Re: Op Report

In Reply to: Op Report posted by Martyn on January 14, 2004 at 12:32:14:

: I had my Cubital tunnel surgery yesterday, and it took 90 mins under a general. They have put me in a half cast (just underneath the arm) and bandaged me from the hand to just under the armpit. I had to sleep with my arm pointing upwards last night so I got less bruising and apart from 2 pain killers everything went fine. I can wiggle my fingers and they put my arm in a sling, and I have to go back in 3 weeks time for them to remove the cast and stiches.

: Just one strange thing, he reckon I won't need any Physio.

: Any questions (Evelyn:)) I will be happy to go into more detail.

Hi Martyn
Glad to hear it all went well. Sounds like you're doing great! 3 weeks seems a very long time for the stitches. Did they give you a reason for that? I had the carpal ones in for 2 weeks & ended up getting a friend to take them out because they were driving me nuts! Stitches are pretty tight into the skin by 2 weeks. :-/

The UK seems to be much less into physio than the USA. My surgeon was exactly the same. Said that physio was only for people who didn't use their hand properly after surgery!

I'm not great on physiology but I'm pretty sure that no amount of physio will help some atrophied muscle. If the nerve itself was damaged significantly, I think the prognosis is poor. However, if the muscle atrophy is mild, the increased blood flow to the muscle due to the nerve decompression might be all that's needed plus normal hand movement, to regain some strength.

From personal experience - I went to a physio around April this year to get some free splints. They weren't fitting properly & that was when she noticed my thumb muscles had wasted away LOL I hadn't even noticed! I asked her about exercises & she gave me a few. I did them religiously a few times a day for weeks & for a while I thought the muscle was building up. Didn't do them for a couple of days & I was back to square one. I just gave up as it was a waste of time & effort.

Muscle atrophy can be worse & more likely irreversible in Cubital TS than CTS too (so the Occ Health doc told me). I reckon your best to ask a lot of questions about that when you go back. I'd be interested to know what they say too.

Any idea how long it'll be before you're riding a bike again? Do you get sick pay? I hope so!

Great news that you've had so little pain killers too. Hope that continues & that you make a good & fast recovery.
Evelyn