Re: ulnar nerve surgery

[Guest guest]

Andre,

I'm behind on my e-mails so I just read your post about you having ulnar nerve

surgery. I had what I thought was carpal tunnel syndrome except it was my

little finger and ring finger that would go numb. The doctor told me it was

cubital tunnel syndrome. I'd never heard of that, but sure enough when I looked

it up on the internet, that was me. I'd have to shake my write hand after every

few lines of writing. It started getting bad when I was completing my master's

degree. Taking notes was torture. I know my professors must have thought I was

a spaz, shaking my right hand every few minutes in class! In addition to the

numbness and burning in my little finger and ring finger, I had pain and burning

that radiated down my forearm. It had gotten to the point that the pain in my

forearm was there all the time. I went to my ortho and he agreed that it was

cubital tunnel syndrome. I had a nerve test and it showed damage to the right

ulnar nerve and irritation in the left. I had an ulnar nerve release in

December 2000. The doc made about a 6-8 inch incision on the inside of my right

arm at my elbow and moved the nerve to a spot that had more room. He told me

that there's not a lot of room for that nerve and having all the inflammation of

lupus narrowed the space even further. I was not prepared for such a large

incision. I assumed it would be a couple of tiny incisions and didn't ask

specific questions about the surgery. However, it may be better that I didn't

know the incision would be so large. I might have put off the surgery and the

nerve damage would have just gotten worse. I have had a lot of joint surgeries

and other surgeries. This one was pretty bad as far as the post-op pain for the

first few days went. I had a lot of burning pain, which I'm sure was because

they had messed with the nerve. However, once I got past the first few days, it

wasn't bad. Being right handed and not being able to bend my elbow or use my

right arm for much of anything was a pain in the butt, but still the surgery was

well worth the temporary pain and inconvenience. The pain, numbness, and

burning that I had in my little finger, ring finger and down my forearm was gone

from the time I awoke in recovery and has never come back.

I don't know if you are having the same problem or if your surgery will be the

same. Whatever it is you're having done, I wish you well. I also advise lots

of ice the first few days. Ice is wonderful after joint or nerve surgery in

keeping the pain and swelling down.

take care,

W