, when I would turn, twist or bend it, I would get a stabbing pain. My index, middle and ring fingers would go numb. It seemed like my pain traveled elbow down, although 4 different times I was treated for neck and shoulder spasms. So as of today, I don't really know what caused the CT. I hope you will go to the doctor and have your arm and hand checked out, its the only way to know for sure whats happening. Best of luck to you. Melani