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Nerve pain aftet NA
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07/15/2013 08:04
Maddie 
07/15/2013 08:04
Maddie 
Nerve pain aftet NA

Just had NA with Dr. Pess last week to release MCP contractures on 4 fingers of my right hand. The release worked fine and my hand is flattened out, but yesterday I started having some problems that are worrying me. I'm getting intermittent "electric shock-type" zapping pains that go through my hand and up my arm - very much like the "zzzzzzz" pain you get when the needle comes too close to the nerve in N A. It seems to happen when I use my hand in a way that puts pressure on my index finger or wrist - even very light pressure, such as thingd like washing my hands.

I had my NA under local anesthia, but he did inject a nerve block into the nerve in my right wrist. So I'm worried that this might have caused a problem - either damage from the injection into the nerve itself, or damage because the needle got to close to a nerve and I couldn't feel it to let him know.

I'm of course hoping that this is just temporary and will go away soon... but would love to hear from anyone who has experienced this or is otherwise knowledgeable about it. I'll also call the doctor's office when the open on Monday, of course.

Thanks for any help you can provide!!

Maddie

07/15/2013 09:54
BRIANB 
07/15/2013 09:54
BRIANB 
Re: Nerve pain aftet NA

Vitamin B6 may help ...from my experiences your nerve pain will gradually go away. Takes time..

07/15/2013 12:09
Seph 
07/15/2013 12:09
Seph 

Re: Nerve pain aftet NA

Maddie; Obviously impossible to diagnose by forum but it sounds to me like the doctor may have just nicked a couple of nerves. In my experience numbness is a concern but if you are getting sensations that are like and electric shock that's OK. It will pass. Might take 2-3 months but nothing to worry about.

07/15/2013 23:04
bstenman 
07/15/2013 23:04
bstenman 
Re: Nerve pain aftet NA

Much too soon to know what is happening or whether it will go away. Having pain to me would be preferable to not having feeling in an area as that would be indicative of damage to a nerve. With past operations where there was pain the effect when it did go away was immediate and not gradual. After a certain number of days I would wake up and find that the pain was gone completely. No idea as to the mechanism involved but it is not linear as one would experience with a simple injury.

08/19/2013 01:13
Maddie 
08/19/2013 01:13
Maddie 
Re: Nerve pain aftet NA

Thanks to everyone for your reassuring answers! It is a little over a month since my NA with Dr. Pess, and the "nerve pain" I described is almost gone. I occasionally still feel a little tingling in my left index finger, but nothing like the frightening electric shock sensations I was getting for the first couple of weeks after the procedure.

I especially appreciated the comment that recovery would not be linear. It was very reassuring to me to remember this advice during the first couple weeks when I could barely use my left hand and it didn't seem to be improving. And it proved to be accurate - after about two weeks, my hand started to get a lot better very quickly.

Also -- my NA was successful - at least so far. I can now lay my hand flat again. Diligent about wearing my splint nightly, so I'm hoping it will last a long time. I'll give a more detailed update at a later point.

Maddie

08/20/2013 18:54
bstenman 
08/20/2013 18:54
bstenman 
Re: Nerve pain aftet NA

Glad the pain is subsiding. The ulnar nerve runs from the finger past the elbow ("funny bone" area) and into the neck through the spine. I have experienced a similar pain in my hand that actually was caused by the nerve being pinched in my shoulder where the muscle and connecting tissue were swollen. Feeling "pain" at a particular location can be misleading as the brain is trying to interpret the signals and can get it wrong, no unlike phantom pain after an amputation.

Not to suggest that NA is like an amputation but the nerve signals can be altered in part by the change in the posture of the hand after it opens up following NA and the straightening by the doctor. I get secondary "complications" as the skin tears and needs to expand the area it needs to cover with the finger now straight instead of curved. The more constained the finger prior to release the greater the gap that must heal and new skin formed. I can see where nerve bundles in the finger would be similarly affected in a beneficial way that the brain could interpret as "pain" as when blood returns to a limb that has been "asleep".

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