I need what kind of surgery, ulnar nerve relocation?

[watelessness]

aye carumba! hope it doesn't turn into me having to sell guitars because that would suck...

 

[veinbuster]

Good luck.

 

[shinksma]

A quick check via a Google search found this:

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00069

Surgical Recovery
Depending on the type of surgery you have, you may need to wear a splint for a few weeks after the operation. A submuscular transposition usually requires a longer time (3 to 6 weeks) in a splint.

Your surgeon may recommend physical therapy exercises to help you regain strength and motion in your arm. He or she will also talk with you about when it will be safe to return to all your normal activities.

Surgical Outcome
The results of surgery are generally good. Each method of surgery has a similar success rate for routine cases of nerve compression. If the nerve is very badly compressed or if there is muscle wasting, the nerve may not be able to return to normal and some symptoms may remain even after the surgery. Nerves recover slowly, and it may take a long time to know how well the nerve will do after surgery.

also check this:

http://www.premier-ortho.com/patient-education/ulnar-nerve-transposition/

So although not just a simple set of stitches, it sounds like you have a good chance of normalcy afterwards. Have you had numbness in your fingers for a while? Other symptoms? And I'm guessing non-surgery treatments didn't work?

You'll pull through! Have no worries!

 

[vchizzle]

Is this the same nerve Les had to have some work done on?

Best of luck to a full recovery!

 

[bodia]

Yikes! That doesn't sound like any kind of fun. Sending good juju your way for a successful surgery and speedy full recovery!

 

[CantankerousCarl]

Wish you well! Do not sell!

 

[kes7u]

I believe it is the same surgery Les had done. Do Not Sell!! Some of the extent of your recovery will, though, depend on the severity and length of time of your symptoms. Give it a chance!

Kevin

 

[Huggy Love]

Do not sell yet, talk to Les.

 

[László]

It is the surgery I just had done.

My fretting hand had gotten very weak, especially the 4th and 5th fingers, that were both numb and felt like rubber bands.

I was told it would be many months before things would fully recover, but I can also happily report that I saw improvement in the strength of my hand and fingers within days after the cast was removed.

Not 100% yet. The numbness is still there, but there is more strength, and on a good day, I can do things I haven't been able to do in months. Not every day is great. But I think it's a positive result so far.

Here's the cast they gave me - none more black :



You don't want to see the stitches. Trust me. LOL

There is hope. Do not give up.

I actually called my son and offered him my guitars. All of them. I figured I'd never play again. After the surgery, I am awfully glad he said "no, you need to hang in there."

 

[Robert Carr]

Eww. I broke my wrist in a motorcycle accident. I'm in IT, and so, was down to one hand typing. Afterward, I did get movement back, tho not 100%. I am able to play - some of the barre chords up high pose a challenge, I just raise the neck, and can do it. Good luck!

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeezh. Well wishes, dude.

 

[guitarman001]

More info required...

I use a mouse all day at work then most nights doing drum programming. Also play a lot of guitar. I've got thin wrists. Sometimes my wrist feels tight and sometimes my pinky and ring finger go numb for a long time.

I should relax but never seem to do it... A week or more away from music!? Hopefully it's just overuse. And I'd rather it was ulnar nerve compression than the one where you need wrist surgery (what's that called again?). Luckily I'm talking about my picking hand. It'd render acoustic fingerpicking dead, though... To be honest, sometimes I think about jacking acoustic as I think the gauges are too heavy for me (11 is what I'm using).

Not good.

OP, what were your symptoms and how severe?

 

[guitarman001]

I don't know if weights and wrist grips would help.... Or make worse??

 

[watelessness]

Thank you for the information and support, guys. "It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life" - Ten Bears

I have three main symptoms.

First, depending on the position of my arms, i'll lose sensation in my 4th and 5th fingers. I've had this for years, and mostly it was just a nuisance, because if i re-positioned my arms, i'd get feeling back in less than a minute. Despite radiology and nerve studies, no one could determine the cause until recently, when one doc figured it out in 30 seconds: ulnar nerve subluxation. I still considered it an annoyance, even though it prevented me from doing things like holding a phone to my ear, wearing guitars high, or sleeping through the night. I still didn't want the surgery because i didn't know what new problems it would create (devil i don't know syndrome).

The second set of symptoms is when an entire hand becomes numb and useless. It has a different burn to, and is usually associated with some activity that i've recently done. I can re-position but i don't get the feeling back as quickly. I tend to think this is more of a pinched nerve somewhere rather than an ulnar nerve subluxation. i rarely present this symptom, but paralysis is nonetheless frightening. still not getting surgery. nope. more devils.

The third symptom is pain: utter and abject constant elbow pain for most of the last year. The docs assure me that the pain is from inflammation due to the nerve subluxing, which i feel is plausible, but doesn't seem like it would be causing so much pain. This is what is driving me over the edge because painkillers only mask the problem rather than heal it, and anti-inflamatories don't eliminate the perceived swelling.

For treatment so far i've tried physical therapy. One therapist whose opinion i respect ran out of options and suggested i get the therapy. Another wise therapist who i also trust went way out in the direction of trying to determine where the nerve is getting hung up, which she thinks is in the long head of the tricep, but regardless of the exercises we try, it doesn't seem to resolve the problem. Some days heat, ultrasound, and the laser seem to help, while other days i feel worse after treatment. right now strapping ice bags to my arms is my only solace.

At this point i just need the pain to go away. Maybe i need to change careers where i'm not spending hours of sitting at a computer desk. I'm thinking of immobilizing one of my arms for a couple of weeks to see what happens. i also have to meet with another surgeon for his opinion.

i thoroughly despise the aging process.

thanks again, guys!

 

[László]

i thoroughly despise the aging process.

I'm with ya on that one!

By coincidence, yesterday I was at the dentist, and he told me he was advised to see a surgeon about his ulnar nerve problem; however, she didn't feel his case required surgery, so he was "spared."

 

[vchizzle]

Thank you for the information and support, guys. "It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life" - Ten Bears

I have three main symptoms.

First, depending on the position of my arms, i'll lose sensation in my 4th and 5th fingers. I've had this for years, and mostly it was just a nuisance, because if i re-positioned my arms, i'd get feeling back in less than a minute. Despite radiology and nerve studies, no one could determine the cause until recently, when one doc figured it out in 30 seconds: ulnar nerve subluxation. I still considered it an annoyance, even though it prevented me from doing things like holding a phone to my ear, wearing guitars high, or sleeping through the night. I still didn't want the surgery because i didn't know what new problems it would create (devil i don't know syndrome).

The second set of symptoms is when an entire hand becomes numb and useless. It has a different burn to, and is usually associated with some activity that i've recently done. I can re-position but i don't get the feeling back as quickly. I tend to think this is more of a pinched nerve somewhere rather than an ulnar nerve subluxation. i rarely present this symptom, but paralysis is nonetheless frightening. still not getting surgery. nope. more devils.

The third symptom is pain: utter and abject constant elbow pain for most of the last year. The docs assure me that the pain is from inflammation due to the nerve subluxing, which i feel is plausible, but doesn't seem like it would be causing so much pain. This is what is driving me over the edge because painkillers only mask the problem rather than heal it, and anti-inflamatories don't eliminate the perceived swelling.

For treatment so far i've tried physical therapy. One therapist whose opinion i respect ran out of options and suggested i get the therapy. Another wise therapist who i also trust went way out in the direction of trying to determine where the nerve is getting hung up, which she thinks is in the long head of the tricep, but regardless of the exercises we try, it doesn't seem to resolve the problem. Some days heat, ultrasound, and the laser seem to help, while other days i feel worse after treatment. right now strapping ice bags to my arms is my only solace.

At this point i just need the pain to go away. Maybe i need to change careers where i'm not spending hours of sitting at a computer desk. I'm thinking of immobilizing one of my arms for a couple of weeks to see what happens. i also have to meet with another surgeon for his opinion.

i thoroughly despise the aging process.

thanks again, guys!

That sounds like a lot of crap to deal with. I'd be getting another opinion or 2, talk some more with Les. What are the odds that the surgery makes anything worse? It seems like you're on a road to addiction to pain killers just to exist and function semi-normally. That's not a good thing. That's no way to live, especially if there's a possibility of betterment. I wish you well and hope you find some solutions.

 

[wardog]

this is my opinion, and take it as you wish my friend. GET THE SURGERY. I only say this due to your details of your issues, what I have just read on the nerve in question and my agreement with vchizzle.

 

[CVS]

After reading all of the above and thinking about the comments related to pain killers, I vote for the surgery. Hope everything works out for the best.

 

[Huggy Love]

OK I decided to chime in with the acupuncture thing again, OP if you are in an area that has qualified acupuncturists I would at least consult with one and possibly give it a try. I would not be able to play without it as I have a pinched nerve and spine problems. My index finger has been numb for 4 years and will never come back 100%, although the needles and other things I do keep it functional.

This is all due to a pinched nerve in my cervical spine area that radiates down my arm to my finger, and yes, I get ulnar pain too, amongst others. In fact, if I lay on my back for too long my pinky & ring finger go numb & dead. It's messed up but I manage it and refuse to go thru spinal neurosurgery to get rid of a numb finger. Way too scary, more than ulnar surgery. Did the drug thing but was like a zombie after a few weeks and just combated it afterwards with physical therapy exercises and acupuncture, works for me, may not for you but worth looking into. Even more important, maybe have your spine checked, worth looking into also cause my spine problem is in my neck and it affects my elbow, ulnar, wrist, and finger.

Good luck, anything's better than sucking down pain meds IMO.

 

[Stephen Rudnick]

I had ulnar nerve relocation. The stiches were small in number. They simply move your nerve, which is what we commonly refer to as a funny bone, when it gets banged, to one side.
I also had radial nerve surgery as I had a back operation for a disc problem, but lost 90% of the radial nerves in my left forearm. These are the nerves which allow one to bend the strings. 23 stiches across the top of the forearm.

As a result, I had to switch from 10's to 7's, and now I have to literally choose the gauge strings which make up a set. I still have slight numbness in my left pinky and the inability to play as I once did, but that can be worked around and you can come out playing well.