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Carpal tunnel
This week I went to see a neurologist about the problems in my hands. The doctor was quite good and did a nerve conduction test along with reviewing symptoms. The good mews is the testing shows there’s no issue in my neck. That’s quite a relief. The not so good news is it is definitely mild-moderate carpal tunnel and the only real fix is to have a release surgery done. Apparently it will only get worse with time. As it is, aside from the tingling fingers and numbness, I have some weakness, particularly with my thumb.
So I now need to go back to my gp and get a new referral to a surgeon. I had a look at local information on the surgery and it seems there are as many orthopaedic surgeons doing it as neurosurgeons. There were even a couple plastic surgeons. I’m not sure if there are any advantages going to a particular type so will have to rely on my doctor to advise further. The good part is it will only be day surgery and is done within 10-30 minutes depending on which sources I have looked at. I’m guessing it’s likely somewhere in the middle normally.
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Referral
I’ve been using the anti-inflammatory meds the past several days but there’s not been any change in my hand. So I went to the doctor today and after some discussion we decided it would be better if I see a neurologist at this point. Mostly because it’s quite expensive to do an MRI and/or nerve conduction and it will be easier and possibly cheaper (Medicare rebate-wise) through the specialist than going from the gp. Most of my symptoms are in line with carpal tunnel but the areas involved seem to include radial nerve areas so it’s a bit questionable as to whether there is an issue somewhere else.
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Better and not better
About two and a half days after taking antibiotic for my bronchitis, my coughing did start to go away. I don’t know if that just happened by chance of if the medication made a difference. Anyway, I’m not coughing all the time any more. Although I do still have an occasionally bothersome cough.
Meanwhile I had an ultrasound of my wrist and I do have moderate inflammation of my median nerve around the carpal tunnel but no other features noted. My doctor has me trying high level anti-inflammatory medicine to see if that will help. I’m three days in but haven’t noticed any changes. I’m supposed to return next week if it doesn’t improve and it looks as though that might be my next move. But I will give it a few more days before I go that way. It’s highly annoying to have such lovely weather and not be able to ride my bike right now.