What should you expect after Carpal Tunnel Surgery?
As you will be given a local anesthetic, it will usually take a few hours for the feeling to come back into your wrist and hand. During this time, it’s important you don’t bump your hand and are careful around hot items like kettles and stoves. Once the anesthetic wears off, you may need over-the-counter painkillers to ease any discomfort you feel. At this point, you should keep your arm up as much as possible to help to reduce the swelling. It’s also important to keep the bandage dry, so we recommend wearing a rubber glove or a putting a plastic bag over your hand when you take a shower or bath.
You will be able to remove the bandage three to four days after the surgery. However, you still need to keep the wound dry until the stitches have been taken out or they dissolve. We recommend a few activities like brushing your hair or your teeth to keep the hand moving, although you should build up movement gradually and stop if your hand or wrist starts to hurt. You’ll be able to get your wound wet and return to light work around two to three weeks after the surgery, and your full wrist strength will return a month or so later.
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