cubital tunnel transposition surgery

I had the surgery on 9/9/2016. There was a lot of scar tissue right away, so they went back in on 11/11/2016. Very painful. Feels like pop rocks going off in my hand, shakes, electrical impulses going off, twitching, numbness. Scar is very sensitive. Can't stand to lay it on the desk while typing, and shirt sleeves rub against it. I know it is going to take awhile to heal, but my question is, are you other patients back to work? I went back to work several days between surgeries, and it was miserable!!! Is this condition considered a disability, have any of the others filed for disability, etc? Got to go for now. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Wow! Transposition surgery and then tenolysis? Yikes!

I had my surgery back in 1996 and since then, some of the rehab procedures have changed. First off, I was in a cast for 6 weeks. After the cast was removed, I started p.t.

I was put on Elavil to help calm the nerve. There are other medications now which are more commonly prescribed.

First, I'm wondering why you needed the surgery? Was the nerve damaged as well as displaced? Had you had an E.M.G. prior to surgery?

Now, for the 'bad' news...sounds like your surgery was a success! The nerve is no longer entrapped or 'wandering' (as mine was). It's waking up and as expected, it's 'angry'.

My physical therapist used a modality he referred to as 'points'. A stylus is placed along the nerve path and electrical impulses are sent through the stylus to the nerve to help it 'relearn' how to send signals to the brain and back again. It feels similar to the E.M.G. impulses. Not comfortable but extremely effective. He also used what looked like the ice cream push pop to ice the scar to keep it from getting too thick and desensitize it.

I wish I could tell you how long it took for my ulnar nerve to calm down but, honestly, I don't remember. Now that it is buried under the muscles of my forearm, use of those muscles will still make it ache a bit. Heat seems to help me the most with that circumstance.

If I place my arm on a cold surface, my brain reads it as 'wet'. It is still an uncomfortable position for me. I still cannot place the forearm on the edge of any surface as it produces pain and tingling, like hitting the 'funny bone'.

I was out of work for about 2 months and then only returned on light duty. I worked in an industrial laundry that cleaned cloth diapers and use of my arms was pretty much every part of my job. Sorting them and counting them before they went into the washer, unloading them, putting them into the dryer, removing them, resorting them, packing them back out for the customers...yeah, not exactly 'light duty' for an arm injury.

You say you have difficulty with positioning for typing. I pull my keyboard to where my wrist is the only thing touching the desk. The lower palm is then resting where most would have their forearm. The keyboard is angled and my other forearm is resting 'normally'. I have also used the keyboard on my lap, with my forearm on a pillow. Straightening and bending the joint frequently also has been helpful to me. Massaging the forearm to ease the muscles has been a good thing for me as well.

Time is 'the healer' for me. I know your pain. I wish there was something I knew that would hasten the process for you. Ask your doctor about medications like gabapentin. From what I hear, that's the most often prescribed med for nerve pain. Keep posting, let us know how things are going.

koolie, the return to work issue is different for each person. I do think you returning to work as soon as you did initially was a little soon. Not sure why your dr did that. What type of work do you do? Have you provided your dr with a job description? This is something you can get from human resources at your work & provide your dr with a copy of it, especially if it involves repetitive use of your arm.

Does your dr have you on any of the medications used to treat nerve pain specifically? If not perhaps talk to the dr about this. Keep us posted. Take care.

koolie, I do hope that you will discuss with your dr about trying you on one of the nerve pain meds. Gabapentin is often rx'd for nerve pain, although there are several available. You are correct, narcotics have little effect on nerve pain that is why they are not helping you. Have you had any physical therapy ordered?

Take care.

Thanks for all the replies! Dr. appt. got postponed till 12/14. Dr. will probably ask about going back to work. Will ask again about nerve pain RX. Don't have a lot of FMLA time left, do have long term disability tho. Pain meds helping cope some. Don't get on here much, as it hurts to type and rest arm on desk. Look forward to more replies.