There are times when carpal tunnel surgery is the only answer for the pain, numbness and tingling in your hand and fingers.
- If you have had a crushing injury of damage to your wrist, where the carpal tunnel is, you might need surgery to restructure your bones to get rid of the pressure on your nerves.
- If you have a genetically small carpal tunnel, which is rare, but which some people are born with.
The carpal tunnel is a small area in your wrist. There are bones on three sides and tough tissue on the palm side. The inside of the “tunnel” is where your nerves, tendons and blood vessels pass through to your hand.
There is only so much room for the nerves that run through your carpal tunnel. If something (like swelling, inflammation or injured bones) causes pressure on the median nerve that passes through your carpal tunnel, it will cause Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
If pressure on your nerves continues long enough, there is the possibility of permanent nerve damage. Nerves don’t like being pressed on for long periods of time.
Should you have carpal tunnel surgery?
Well, there may be other ways to take the pressure off the nerves in your carpal tunnel. Carpal tunnel surgery should be a last resort.
If you go to a conservative doctor, she might offer to send you to physical therapy first. He might suggest anti-inflammatories, therapeutic massage, a wrist brace or other therapies. That doctor knows that if you take the pressure off the structures inside the carpal tunnel, you will allow natural healing to take its course.
However, if you go to a surgeon for an opinion, his first offer will most likely be carpal tunnel surgery. That’s what he was trained in and that’s what he does best. It seems that most surgeons generally look for a reason to operate to fix things.
It has been my experience, if you’re going for an opinion, don’t go to a surgeon first.
At any rate, your doctor is looking for a way to help prevent permanent nerve damage in your carpal tunnel. She may be able to do that with conservative measures or he may feel that you need surgery.
This is your body, and you are the one who has to make the decision of whether or not to have a surgical carpal tunnel release.
Since an informed patient is more likely to make a good decision, learn all you can about all of your options, including non-surgical ones.
“Because You Deserve to Feel Better!”