Hi Dave,

Well I agree with you, in my opinion the surgery is BS. They are
looking at one tiny portion of a nerve that originates in your neck,
travels all the way across the front of your shoulder and down your
arm, through the carpal tunnel (5% of the nerve) and ends in your
hand. Since it is a proven fact that impingement on a nerve at any
point along its length will cause numbness at the end point, then
only 5% of surgeries are needed, the other 95% are symptoms being
caused by something else.

In this case it is normally tight muscles that are pressing on the
median nerve. I suggest you look at www.aboutcts.com and pay special
attention to "Anatomy Lessons." It explains which muscles cross over
the median nerve and why they cause pain and numbness.

The good news is that you can learn how to self-treat each of these
muscles so you don't need to go to a therapist or take any drugs.
The techniques work great. You'll be able to resolve the problem
quickly and then it's your decision whether you want to have a helper
or not.

Wishing you well,
Julie





--- In repetitivestrain@yahoogroups.com, "davec5465" <davec5465@...>
wrote:
>
> Hi all, new to group...advice needed.
> I'm 40M with "carpal tunnel." 10 years ago, I was diagnosed and
told
> I needed surgery. I declined, quit my job (that was causing the
> problem) and started something else. The problems all went away
> quickly.
> I started a new glass business about a year ago. This business has
> required lots of drilling and using a screw gun to assemble and
> install frames....lots of heavy lifting installing the glass, etc.
> About 2 months ago, the old familiar problem came back.
> I went to the DR and was again told to have the surgery. I declined
> and have been using the wrist braces at night. That has helped the
> night numbness. About 3 weeks ago, I started having problems on the
> outside of my elbows....I guess the splints brought that on.
> I hired a guy to help with the drilling and the lifting and now I
> don't do this all day every day...only about twice a week for a few
> hours. The more I do, the worse the hands are. Additionally, I have
> developed a strain in the tendon from the back side of the wrist
> into the thumb.
> I now use ice at night and no wrist splints and only have problems
> with numbness once in a while....only when I do lots of drilling
> and/or lifting. The elbow thing and the sore tendon to the thumb
> thing refuse to get better.
> 2 things really suck about it...1- The business isn't doing well
> enough yet to hire another guy and get me completely out of doing
> the things that aggravate the problem and 2- I work out alot and
> have not been able to work my arms, chest or back since this
problem
> started. Legs, abs and cardio only. I'm losing muscle tone and I
> don't like it.
> Surgery seems like major BS to me...but I don't know what to do
> about it. Prednisone does me way wrong and I can't take it. I'm
> afraid I will cause the problems to be irreversible if I don't
> change something and fast. Any advice?
> Thanks, Dave
>