Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

[docdosco]

I am grasping at straws here. Well, when I can grasp these days. My left hand slowly goes numb while playing and it has have done so for years. I have a long list of degenerative ailments, disks, joints, yada yada, however lately when I attempt playing I get the cattle prod electric shocks in my hands from just grabbing a few chords. It really pisses me off. The numbness is annoying but the feeling does come back when I hang my left hand down and get circulation in my fingers again.

I have been recommended for the carpal tunnel operation by a neurologist earlier this year, but frankly the problem starts in my neck (thoracic outlet syndrome), and follows the nerve path through my shoulder (more nerve entrapment) elbow, (more here too) and into my wrists and hands. My poor ulnar and median nerves are squashed like pancakes.

The carpal tunnel operation does not work for everyone, and it puts ones hands out of commission for a month or 6 weeks (the hands are done one at a time). I don’t have the luxury of being unable to work for that length of time. However if the cattle prod shocks prevent me from gigging, teaching or prepping guitars, I might have to reconsider.

I have tried many remedies, meds, exercises, hot and cold packs, etc. Today I actually thought about surgery. If I knew for sure it would solve the numbness problem and the really friggin’ annoying jolts of nerve pain, I would consider getting sliced and diced, I guess, but it’s a bit a crap shoot at best.

Anyone here had the carpal tunnel surgery? I talked to Jimmy Bruno about it once. He had the surgery and swore by it. However I am really skeptical….

Doc Dosco

PS... this post is slightly OT, and isn't directly about guitars and gear, however having guitars and gear is a moot point if you can't use your hands....

[GNAPPI]

You're perfectly ON topic for anyone who plays.

I get the little shock thingies too, but not while playing. When playing and riding my motorcycle my vexing problem is numbness. I can shake it off in a few seconds but it always returns. The little shock type feelings are when I do mundane things like pick up a pot, or coffee cup.

A couple of ex coworkers who previously had the surgery recommended it highly but in my case the cost now outweighs the benefit as I'm retired with an over $6000 deductable on my policy.

Now if I were playing out a lot I could justify it but as it is no.

[Cunamara]

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a besetting problem for musicians. Gene Bertoncini had the surgery a 4-5 years ago; videos I have seen of him recorded since then suggest he is playing very well and fluidly. I know a bunch of people who have had it but have not (yet) had it myself.

In your case my question would be what's the biggest issue that should be fixed first? Your wrist, your elbow, your shoulder or your neck? I'd be inclined to consider starting at the highest point and work my way down from there- protecting as much of the nerves as possible. If you damage the nerve up high, everything downstream from that point is impaired. Not only your fingers but your forearm, bicep/tricep, etc., can be rendered nonfunctional by enough damage at the thoracic outlet, for example. But it depends- the problem at the neck might be mild and the problem at the wrist might be severe.

Anything squashing your nerves has the potential for permanent injury. Jack Zucker has written about his problems resulting from IIRC cervical disc impingement. He is a strong advocate for going right to surgically fixing the problem; in his case delaying the surgery for other treatments made the problem worse. Hopefully he'll chime in.

This stuff is a bear and the sooner it's fixed the less damage is done.

[cosmic gumbo]

I tried working on Ted Greene chord voiceings for about a week, some years ago. I didn't listen to the pain, I thought it was a case of "if it doesn't kill you, it only makes you stronger" type of situation. My hands still haven't recovered, and that's no joke.

[Top of the Arch!]

Without getting too deep here as I dont know exactly what would work for you but heres my story. About 7 years ago I started having problems dropping things when I picked them up with my left hand, it got worse and it started to bother me when Id play. I saw my Dr. and he said Carpel and Id need to get it operated on to fix it, I asked him if there was anything else I could try and he said yes, an injection in the wrist. I believe it was cortazone however its spelled. I had the injection directly into my wrist which was quite an ordeal for me as I watched the needle going into my wrist!!! Long story short, Ive never had the problem again "knock on wood". Do get a second opinion, it can be helpful. Good luck. Bob

[docdosco]

Thanks for the responses. My cervical spine is worn pretty bad. I figure I am slowly disintegrating (or dissolving) as the case may be. I had an orthopedic neurologist say that he wouldn't recommend surgery on my neck a few months back. He did indicate that I could get 3 vertebrae fused in my lumbar spine and 4 screws inserted. Ha! No thanks.

I have a pain management doctor and the painkillers still work, thankfully. I am pretty careful not to abuse them. I went through the mid 70's 80' and 90's in the L.A. studio scene so I have had more than a passing acquaintance with the grim reaper on more occasions that I care to recall. Back in the beginning the white powders weren't addicting. That's what we all told ourselves. Several of my friends & fellow players weren't as lucky as I was. I made it out mostly intact. But when you put 90 or more years on a 60 year old body, like a clunky, run down car, things just wear out. Mickey Mantle said just before his liver transplant "If I knew I was going to live past 40 I would have taken better care of myself". A lot truth in that!

As to the wrist and hand issues, I have made it thus far without having surgery. I was told 20 years ago by a neurologist, when the ortho docs wanted to do capral tunnel surgery then, that I'd better get it done if I ever wanted to use my hands again. It was a bit too dire a prognosis, and I have struggled along with the numbness since then, but I have managed to use my hands.

I had another neurologist, Dr Yuriy (very renowned neurologist with a pleasant Russian accent here) give me the go ahead for the carpal operation, but I was assigned a sports surgeon that I didn't have much confidence in. I have health care insurance but it's a 'take who they give you' policy. There are really fine hand surgeons here in Los Angeles, but I'm not in a position to be paying out of pocket for those guys.

There is also a new operation called the Manos procedure done endoscopically. No stitches even. They insert a small needle like device in the wrist and saw the carpal sheath in two. That does interest me if I am covered for it. (I doubt it though)

BTW, Bob, I had a cortisone steroid shot in the wrist about 4 or 5 months ago. It sort of worked for 48 hours and then the numbness came back. I was prescribed oral cortisone a few days ago. 7 days worth. My primary said these meds will turn your bones to sand if they are overused. This is day 2 of the oral pills, however the problem is getting worse, not better. Go figure.

Anyone with more horror stories please chime in. Misery loves company... : )

Doc Dosco

[docdosco]

I tried working on Ted Greene chord voiceings for about a week, some years ago. I didn't listen to the pain, I thought it was a case of "if it doesn't kill you, it only makes you stronger" type of situation. My hands still haven't recovered, and that's no joke.

You are doing better than Ted though. He had a heart attack in his kitchen and his students had to kick his door down when he didn't respond the following Monday. He was the nicest, most generous guy you would ever meet. His damn chords are very unpleasant on the hands though. I will grant you that!

Doc

[Longways to Go]

In my case, ulnar nerve glides & lots of other stretching every morning helps to keep the wolves at bay.

Motorcycling certainly doesn't help! LOL

Also, IMO -- only go see a surgeon if you are interested in getting surgery.

[careyhofer]

Hey Doc, Carey Hofer here (Sioux Falls, SD). FYI, I bought a Peerless Jazz City from you a year or so ago. I love the guitar. I did put a Lollar Imperial low wind in it. Although it is in my opinion a little better pickup, the original was still pretty good. Anyway, I had carpal tunnel surgery done on both of my wrists on April 23rd of this year. They used the newer method with only a small one inch or so incision in each wrist. Had them done both at once. It has worked very well for me. Totally alleviated the problem. Really glad I had it done. I was able to begin to (progressively) start playing again after a few days. Stiffness and soreness from the surgery was for the most part gone after 3 weeks or so. Some of the deeper soreness (although it didnt actually affect my playing) took longer, like grip strength, lifting things etc. I plan on having a trigger finger release done next month. I feel for you, I know its tough. My experience was really worth it though.

[docdosco]

Hey Doc, Carey Hofer here (Sioux Falls, SD). FYI, I bought a Peerless Jazz City from you a year or so ago. I love the guitar. I did put a Lollar Imperial low wind in it. Although it is in my opinion a little better pickup, the original was still pretty good. Anyway, I had carpal tunnel surgery done on both of my wrists on April 23rd of this year. They used the newer method with only a small one inch or so incision in each wrist. Had them done both at once. It has worked very well for me. Totally alleviated the problem. Really glad I had it done. I was able to begin to (progressively) start playing again after a few days. Stiffness and soreness from the surgery was for the most part gone after 3 weeks or so. Some of the deeper soreness (although it didnt actually affect my playing) took longer, like grip strength, lifting things etc. I plan on having a trigger finger release done next month. I feel for you, I know its tough. My experience was really worth it though.

Hi Carey,

Good info. Thanks. My biggest issue is that I can't be out of commission very long with recovery.... I have gigs booked. However if I can't play without shooting pain in my hands, (which means I can't perform at all) that makes the decision easier to make I suppose. This brand new Manos procedure is supposed to be really fast. I guess I'll ask about it. Time to revisit the neurologist again. January is slow for gigs. Hmmmmm......

Glad you dig the Peerless guitar. I always like to hear good news on the guitar front.

Doc

[jazzbow]

I have ulnar nerve damage, it's fecking annoying!
I suffer mostly with numbness situated in the whole of the little finger and partways in the ring finger of my fretting hand.
I started a thread on this a while back, lots of sufferers here and some alternative advice to surgery too....
Ulnar Nerve damage, occupational hazard for guitar players!

I have set up my guitars with super low action with fat flatwounds and have analysed my fretting hand to use different shapes, dropping some notes from difficult chords, relying on comping type triad chords and learning to reduce the tension of the fretting hand too.

The band I'm in at the moment has a keyboard player with arthritis. Between the two of us we can make chords so it's like a wall of sound. The difficult part for me is playing Rock tunes! Once the barre chords come in with the little finger needing to dance around the numbness comes in quickly. I rely on the thumb over the neck positions for the majority of those chords.

At the moment I'm learning to use the 3rd and 5th of chords, with the bass taking the root note and the keys underpinning the melody I don't have to steal too many notes out of the covers we're doing.

So to sum up, I slightly changed my set up and technique to ease the stress on my symptoms rather than going under the knife. But in my context playing music is for pleasure and not as a profession!

[yebdox]

I have posted elsewhere about similar problems. There is a technique known as Active Release Technique mostly used by chiropractors and PTs that has a high rate of success with Carpal Tunnel. I've been trained in it and using it for nearly 20 years with a great deal of success. While I don't guarantee results, the response rate is usually around 80%, with a few people too far gone to recover without surgery.

Dr. Leahy, who developed the technique a number of years ago, has been so successful that the major industrial insurers in the state of Colorado (where he practices) require a 3 week trial of ART for carpal tunnel injuries before they will authorize surgery, which has resulted in a huge cost savings for them.

One of the challenges is that ulnar nerve involvement (the pinky side of your wrist, hand and palm) is NOT addressed through CTS surgery, only the Median nerve that travels through the carpal tunnel. Occasionally, the Ulnar nerve will be trapped at the tunnel of Guyon, and may require surgery or treatment at that level as well, but it is much more common that the lower trunk of the brachial plexus is trapped more proximally at the thoracic outlet, and occasionally in the forearm, resulting in Ulnar nerve symptoms.

Also, the median nerve is frequently entrapped more proximally as well, particularly in the middle of the forearm, where it exits through the wad of muscles that flex your wrist. Unless you ONLY have entrapment at the carpal tunnel, you may wind up with less than optimal results from surgery, since it only addresses entrapment at that level.

Injections may provide temporary relief, but do nothing to change the bad mechanics and soft tissue tension and adhesions that are responsible. As an analogy, if your shoes were too tight causing your toes to hurt, an injection of steroids and anesthetic into your foot might help you to feel more comfortable for a while, but the relationship between your foot and your shoe needs to change before you wind up with a permanent solution. Likewise, even surgery will only address the shortening of the ligaments across the wrist. For more complete and lasting relief, you may need treatment all along the pathway leading from the neck, through the shoulder, thoracic outlet, elbow and forearm.

Patients usually see results in 3 to 5 follow ups, sometimes even complete resolution within that time frame. If we cannot achieve at least 50% resolution within that time frame, we can order nerve conduction studies that can give us a better picture of whether or not surgery may be an option, or to continue course for a few more weeks.

ART is taught in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia. You can read about ART here: Active Release Techniques: A.R.T.

If you can find someone credentialled in ART, it's usually worth a 2 week trial to see if you will respond, before considering surgery. I see 3 to 4 per month, and quite few more thoracic outlet patients, and usually assume they will get better. Failure to respond is uncommon, but at least answers the question as to the necessity of surgery.

Good Luck!

[jbernstein91]

FWIW:

In other videos, he shows the stretching and weight exercises he did:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKl...W6I2z1pphqegAg

[coolvinny]

You may want to read up on "tendinosis" as opposed to "tendinitis" - they are different and the things that help with the latter may not help with the former. You can PM me if you want more specific info.

[ah.clem]

Good to see you back online, Doc. I'm still lovin' my Imperial, thanks. I will suggest that you see an osteopath or chiropractor prior to any surgery. It saved my wife (a writer/professor - 8 to 10 hours a day at the keyboard) with similar symptoms from a dual CT surgery. An Occupational Therapist who is a hand specialist was the one who suggested she try it before surgery. Worked out fine for her. Just our experience.

[docdosco]

I have posted elsewhere about similar problems. There is a technique known as Active Release Technique mostly used by chiropractors and PTs that has a high rate of success with Carpal Tunnel. I've been trained in it and using it for nearly 20 years with a great deal of success. While I don't guarantee results, the response rate is usually around 80%, with a few people too far gone to recover without surgery.

Dr. Leahy, who developed the technique a number of years ago, has been so successful that the major industrial insurers in the state of Colorado (where he practices) require a 3 week trial of ART for carpal tunnel injuries before they will authorize surgery, which has resulted in a huge cost savings for them.

One of the challenges is that ulnar nerve involvement (the pinky side of your wrist, hand and palm) is NOT addressed through CTS surgery, only the Median nerve that travels through the carpal tunnel. Occasionally, the Ulnar nerve will be trapped at the tunnel of Guyon, and may require surgery or treatment at that level as well, but it is much more common that the lower trunk of the brachial plexus is trapped more proximally at the thoracic outlet, and occasionally in the forearm, resulting in Ulnar nerve symptoms.

Also, the median nerve is frequently entrapped more proximally as well, particularly in the middle of the forearm, where it exits through the wad of muscles that flex your wrist. Unless you ONLY have entrapment at the carpal tunnel, you may wind up with less than optimal results from surgery, since it only addresses entrapment at that level.

Injections may provide temporary relief, but do nothing to change the bad mechanics and soft tissue tension and adhesions that are responsible. As an analogy, if your shoes were too tight causing your toes to hurt, an injection of steroids and anesthetic into your foot might help you to feel more comfortable for a while, but the relationship between your foot and your shoe needs to change before you wind up with a permanent solution. Likewise, even surgery will only address the shortening of the ligaments across the wrist. For more complete and lasting relief, you may need treatment all along the pathway leading from the neck, through the shoulder, thoracic outlet, elbow and forearm.

Patients usually see results in 3 to 5 follow ups, sometimes even complete resolution within that time frame. If we cannot achieve at least 50% resolution within that time frame, we can order nerve conduction studies that can give us a better picture of whether or not surgery may be an option, or to continue course for a few more weeks.

ART is taught in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia. You can read about ART here: Active Release Techniques: A.R.T.

If you can find someone credentialled in ART, it's usually worth a 2 week trial to see if you will respond, before considering surgery. I see 3 to 4 per month, and quite few more thoracic outlet patients, and usually assume they will get better. Failure to respond is uncommon, but at least answers the question as to the necessity of surgery.

Good Luck!

Doh! Thanks for the reminder. I had salvaged my hands before by working with Dr. Brad Quick, who is a chiropractor certified in ART. We did the deep tissue sessions for several years in late 90's early 2000s. He broke up a lot of internal scarring, nerve entrapment along the nerve chain from my neck to my hands and fixed the vulture hump in my neck. Then when I managed to pancake my L1 vertebrae (compression fracture) in 2009 he helped there too. He has a really good gig with the movie studios here in LA, so his time got a bit tight, and I hadn't called in years.

However I took a shot and just called to see if he could see me. He said he usually just sees friends anymore in the evenings.... so come on over next week. This is positive. Especially as all he used to charge me was $20. Unbelievable! I took my adopted young son with me on the first appointments way back when and he gave me the 'new dad, struggling musician' price.

I also just called Dr Yuriy the neurologist and made an appointment for Dec 10. Out of all the specialists I went to, this guy really knew his stuff. I'll shoot for another set of nerve conduction studies.

Gee I feel so much better.

I know my whole nerve chain has impingment everywhere, but maybe I can get a better idea how to proceed. I have recent MRIs of my back and neck, plus xrays of my neck and shoulders on CD rom. I get the all the original 'film' on disk besides just the reports. You never know when you'll need them.

I see I have a few other replies now too. I guess this is a topic of concern for a lot of us.

Yebdox, thanks for posting this. Funny thing is that I know all about Active Release, but for some reason, I didn't think about it this time. Maybe because my health care assigned me a chiropractor that I saw twice. "Crack your back, crack your neck.....next patient?" In and out in 2 minutes. Didn't do much for me at all.

Doc Dosco

[docdosco]

I have ulnar nerve damage, it's fecking annoying!
I suffer mostly with numbness situated in the whole of the little finger and partways in the ring finger of my fretting hand.
I started a thread on this a while back, lots of sufferers here and some alternative advice to surgery too....
Ulnar Nerve damage, occupational hazard for guitar players!

I have set up my guitars with super low action with fat flatwounds and have analysed my fretting hand to use different shapes, dropping some notes from difficult chords, relying on comping type triad chords and learning to reduce the tension of the fretting hand too.

The band I'm in at the moment has a keyboard player with arthritis. Between the two of us we can make chords so it's like a wall of sound. The difficult part for me is playing Rock tunes! Once the barre chords come in with the little finger needing to dance around the numbness comes in quickly. I rely on the thumb over the neck positions for the majority of those chords.

At the moment I'm learning to use the 3rd and 5th of chords, with the bass taking the root note and the keys underpinning the melody I don't have to steal too many notes out of the covers we're doing.

So to sum up, I slightly changed my set up and technique to ease the stress on my symptoms rather than going under the knife. But in my context playing music is for pleasure and not as a profession!

Cool info. Thanks. I am off to an appt now, but I'll answer all you guys when I get back. When I tried a bar chord yesterday (bass on the 5th string, laying the 3rd finger across string 432) I almost jumped out of my skin. I am still getting shocks/jolts in my thumb and first 3 fingers. Grrrrr....

: )

Doc

[docdosco]

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a besetting problem for musicians. Gene Bertoncini had the surgery a 4-5 years ago; videos I have seen of him recorded since then suggest he is playing very well and fluidly. I know a bunch of people who have had it but have not (yet) had it myself.

In your case my question would be what's the biggest issue that should be fixed first? Your wrist, your elbow, your shoulder or your neck? I'd be inclined to consider starting at the highest point and work my way down from there- protecting as much of the nerves as possible. If you damage the nerve up high, everything downstream from that point is impaired. Not only your fingers but your forearm, bicep/tricep, etc., can be rendered nonfunctional by enough damage at the thoracic outlet, for example. But it depends- the problem at the neck might be mild and the problem at the wrist might be severe.

Anything squashing your nerves has the potential for permanent injury. Jack Zucker has written about his problems resulting from IIRC cervical disc impingement. He is a strong advocate for going right to surgically fixing the problem; in his case delaying the surgery for other treatments made the problem worse. Hopefully he'll chime in.

This stuff is a bear and the sooner it's fixed the less damage is done.

Cunamara,

Funny thing is that my right shoulder hurts worse than my unhealed lumbar compression fracture or my dissolving cervical spine. Just a deep nasty constant ache, in which recent xrays simply found more degenerative disease (only, ha!). I think the thoracic outlet problem may be behind this too. I'm cursed with the whole nerve chain being fried.

Yes, I agree. I'll need to get the whole thing diagnosed again and what I can do first with ART, I will and I'll keep an open mind on that carpel operation. At this point, I know that my the ulnar and median nerves are twisted at my wrists, and this new Manos procedure can't hurt. I should only be down for a week. It may not fix everything, but it can't do anymore damage than is already there. Getting it covered will be the trick.

Thanks,

Doc Dosco

[docdosco]

Good to see you back online, Doc. I'm still lovin' my Imperial, thanks. I will suggest that you see an osteopath or chiropractor prior to any surgery. It saved my wife (a writer/professor - 8 to 10 hours a day at the keyboard) with similar symptoms from a dual CT surgery. An Occupational Therapist who is a hand specialist was the one who suggested she try it before surgery. Worked out fine for her. Just our experience.

jbernstein91, coolvinny, Top Of The Arch, Longways to Go, GNAPPI (I hope that's everyone)

Thanks for the suggestions and the Youtube clip. I dragged out the Kate Montgomery book again and started looking through the exercises. I'll look up tendenosis too. Thanks

and ah.clem....

Nice to hear from you. Still happy with your Peerless. Cool!

I am amazed how many players here got their guitars from me. And no one has shredded me yet on a bad guitar or on bad service. I am a great believer in karma and the golden rule. All you need to do is mistreat one guy, and even if you help 100, the one in which you drop the ball always seems to come back to haunt you. (knock on wood that doesn't happen here!)

If there were a real true old-time osteopath that I could see that did cranial sacral therapy (manipulation of the skull, and another kind of release therapy) I would go in a flash. They are here in LA and some claim to do it. However, I asked before and I wouldn't be covered. And these treatments are really costly.

Anyway, thanks all,

Doc Dosco

[docdosco]

You're perfectly ON topic for anyone who plays.

I get the little shock thingies too, but not while playing. When playing and riding my motorcycle my vexing problem is numbness. I can shake it off in a few seconds but it always returns. The little shock type feelings are when I do mundane things like pick up a pot, or coffee cup.

A couple of ex coworkers who previously had the surgery recommended it highly but in my case the cost now outweighs the benefit as I'm retired with an over $6000 deductable on my policy.

Now if I were playing out a lot I could justify it but as it is no.

This is my condition to a T. But advancing rather more quickly than I can deal with. I had to stop doing solo guitar gigs and even took up singing jazz standards so I could rest my hands and get the feeling back. Stylistically, I could sing 8 measures acapello and people thought it was part of the show. Little did they know my hands quit working.

When I play trio or duo gigs, I can simply stop and let the other guys play until the feeling returns. Now, with the stinging jolts in my hand, it really makes playing live a challenge....

Doc

[GNAPPI]

"If there were a real true old-time osteopath that I could see that did cranial sacral therapy (manipulation of the skull, and another kind of release therapy) I would go in a flash."

Funny that you should say that. Twenty five or more years ago my neck gave me so much pain even looking into the left side mirror of my car was painful. I refused to go to a Chiropractor as my Dad had some experiences at them I did not want to repeat, so I went to a local osteopathic association and the elder partner saw me and recommended I go to their rehab clinic to do head traction. It would have been a daily thing so I couldn't afford that amount of time so he recommended an over the door model with water in a bag so I could do it nightly at home.

I sat every night motionless for weeks in that head brace without any relief till one night I topped the bag with water, and REALLY learned to relax my neck and shoulder muscles and that night was the last I've seen of head traction, because something slipped back into place.

God bless that old guy, he saved me on another occasion with a herniated disk also after teaching me some rudimentary back care and maintenance!

[docdosco]

"If there were a real true old-time osteopath that I could see that did cranial sacral therapy (manipulation of the skull, and another kind of release therapy) I would go in a flash."

Funny that you should say that. Twenty five or more years ago my neck gave me so much pain even looking into the left side mirror of my car was painful. I refused to go to a Chiropractor as my Dad had some experiences at them I did not want to repeat, so I went to a local osteopathic association and the elder partner saw me and recommended I go to their rehab clinic to do head traction. It would have been a daily thing so I couldn't afford that amount of time so he recommended an over the door model with water in a bag so I could do it nightly at home.

I sat every night motionless for weeks in that head brace without any relief till one night I topped the bag with water, and REALLY learned to relax my neck and shoulder muscles and that night was the last I've seen of head traction, because something slipped back into place.

God bless that old guy, he saved me on another occasion with a herniated disk also after teaching me some rudimentary back care and maintenance!

Gary,

Ah, the door hanging water bag torture device.... I've had several.

For the cranial manipulation see: Dr.Weils book Spontaneous Healing

Spontaneous Healing : How to Discover and Embrace Your Body's Natural Ability to Maintain and Heal Itself: Andrew Weil: 9780804117944: Amazon.com: Books

Healing disease (as opposed to traumatic injury) is triggered by something... a pill, a knife, physical treatment, placebos, acupuncture, even faith healing or prayer or whatever. ...... Dr Weil talks about all of the ways we ultimately heal ourselves (as all healing comes from within), and he talks about some lesser known therapies, and old methods that have fallen out of favor and how simple belief can kill people or trigger the body to mend. I would still go for the emergency room if run over by a bus, but for many diseases and chronic conditions, there are a lot of other ways to go....

Doc Dosco

[whiskey02]

CT surgery worked well for me, though as you've described, you have multiple issues, and you can't expect surgery at your wrist to fix a neck issue. As far as recovery time post CT surgery, it varies greatly not just between individuals but also procedures. If your surgeon does it with a scope you'll have faster recovery, if they cut you open, longer. Surgeons do what they've been trained to do and have history doing; if they trained with a scope that's what they'll use. You might have a fine surgeon who does not use a scope, in which case you'll have to put up with longer recovery, or find a different surgeon. Good luck.
I would not hesitate a minute to have the surgery.

[nopedals]

For me it was Parsonage Turner syndrome that took most of the strength out of my right hand. It took the docs a while to diagnose it, and the recovery from surgery took a fair bit of time, too. All in all, I had to stop playing for a year. At one point I was so bugged about not being able to play that I took up the cello; just long enough to figure out that bow technique takes a fully functioning right hand, too.

My inclination would be to pass on chiropractors, acupuncture, etc., and see a good doctor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirop..._and_criticism

[ah.clem]

My inclination would be to pass on chiropractors, acupuncture, etc., and see a good doctor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirop..._and_criticism

Every now and then my ulnar nerve gets pinched while asleep and I wake up with my pinky and ring finger tingling and burning. This lasts most of the day. If I go see a chiropractor and he adjusts my neck, the tingling stops with a few minutes (last time it was gone by the time I got into the car; I was so surprised that I went back in to tell him). No follow up visits, no supplements, no magic stones, magnets or crystals being waved over my body.

The first time it happened, it lasted a few days and I called my GP who referred me to a neurologist who ordered a CT and then recommended he do some surgery on my neck. An Occupational Therapist friend of mine recommended seeing a chiro first, and if that didn't work, leave any cutting to a 2nd and 3rd opinion.

Neck surgery or a chiropractic adjustment... let me think about that.

Just my (very positive) experience with the ulnar nerve issue and chiropractic solutions. I'm not a doc or a chiropractor, I just find it frustrating when someone with no quoted experience with an issue (whatever it is) states an opinion on said issue. Do what you believe is best for you, and I believe that includes actually doing real research and gathering factual data. And you might want to find some better research than Wikipedia. Again, just my opinion. BTW, I did not consult a chiropractor for my gall bladder surgery, my RT surgery or my upcoming back surgery to remove calcification resulting in nerve impingement as he is not the appropriate professional for these issues.

I apologize for the rant, but I want to save anyone from needless surgery. Always check all your options, first.