Thread: Carpal Tunnel

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Anybody here had Carpal tunnel surgery? My right wrist has gotten bad enough I'm trying to get it set up have it done over the winter. It's gotten to the point where I can't swing a hammer, push very hard on a wrench, use a spray gun etc.

I can find info on what the surgery does, recovery times etc. Does anybody have firsthand experience. What I'm really wondering about is how much strength you were to get back and after the surgery were you able to the stuff normally associated with building a car.



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I haven't done it yet... but it's coming for me.
My best friend had his right wrist done and he has no complaints. except for 1.... with the nerves now outside they are more prone to being hit.. but you learn what you can and cannot do quickly. He has no limitations otherwise.. we used to refinish furniture as a sideline, years of sanding and finishes, same as cars.. it takes a toll for sure.

Had both hands done back in 91 one right after the other. I was working on my 68 at the time. You will be supprised how fast you come back. Mine were so bad I couldn't hold a cup of coffee with out dropping it. I remember one night working on the68 with one hand in the splint(cast) I dropped a wrench so with the other hand ( that had already been worked one) I reached under the car and dragged my wrist in the concrete talk about quiting for the night.. Anyway just get it done you will be glad you did

Everyone I've known that had it done had a positive experience.

I had mine done in '07, one after the other, a month apart; the first one was completely healed and fully functional before the other one was done. They were done arthroscopically, which I understand is pretty much the way most are done these days. A quarter inch incision in the palm, and one on the inside of the wrist about an inch up from the fold of the wrist, a device is inserted from one to the other, and a small blade is slid through to slit the nerve sheath and relieve the pressure on the nerves; they sealed the incisions with surgical glue. I was a bit sore, but the instructions were to use my hands at something that needed a lot of finger movement, like typing. Within a week from surgery, I was back to normal, on light duty - no heavy lifting, hammering, pistol shooting, stuff that would put extreme pressure on the palms or the wrists, for a month after. It was much better in my estimation than what a few of my associates went through, having their hands and wrists cut open in a long incision, then being stitched back together and going through months of rehabilitation therapy.

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Thanks for everybodys reply.


It’s been an ongoing battle but I finally got an appointment at VA to look at my Carpal Tunnel. My normal Dr at VA retired at the beginning of the year and VA put me on the Choice program. What a zoo (the choice program). I had my first appointment with the civilian Dr on the 9th of Jul. When I was there I asked for a referred back to the VA for the carpal tunnel, which they said they would do. Having had surgery at the Tucson VA that is where I want to have my wrist taken care of. After about 3 weeks of not hearing from the VA I finally contacted the Dr and they hadn’t sent the referral!!!

That started a month long battle with the Dr to submit the referral (with the Choice office also getting involved). Finally on the 27th of Aug Choice got the referral from the Dr. After a few days I contacted the Choice office and found out they were trying to refer me to another Choice provider instead of referring me back to the VA hospital as I had requested several times. I finally was able to get the VA hospital involved who contacted the Choice office at the Hospital and got my appointment for the surgery clinic.

Basically it ended up taking 2 months for the Dr/Choice program to submit the paperwork to VA just so I could get an appointment…..something that should have only taken a couple of days.



In the meantime I got some improvements taken care of in preparation for having the surgery done. When I had surgery on my arm a couple of years ago I wasn’t able to open the garage door for over a month so what was in the garage ended up staying there until I healed up a bit.


The old door was used and had seen better days when I installed it 25 years ago. I was heavy (weak spring), and no insulation. That being said it filled the hole for 25 years and did go up and down (manually). I don’t have any good pictures of it so this one will have to do.




Door 2 by M Patterson, on Flickr

I really wasn’t planning on changing the door this year, but with the surgery coming up I figured I’d just go ahead and bite the bullet on it.


The new door is insulated and really makes a difference in the temperature at the back of the garage in the afternoon. Of course the opening had to be reframed before the door could be installed but all in all I’m pretty happy with it especially having a remote door opener on it.

D! by M Patterson, on Flickr




D2 by M Patterson, on Flickr



While I was at it I also decided to do something about the gate into the shop. Years ago when I was running the shop full time I’d just open the gate in the morning and close it at night. Over the last few years, on the days the wife works I started closing the gate when I leave if I’m going to be gone any length of time.

Old Gate by M Patterson, on Flickr


Jumping in and out of whatever I’m driving to open the gate, drive thru, get out, close the gate and repeat was something that got old a long time ago. Of course the days that Cade’s around are not too bad, I grin and he frowns and I usually tell him “cheer up someday you will get to be the granddad”



Yeah, I can open the gate one handed while my wrist heals up, but why pass up a great excuse to get a new gate and opener.


NG by M Patterson, on Flickr





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Nice to hear good progress.

The VA just referred me to Tuskegee for pain evaluation on my back. I haven't exactly been fighting the system as you have, but it should have been done in '12.

You could switch hands and get some strange stuff,LOL

Nice new additions to the property Mike! That door should help out a lot. Sorry to hear about the flunkies wasting so much of your time. Everything is happening this way anymore it seems.

Originally Posted by Mike P

It’s been an ongoing battle but I finally got an appointment at VA to look at my Carpal Tunnel. My normal Dr at VA retired at the beginning of the year and VA put me on the Choice program. What a zoo (the choice program). I had my first appointment with the civilian Dr on the 9th of Jul. When I was there I asked for a referred back to the VA for the carpal tunnel, which they said they would do. Having had surgery at the Tucson VA that is where I want to have my wrist taken care of. After about 3 weeks of not hearing from the VA I finally contacted the Dr and they hadn’t sent the referral!!!

That started a month long battle with the Dr to submit the referral (with the Choice office also getting involved). Finally on the 27th of Aug Choice got the referral from the Dr. After a few days I contacted the Choice office and found out they were trying to refer me to another Choice provider instead of referring me back to the VA hospital as I had requested several times. I finally was able to get the VA hospital involved who contacted the Choice office at the Hospital and got my appointment for the surgery clinic.

Basically it ended up taking 2 months for the Dr/Choice program to submit the paperwork to VA just so I could get an appointment…..something that should have only taken a couple of days.

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Those who can, do.
Those who can't, teach.
And those who can do neither make nothing else but stupid pedantic rules to stymie the doers and teachers.
They're called 'bureaucrats'.

Here endeth your lesson for today.

On the plus side though the door and the gate look pretty flash alright; and should make entrance and exit much easier.
Very nice.
I like.

Originally Posted by johnboy

They're called 'bureaucrats'.

They're also known as "bean counters" and are the scourge of the world

Nice updrades, Hope the surgery happens quickly and you recover fast. I've had two knee surgeries where I was delayed 6 months each time and dealth with many limitations both at work and home always in pain, after both I regretted not doing them earlier!

I’m hoping to get the actual surgery done in Jan or Feb so hopefully there is still time to get the appointments for tests, X Rays etc done. The Tucson VA can get backlogged on occasion.

This has been my second experience being referred to the Choice Program neither time went well from my view point. You have the VA bureaucracy coordinating with another (fairly new) large bureaucracy who are coordinating with outside providers…..what could possibly go wrong.



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The choice program is a bearocrautic patch: a band aid on a pestulous hemorrhage.

As I said I've had 2 experiences with the program. When you get referred and contact them the people on the phone are nice enough but it is a bureaucracy, and after you get off the phone it's a crap shoot if they will actually do what they said they would (actually your information is put into a computer system and the action itself will be handled by someone else).

I fortunately have been pretty lucky and overall all I’m in pretty good health so I haven’t had to have a lot of medical care. As I don't even know what Dr(s)/clinics are in the area I just let the Choice Program assign me one. In both cases when I was put on the Choice Program I was asked if I had a preference on which Dr I wanted to see. I think that was my biggest mistake. Winding my way thru the bureaucracy was doable but the quality of the Dr/ Clinics Choice assigned me to left a lot to be desired. If god forbid I end up on the Choice program sometime in the future I will check around and get my own recommendations on which Dr I want to see.

I’ve heard the horror stories about some peoples experiences in various VA facilities. My experience with VA in Tucson and the local clinic has been positive overall. Fortunately they now have a new Dr in the local clinic and I am back in the VA system. After a quick review of the physical that was done by the Choice assigned provider, the VA Clinic has decided to redo the physical and I have an appointment with them in a couple of weeks. Basically our tax dollars spent on the Choice provider for my “care” were simply wasted.



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