I've been having alot of pain in my wrist lately...........everyone at work is telling me it is carpal tunnel..I don't know what I should be doing? Do you live with the pain, what if you have surgery and it makes it worse? Will it effect my ability to ride, what is the recovery time? Can anyone help me out here?

I'm panicking - please tell me I will still be able to ride!!!!!!

 

Since you seem to have accepted your co-workers' diagnosis, I assume that you work with doctors so you should probably ask them...and BTW, this isn't the "Orthopedic Surgeons Who Ride Harleys" forum.

OK, now that the sarcasm is out of my system, I'd seriously advise you to visit a doc. Carpal tunnel, arthritis, whatever...you need to know for sure what you're dealing with, only then will you know how to work with it. Whatever it is, keep in mind that many of us have heard stories of people overcoming all sorts of nasty stuff and managed to stay on two wheels. You'll probably be no different, and hopefully you don't have anything nasty. Best wishes, and keep us posted.

 

Just as Fogoms said, see your doctor. I have CT in both hands and can tell you that it usually causes the thumb and first two finger to go numb as opposed wrist pain. CT is caused by the nerves going to the fingers being pinched where they go through the wrist. I have friends who have had the proceedure done where the flap of muscle that goes over the nerves is cut to relieve the pressure and they had a very short recovery time and no complications.

 

Tell the doc to make sure you can still hold a beer after the procedure!

 

I had DeQuervain's release surgery on my right wrist about 15 years ago.

Don't mess around, go get it checked before you regret waiting.

Just my 2 bits, your 2 bits may vary,

Krusr

 

Wish I knew the difference between something serious or just regular getting older aches/pains...actually feel real good for almost 50 and have never ran to a doctor when get a little ache in the back, neck, elbow, foot, knee, ankle, can't remember the last time I had the flu or a cold, have the family diabetic condition, couple pills a day, see the dr 2-3 times a year, says things are cool, see in 5 months. Probably will wake up dead one day...

 

As has been stated, the only way to know for sure is to see your doctor.
If I woke up one morning and didn't have something hurting, I'd be afraid I was dead.
Your mileage may vary... but I'm only 57

 

I thought I had carpal tunnel...it got worse, so I finally went to a DR, had tests, turns out I have a disc issue between my c5 and c6. Trying to avoid surgery at this point. Go see a doc

 

thanks for all the advice..............I hate doctors (not all, just mine) and avoid at all costs. I guess I will have to bite the bullet and make an appointment for after Christmas. I really hope I am just panicking for nothing. I will let you know what he says.

 

+1 on see the doctor. The first thing they will probably do is schedule a conductivity test - it's painless and takes less than a half hour. They wire you and can tell very quickly if it carpal tunel.

I know there are probably different kinds of surgery to correct it. My BF just had both hands done. The surgery itself took less than an hour with moderate pain for a couple of days. It's now been six weeks and he is able to do most things except high pressure twisting motions like taking the cap off of his beer It's got a very high success rate.

All in all, not a terrible surgery as they go. He jokes that living with me made him slit his wrists...

Hope that helps,

Lisa