Scar Tissue Massage

The stitches are gone and the scar is healing nicely. I apply Vitamin E oil three times a day on the scar and massage it using a cross fiber friction technique. Simply put that means that I apply pressure directly to the scar, usually using my thumb, and rub back and forth across the scar tissue. This helps to break down the adhesions that form under the skin and helps the tissues to rebuild smoothly. It can be a little painful because the area still feels almost bruised, but each day the pain subsides a bit. I am also massaging my hands a few times a day. The tendons in the hand still feel stiff and almost shortened, so a strong massage on the palm of my hand up through the fingers feels great!

Weakness

As a massage therapist I am known primarily for my strength and intuitive touch. Needless to say, it's a bit frightening when both of these have been damaged. Prior to the surgery I had no pain, but instead felt a consistent numbness or tingly feeling in my middle three fingers. I am so thankful that there has never been any pain, but the numbness initially provided a barrier between my clients and myself. Over the three months before surgery I came to rely on the feeling in the palm of my hands for sensing the differences in muscle tissue, levels of heat in the body and energy levels. But I still had my strength in my hands. Now it seems to be gone. I know it's temporary and that I only had surgery last week, but I've been sitting here with my water bottled in front of me for two days, unable to open it to change the water inside.

The ability to open the jar of peanut butter, squeeze the lemon for juice or get myself up from a seated position on the floor has been greatly diminished. I have always relied on my strength and now it is failing me. Luckily, I start OT next Monday and assume that most if not all of my strength will return with daily exercise and patience. I guess the most important word is patience.

Surgery and After

I haven't been able to have long nails for 23 years. That's how long I've been practicing massage therapy. I decided since I was getting surgery and my hands would be sliced, stitched and bandaged, that I should celebrate them and the hard work they do with a manicure. Since I

couldn't make a decision on a single color, I decided to go for them all. A little distracting I know, but my 7 year old daughter thinks they're "beautiful"!

With my hands ready for a party I headed off for surgery on Monday at 6:00 am. My surgery was scheduled for 8:15 and I was promptly taken in. 30 minutes later I was waking up as they were cleaning off my left hand. Short and uneventful, just like all surgery should be.

My hands remained numb for a good 5 to 6 hours after that from the local anesthesia that was used. Just enough time to do some shopping and stop off at the Diner for breakfast. After that I headed home to rest for the rest of the day. I figured I may as well take advantage of the situation.

For the next two days I couldn't open the refrigerator door, pull the blanket over me or turn on the faucet without feeling pressure in the surgical site, but nothing that I would call pain. So far it has all been uneventful. I am starting Occupational Therapy tomorrow, three days after the surgery. This is when my work will begin. As of now, I am still numb in the three middle fingers on both hands. Just as I was before the surgery. Of course, I was hoping that the tingling would miraculously stop, but my Doctor never promised me that the numbness would go away. I had suffered from tingling and numbness consistently for the past three months, so there may actually be irreparable nerve damage done. Time will tell.

Transverse Carpal Ligament

This is my last day of work before surgery on Monday. I still don't have any pain in either my hands or arms, but the numbness and tingling has seemed to increase. It actually kept me up last night.

I spoke with my Doctor on Thursday to ask some recurring questions like....."Are you sure I'll be able to work again after surgery!?" He reassured me that I should have no problem. The surgical site may be sensitive for a few months, but after that I should be fine. Then he proceeded to explain the procedure to me. Once he cuts through the skin and fascia he will come to the Transverse Carpal Ligament. This ligament provides the roof for the Carpal Tunnel where the median nerve and tendons to the thumb and three middle fingers rest. He will cut the TCL which will release the pressure that has been placed on the nerves and tendons. The hope is that this will relieve the numbness in my fingers and stop the atrophy that is happening to my muscles. Since my case is labeled moderate to severe, there is no guarantee that the numbness and tingling will stop. Only time will tell. The promise is that it can prevent further damage to my hands.

My concern was that cutting the carpal ligament would leave my hand more susceptible to pain, widening of the wrist and further injury from doing massage or work with my hands. He went on to explain that the Transverse Carpal Ligament is a very thin sheath that provides one last level of protection to the median nerve and tendons that lie below it. In severe trauma cases he has seen it has been what prevented the median nerve and tendons from being severed completely, but other muscles in the hand will provide strength and protection to my wrists and hands.

Whew! There's one fear gone.

Numbness

It started in April. My palms were itching. The kind of itching where I was convinced that something was actually growing under the skin. Both hands - on the bottom of my palms. I would scratch and not get relief. I would rub them with a pumice stone or on the side of the wall, but they still kept itching.

I have been practicing massage for the past 23 years, but this past year I took the plunge and opened my own studio. I live in a great town and business picked up quickly. I had a steady clientele and a waiting list most weeks. Then the itching began. I didn't give it much thought at first. Maybe a skin irritation from so much work. Then one night I woke up with intense neck pain and swollen, numb fingers. That went on for four days. At the end of that time, my middle three fingers were numb and have remained so ever since.

Despite my physicians suggestion that it may be carpal tunnel syndrome I decided that I knew better. Since I had suffered from neck pain, I was convinced that my cervical vertebra must surely be the source of the trouble. After I invested a lifes savings in traction devices, neck rolls, braces, tapes and various other items, I did stretches, exercises and got massage. The pain in my neck diminished but my fingers still tingled. I got XRays, MRI's and EMGs and they all led back to Carpal Tunnel.

It has now been six months since the itching and three months since the numbness began. My thenar eminence is atrophied and my hands are beginning to ache. So I'm off to surgery on Monday. A little numb to what that means at the moment, but more about that later.