How long will my wrist hurt after carpal tunnel surgery?

How long will my wrist hurt after carpal tunnel surgery?

Your hand and wrist may feel worse than they used to feel. But the pain should start to go away. It usually takes 3 to 4 months to recover and up to 1 year before hand strength returns.

Why does my wrist hurt months after carpal tunnel surgery?

At three months following carpal tunnel surgery, your numbness and pain still could be byproducts of the procedure. Many people find the incision causes pain and irritation as it heals. In addition, a condition called ‘pillar pain,’ which is a localized reaction to the surgery, can lead to discomfort.

Is it normal to have pain a month after carpal tunnel surgery?

Pillar pain is the more common and troublesome complication of carpal tunnel surgery and may take several months to resolve. Treatments for pillar pain may include rest, massage, and hand therapy. Additional surgery is generally ineffective for treatment of pillar pain.

Is wrist pain normal after carpal tunnel surgery?

Regardless of an endoscopic or open approach, some patients undergoing carpal tunnel surgery experience pillar pain. Pillar pain is postsurgical pain at the base of the hand on the palm side. It is considered normal for the first 2-6 weeks after surgery.

What does Pillar pain feel like?

Most patients have decreased hand numbness, no night-time hand tingling, and less pins and needles hand pain. Many of my patients tell me that after surgery they were able to sleep well for the first time in months. However, surgical site pain can be a temporary problem for some patients.

Can you damage your hand after carpal tunnel surgery?

New postoperative symptoms are often iatrogenic, associated with damage to branches of the median nerve, most commonly the palmar cutaneous branch, leading to painful neuroma formation, a painful scar or altered sensibility. Injury to the ulnar nerve is a less common complication of carpal tunnel decompression.

How do you know if you have nerve damage after surgery?

What Are the Signs of Nerve Damage? The biggest symptoms of nerve damage after surgery are usually numbness, tingling, burning, or muscle weakness or atrophy. Many times nerve issues after surgery are temporary, for example, many patients have nerve problems after surgery that only last for a few weeks to months (2,3).

Can you have carpal tunnel surgery twice?

A revision surgery for carpal tunnel release can be performed if needed, but these are rare. One retrospective study of 2,163 patients who had undergone carpal tunnel release a decade earlier found that 3.7% had undergone a revision surgery.

How long does nerve damage in hand take to heal?

Regeneration time depends on how seriously your nerve was injured and the type of injury that you sustained. If your nerve is bruised or traumatized but is not cut, it should recover over 6-12 weeks. A nerve that is cut will grow at 1mm per day, after about a 4 week period of ‘rest’ following your injury.

Does pillar pain ever go away?

Pillar pain does not last forever. The symptoms go away within 3 months in most patients. Occasionally pillar pain can last 6 months.

Is it normal to have severe pain after carpal tunnel surgery?

Conclusion. Pain after carpal tunnel surgery is common. In fact, almost all patients experience some degree of pain in their first few days. But persistent pain for several days to weeks in abnormal.

When is pain the worst after surgery?

Pain and swelling: Incision pain and swelling are often worst on day 2 and 3 after surgery. The pain should slowly get better during the next 1 to 2 weeks. Mild itching is common as the incision heals. Redness: Mild redness along the incision is common.