Re-visit on the subject of Carpel Tunnel Syndrom

[PatMarlin]

Hey fellow Cast Boolit Brothers...

I posted awhile back on my suffering with Carpel Tunnel, and I just wanted to leave a note on a miraculous cure for me, as so it may help some of you also.

The wife bought me some "Ace" brand thumb wrist braces from Wally world, that have COMPLETELY stopped the pain, burning, tingling, etc. You slide your wrist and thumb in, and stap the velcro straps shut. It has a hard contoured bottom, and elastic upper that take the pressure off instantly.

It seems to stop the problem after wards too. I've been working hard lately, and as soon as I feel a tingle, I put it on and it goes away.

They are not cheap. Bout $20 a side, and they are black, with blue in the inside. Don't have a model number.

I feel like I can go on and keep building without fear of surgery now...

[versifier]

Gee Pat, you mean you don't want to, out of the goodness of your heart, chip in and pay for a year of college for the doctor's kid? What a world...
Seriously, with luck you will continue to avoid the surgery. It's good to have a non-pharmacutical alternative, too. If you take the pills, you can be making things worse because they make you ignore your body telling you to slow down. If we were meant to make our way through life by hindsight, we'd have eyeballs where our rectums are and all be full of fertilizer. Happy Holidays!

[PatMarlin]

No, and those drug companies don't make a dime off me neither Versifier.

I hate payin' med insurance when I don't need no damn doc, unless I was to cut my leg off whilst saw millin' or blow myself up using Buckshots log wedge blaster..

[Blackwater]

Pat, you sound a lot like me. Life don't provide much time for docs, and just goin' there will expose you to all manner of ailments - NOT a good proposition. If ya' ain't sick when ya' git there, you WILL be before ya' leave!

HOWEVER .... there's a price for that, TOO! Doan be TOO dang hard headed. Back in '81 when I hurt my back, the doc wanted to operate right them. I told him I wanted to investigate the matter on my own a bit, thank you, before cuttin' on me. You KNOW that the reason they put you to sleep is so's ya' cain't cut'em BACK, don't you? At least that's the way it works down South.

Well .... 80% of the folks I talked to wound up telling me they were no better, and maybe 15% were WORSE off AFTER the surgery. Even among the 20% that reported some improvement, most of them said it wasn't worth what they went through back then.

That was before all this "sports medicine" stuff, and they've gotten amazingly productive for about 80-90% of the folks they cut on now. Back then, they were using all comers as guinea pigs so's they could LEARN on them! I think I did the right thing.

I'd been raised to think chiropractors were quacks, and could KILL you if you went to them long enough. That wasn't without at least SOME merit back then, too, but after watching a buddy grudgingly work his way into the office, all bent over, and then strut out like a bantam rooster who'd just had 100 offspring in a single hour, I FINALLY figured out that there IS something to it. They've kept me from being cut on for 24 years + now, and I'm darn glad I didn't listen to the docs in '81. Got arthritis goin' good in it now, so the future ain't rosy, but it COULD well have been a WHOLE lot worse, too, and for 24 YEARS.

Just wish they'd come up with some sorta' real TREATMENT for arthritis, rather than just masking stuff. As noted above, I'm really hesitant to mask symptoms, lest I hurt myself even more. There's a LOT they don't tell you about gettin' hurt, and gettin' older!

I've had carpal tunnel once before, and it seems to be rearing its ugly head again now, albeit mildly so far. I've followed your and others' posts on this closely. I think I may have to pick up some of those braces. Thanks!

[PatMarlin]

BW- I have a close freind that went under the knife about in 81, that the damn bastreed idiot doctor left in a sponge and some tool.

He almost died til they found it, and he was never EVER 100 percent. Sued the pants off em too and got a bunch of money. Rightly so.

My Mom got back surgery, and now she has some bad nevres running down to her foot, and she's worse.

My Grandpa died at 94, and only cause we had to take his car keys, and he was fed up, and my Grandmother on the other side is 92, at home and looks after herself.

I had to get a physical back in 97 when I went to Viet Nam, and Cambodia, and haven't been to a doc since.

I damn sure don't need no doctor, but I pay for the privilage if I ever need to.

[MT Gianni]

My wife had back surgery for a ruptured disc 2 + years ago. She is pain free, had a 2" inscision, and needs to warm up every morning with streches and a HOT shower but is pain free. It took her about 4 weeks to get back to full range of motion . Gianni.

[Lloyd Smale]

surgury worked for me. I tried all the theropy and braces and wraps and all i got was temporary relief.. Theres two types of surgury for it. One is less invasive and from what ive heard doesnt last. I had the more radical one and 5 years later ive still not had problems with it.

[Beau Cassidy]

Lloyd is 100% on the more open approach. The less invasive approach basically just releases the transverse ligament which is the "roof" of the carpal tunnel. Takes just a few minutes to do. The more open procedure releases the transverse ligament (imagine splitting a cable sheath) and allows the carpal tunnel to be "cleaned out" of excessive scar tissue that has developed within the carpal tunnel. Imagine the scar tissue similar to gunk clogging up a drain, not allowing anything to pass, or squeezing a water hose thus cutting off the water distally. That is what the pressure is like on the median nerve involved in carpal tunnel syndrome. Can it come back with either procedure? Sure can but it is much less likely with the open procedure.

Beau

[PatMarlin]

That's cause you six gunners are tough birds Lloyd. You scared them carpels away..

[KS1911]

Pat,

Try sleeping with the braces on your hands. They say that it helps because most people curl their hands when they sleep. Curling your hands pinches and strains the ligaments/nerves/whatever so if you wear the brace it relieves the tension and helps reduce the inflamation.

Not a doctor, nor do i play one on TV

[Lloyd Smale]

you want to see a tough man cry! I tried shooting my .500 about 3 weeks after the first surgury. The gun hit the dirt and so did my jaw. It felt like someone smashed my hand with a sledge hammer!!!!
















1

That's cause you six gunners are tough birds Lloyd. You scared them carpels away..

[KCSO]

Up here on the Missouri river we've got a spot where a tube runs under the road from a swamp to the river. This is one of our favorie spots to bow fish and this summer I spent all day there with my long bow. When I got home that night my wrist hurt and my arm was tingling so the next day I went to see the Doc. He told me I couldn't go back... seems I had Carp hole tunnel syndrome.

Sorry Loyd, I had too.

[waksupi]

Up here on the Missouri river we've got a spot where a tube runs under the road from a swamp to the river. This is one of our favorie spots to bow fish and this summer I spent all day there with my long bow. When I got home that night my wrist hurt and my arm was tingling so the next day I went to see the Doc. He told me I couldn't go back... seems I had Carp hole tunnel syndrome.

Sorry Loyd, I had too.

Oh, Lordy, Jim!

[PatMarlin]

Is that where Clint showed em' a Missouri boat ride?..

[Rick N Bama]

I avoided surgery for 7 years by sleeping with a brace on my right hand. I finally gave in and had the surgery when the brace no longer worked. I was gone from home 3 hours or so, spent 2 weeks getting my strength back in that hand, and everything has been fine with it since.

Rick

[Beau Cassidy]

Just remember, the median nerve can have permanent damage if CTS is left untreated. Granted it typically takes years for this to happen. When it is permanently damaged, surgery is only a partial cure.

Beau