Hi all! I have a question for any of you that can answer this, if you can?? Ok, I had wrist and hand pain, I go to a neurologist, anyway, he did that nerve cond. test that felt like shock waves. .. kept asking me to go back, which I did. This started in Sept. of 2006. I was taking care of his mom who has Altizmers. I had to quit for awhile. Anyway, the pain got worse.(I had to quit my job) I went to my family Dr. on and off. he just kept giving me prednoisone pills and tramodol I then told him, I have so much pain in these wrists and hand(right) that I want to cut my arm off!! he said I am going to refer you to a Orthopedic surgeon who called my neurologist and had my records faxed to him. ok, he set up my surgery date which was on Jan. 9, 2007 and my pain got worse. so much worse. the pain and swelling NEVER went away. he put me on tylonol#3's. kept saying, I'll see you in a week, then went to him, he said this will get better I'll see you in two weeks.. then three weeks.. blah, blah.. blah. I finally said this medication is not helping. he then put me on Vicodin, then vicodin ES now percocetts. I go back, same thing.. it will go away!! finally when he seen me last month, he said I am sending you to the pain clinic, you have RSD and if I had acess to a computer to look up RSD. (This is how I found you fine friends) ok, I go see the pain Dr. and he set up 3 blocks(one I had already, which didn't do me much good) I go back May 8th. then again May 15th.(for 2 more Ganglion nerve blocks) here is my question... do you think the carpal tunnal surgery caused me to have RSD?? Also the pain is in my upper shoulder, and when I reach up or turn my right arm a certain way.. I scream in pain.. it is that intense!! I wish I NEVER had the carpal tunnal surgery and why this Orthopedic Dr. waited so long to tell me. My family Dr. showed me my chart that I had this in Dec. of 2006.. why didn't he say, you shouldn't have the surgery if I had RSD?? I hope I am making sense here.. (sorry) TIA Love, Desi

Hi Desi,

Sorry to say this, but it seems quite likely that the surgery caused it. There's quite a lot about contracting RSD after surgery, in general, on the net, and specifically the incidences of it ocurring following carpal tunnel or any RSI surgery seems to be very much on the rise.

From what I've read, actually, any wrist or knee surgery in particular seems to be fraught with risk.

Of course, I don't really know your details, I'm just making the point in a general way and saying it's not unlikely. If that's what it was, I'm so sorry - dreadfully bad luck.

Of course, in the way of the world, these are things they don't often warn you about beforehand. I know, it's terrible.

But you have found us, and that's a good start, there are lots of people here with knowledge and experience to give you a helping hand. Take care, and ask anything you need to.

When searching for info, I'd recommend you use both the terms RSD and CRPS - you get more results that way - seems that the medics use the term CRPS more, the sufferers use RSD more. Dunno why.

all the best

Thank you for writing me back, artist! Today the pain is all through my shoulder(right) my wrist and hand and fingers are so swollen and my hand is so cold. sometimes it turns red, blue.. and it feels like my entire hand, wrist and shoulder is burning!! I'm sorry for whining to ya all! I can be such a baby I can't wait to have my 2nd.Ganglion nerve block (this Tues) then the last one May 15th.) for this RSD and CRPS. My Dr. NEVER used the word CRPS just RSD I will make a note to use both though.. Thanks again, so much!! Love, Desi

Unfortunatly RSD can cause carpal tunnel symptoms and any surgery can make RSD worse if precautions are not taken.. alot of regular doc's just dont seem to know this yeat.

http://www.rsdrx.com/rsdpuz4.0/puz_12.htm

It sounds like you may have had it prior to your surgery to me, here is a small quote from the above link:

Quote:

When carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is accompanied by RSD, it is usually the effect rather than the cause. This is especially true among the professionals mentioned above.

Because RSD is a disease of constant burning pain accompanied by constriction of blood vessels, muscle contraction, weakness of the muscles, insomnia, and inflammation of the soft tissues, it can easily cause carpal tunnel syndrome due to the inflammatory process at the carpal tunnel (wrist) as well as poor circulation to the nerve due to constriction of the blood vessels.

It is not at all difficult to diagnose the CTS cases that are caused by RSD. The following are the clues that differentiate the true CTS from RSD CTS.

End Quote:

Hi Sandal! Everything you just posted made so much sense to me!! Thank you!! Love, Desi

I'm new here, I had CTS confirmed by EMG/nerve conduction study when I first started having problems with my right hand and wrist. I had CTS plus
trigger finger release surgery on my right hand done in 2006. Well things got worse after the surgery, I started having burning pain, major swelling, sweating and my hand turned bright red in color. At first my Dr. thought it was recurrent CTS.

I had another EMG/NCS which came back negative, so I had an MRI. The MRI showed that my median nerve is enlarged but my Dr. told me I had RSD, but he wanted a second opinion. I was then seen by another hand specialist who also said RSD. I was referred to a pain management Dr. who told me I had all the classic signs and symptoms of RSD.

All three of my Drs. told me that just because the median nerve is enlarged that does not mean I have CTS especially since the EMG/NCS came back negative. So after reading the link Sandel provided I'm wondering if I may have CTS that is a result of the RSD that occured after the CTS surgery!?! The Worker's comp. Dr. is saying recurrent CTS. So worker's comp. won't let me have a Stellate Ganglion Block. So do you think it is possible I may have CTS as a result of the RSD? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated .
Sorry I wrote a short novel here.

Hi,

I reckon there *is* one way to decide whether any RSI/RSS/CTS is "true" or a form of RSD, and that is to ask yourself how much you've used the affected limb. In my case I'm quite surprised I didn't get RSI sooner, I use the mouse so much that my hand, by rights, should have fallen off by now, LOL. Overuse? Repetitive movement? If that doesn't factor into your medical history, then look elsewhere, if it does, then it's true RSI/RSS/CTS etc.

all the best!

Thanks for the reply, yes that does fit into my medical history, I was working as a Dental Assistant so i was constantly using my hands in repetitive motions all the time. The first EMG/NCS showed that i had severe CTS in my right hand (my dominant hand) and mild CTS in my left hand. The trigger finger developed about 2 weeks before I had the surgery. I didn't have the burning pain, swelling or the color changes until after the CTS/Trigger finger release surgery.

I'm wondering if the enlarged median nerve could be a result of the RSD or could the RSD have caused the reocurrence of CTS due to all the swelling that I have. I'm trying to make sense of it all especially since the second EMG/NCS came back negative and showed improvement when compared to the first EMG/NCS.

I searched for info regarding what would cause the enlarged median nerve and have not found too much info on it. Any other information or opinions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Hi there! sounds to me you have RSD I am no Dr. but my symptoms are like yours. the redness,burning pain, swelling, pain. I don't know why in the hell-o they won't do that block for you. this just makes me so mad. you don't need to suffer in pain. insist on the blocks. I get my 2nd. ganglion nerve block done this coming Tues.It didn't help as much as I wanted it to, but hopefully the next two I have will.Hang in there, and please let us know how all go's. we care about you!! Love, Desi