Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – share your stories pls!

Any fellow sufferers on here who can offer some advice?

I’ve had tingling fingers for the past few months after long rides or turning a stiff key in a door resulted in what felt like an electric shock going through my right hand.
Things then took a dramatic change last Sunday. I drove to a classic car show in an old car which does shake you to pieces and afterwards my right hand was quite sore. The pain didn’t go away and kept me awake all night – pins & needles in thumb & adjacent 2 fingers and major ache around my thumb/wrist & creeping up my arm. Like a typical bloke after 4 nights of this I finally succumbed to the doctors where I was quickly diagnosed with CPS due to my lifestyle of a fair amount of road cycling and was told to buy a splint & see if that helps. I’ve been wearing the splint for a week and half now (right hand only) and to be honest it is a god send. Getting a decent sleep however aching wakes me u about 5am now. I constantly have pins and needles in my thumb and when I take the splint off the pain comes back over the course of half hr or so. I have been doing a few stretching exercises which I have been told help also.
My question is how long do I leave it before heading back to the docs and requesting an operation? I’m worried the constant p&n in my thumb may be causing some permanent damage? Worse still I am waking up with a sore left hand now ( maybe this is in my head!)
Cheers all

1/ For years I just stopped doing the things that caused it and it went away. Then it became chronic and I was losing sleep.

2/ Nerve tests and examination. The right hand was within limits, the left hand at the stage that damage would probably be permanent unles the nerve was given space.

3/ Left hand operated on. A year later the hand was as strong as before and I’d recovered enough coordination to play guitar again.

4/ Like a fool I started DIY, wood chopping and doing more biking again.

5/ Stiffness and trigger finger in the left index finger – people who have carpal tunnel syndrome often get trigger finger too.

6/ Index finger tendon currently under treatment and can play guitar with four finger again (I’d carried on using the other three).

Some advice:

1/ Take a break from cycling. If you can’t, ride an FS MTB with fat grips and keep your wrists straight. Give up on the roadie.

2/ Don’t use vibrating power tools such as reciprocating sanders.

3/ Don’t chop wood or use a hammer and chisel.

4/ Have the nerve test after a couple of months resting and make a decision based on the result.

My right hand hasn’t got any worse since I gave up the roadie and power tools.

HAD it in my right (dominant) hand/wrist and was uncomfortable up to the elbow at times. Cycling, driving and sleeping were the most uncomfortable! Wore a splint at night and other than allowing me to go through a night without waking up in pain it didn’t do an awful lot.
Had one steroid injection which worked for approx six months before the symptoms came back worse than before with really burning fingers! – was then advised by the consultant that surgery would be the best option.
Had (open) surgery approx 18 months ago and it has worked well though the heel of the hand (area of surgery) can still feel a little sensitive sometimes.
All done on the NHS and to be fair they were excellent.

Both wife and daughter had this. Both left it a bit late to get the operation.

Daughters was okay almost immediately after the operation.
Wife took about 6 months to stop complaining about the pain after the operation. Still not sure if she is better or has just stopped moaning. I sort of zoned out after a while…

I had it in my right hand. My family as it turns out have slim wrists so theres not much room in there for all the bits. That and my job meant i ended up suffering with the pins and needles and lack of sleep.

I went to the docs and they referred me to the hospital. Had all the nerve tests done and was then sent to see the ‘wrist man’. He got me to hold my hand above my head and tell him when the pins and needles start. This was pretty much straight away. He told me not to bother with the injections and to go straight for surgery. my father in law had the injections prior to having the op and told me they hurt more than the op itself.

Had the op one saturday morning. 4 mins from start to finish. Some pain afterwards but paras and brufen sorted that. No driving for 10 days til the stitches came out but after that was ok.

Few months to fully recover and i was fine. Palm wont open out as much as the other but no pain or pins and needles and can do press ups so all in it was worth it.

Pins and needles with arm above your head is pretty much instant with me…booger looks like an op is needed!

So, I’m in a similar predicament and wondering at what point do you get the op? is it worth it? I ride FS MTB with fat grips anyway and not in the least likely to give that up, but how long off the bike in the real world?

Thanks

timraven, a hand surgeon who cycles told me about a month off proper biking. the palm can be sensitive afterwards for longer than this, but this can probably be put up with without the fear of doing any harm, as everything will be really well healed by then.

You definitely want to have the op before any nerve damage or muscle wastage has occurred as these may not recover completely.

I found that foam grips and fitting a pair of carbon bars almost completely eliminated symptoms while riding the FS MTB.
Still get symptoms occasionally after a long/rough road ride
Main problem i had was pain/numbness at night which was disturbing sleep . wearing an old wrist guard has sorted this out, .

its not going to go away, so gonna have surgery i think, before any long term damage done

Depending on your symptoms they may settle down with a night splint and a steroid injection

If not the surgery works well

The scar can be tender and gripping to lift heavy items can be painful for a while (6 months or more) “pillar pain”

Happy to discuss further

Tim
(Consultant hand surgeon)

I had similar- first noticed pins & needles driving my Spitfire and put it down to the joys of classic ownership. Whilst I was riding & going to a gym regularly I never had any problems whilst riding, but when 1st child arrived and regular riding & fitness took a hit it now happened whilst riding. I put it down to low core stability meaning I was gripping more than previously. I also started to notice it whilst driving modern cars on long journeys.
The killer came after a prolonged bout of DIY using drill/sander/jigsaw. Almost constant p&n if I held something for too long(!!) eg a phone, pen, or doing keyboard work. Was woken most nights too. Had the nerve conductivity test about a year after DIY was finished and it wasn’t a good result – CTS in both hands so surgery was on the cards as the only solution.
At the time I was contracting so wasn’t going to take unpaid time- it would have to fit around any gaps between contracts. I then got a permanent job that involved less keyboard work, and was going to wait until after probation period before I thought of taking time off for surgery. In the meantime the symptoms reduced. They did come back after too much keyboard work, holding stuff but nowhere as bad. This was around 2009/2010 – from then until mid 2013 it was a fairly similar story. Generally not a problem but p&n could be set off by rides, long car trips etc.

In 2013 I was relaying a patio & painting some decking when I strained my back and the fingers & hands were tingling big time- ie waking me up in the night. I went to the osteopath for my back but in passing mentioned my p&n in the fingers & the previous CTS diagnosis. After examination they found the muscles around my shoulder blades wee tight largely as a result of bad posture/ rolling my shoulders forward/incorrectly siiting at a desk for computer work. They also mentioned that by the collar bone there is a pinch point for nerves and blood vessels. My tight muscles in this area were exacerbating the problem and they felt this was the cause rather than actual CTS. After working on that area and paying attention to my posture it has been markedly different.

Last year I rode the Pru100 with no issues whilst training or on the event. I’ve been using a jigsaw and sander recently – no p&n after and last weekend I had to help my daughter thread beads on a necklace. Trying to hold fiddly things like the beads & clasp a few years ago would have been impossible.

Obviously may not be true for you and some people don’t believe in osteopaths but there may be alternative that doesn’t involve surgery. Had I been fully employed at the time of the nerve test I would likely be singing the praises of surgery now. Fortunately I’ve got the same result without needing surgery.

same here,dominant hand is the worst,i found carbon bars and oury grips(on~one) really help.

Had the op end of Feb after years of trouble. My job involves power tools all a lot! You will probably have the injection first as if this works it’s indicates that the problem is the carpal tunnel and not higher up.They sorted me out for several months at a time but you can only have 3 max then it’s surgery. Was quite shocked how disabled I was immediately after surgery. Couldnt even tie my laces. Driving after 2 weeks, very gentle cycling after a month (Road riding on my mountain bike) a month off work too. Now my hand is nearly 100% and i’m off to the alps next week. Don’t rush the recovery though.

Thanks guys, very helpful.

tinytim, I’ve tried splints and noticed very little difference, I’ve had 2 injections in each wrist, which helped. There still seems to be some deterioration.

FB-ATB, I go to an osteopath, and worked through some of that. Might go back after a nerve test and see if that will pin point the problem.

I’ve had some swelling in my left thumb in the last fortnight too, so I’m off to the GP to get the ball rolling, certainly some more testing anyway.

I’ve had both hands done, 17 years apart. The first time I got on my first ‘big’ motorbike 3 days after the stitches came out, the second time I started a new job as a mechanic about a week after……
The numbness and weakness has gone although the second scar is still sensitive 3 years later.
My take on it is to not faff about and get using the hand ASAP and the recovery is better. I had differing advice both times and the first time it was nearly a year before I got full strength back as I was told to rest a lot. Second time I was told to use it as much as possible and it was almost perfect in under 2 months. It wouldn’t keep me off a bike for very long….