Long story short, all alone now but I have a carpel tunnel surgery coming up in less than a month.
I don’t have anyone to help with, well, anything.
I’m doing the endoscopic surgery and I am almost certain they’re underselling the recovery time. They told me I could work the next day and recovery in 14. Is this all baloney?
Realistically, what can I do during this recovery? I’m struggling pretty hard with depression right now and really need to stay busy. Hiking, biking, showering? What are my options?
Should I delay this?
Anything would be helpful.
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If they said you need it and you’ve tried all the PT and anti-inflammatories, there’s no reason to put it off. I’ve had it flare up for the last 40 year. To the point I now use a mouse left handed because it took a little activity away from my right.
I’d trust what they say but expect PT and avoiding strain and vibration for quite a while. The first time I had it flare up it took 6-9 months of being really careful on usage. Even now I have to be very careful if what I’m doing has excessive vibration and always wear gloves if there’s any vibration.
If it’s your dominant hand, learn to use your other hand to use a mouse, brush your teeth, uh… other bathroom duties, etc. right away. Should reduce the frustration of having to re-learn to do basic life stuff during the recovery when you’ll already be unhappy.
endoscopic. It’s a lot harder for the surgeon to see that they’ve done a complete release, particularly if you end up showing any irregular anatomy. It’s possible, but there are only a handful of hand surgeons that do them endoscopically in the major metro I work in.
Admittedly, so of that restriction is based on the wound healing of an open procedure, but it’s only about 1.5 cm incision.
Either way, don’t work yourself up. I tell patients it’s similar to getting a cavity filled, except there’s no power tools and you can chat with us since we aren’t in your mouth. Source: I first assist on about 10 carpal tunnel and trigger finger releases per week in an office setting.
Mine was open and I was back to work the next day (office job). Took it easy with that hand for a couple of weeks and I was as good as new.
The big thing for you will be getting home. Hopefully you’ve got a friend to take you. They won’t let you Uber.