I am having surgery on October 22 for my ulnar nerve.

The Doctor has said his intention when he opens the arm is to look for scarring, adhesions and to shave the bone to open the space for the nerve. He did say there is only a 20% chance he would be able to do this.

If when he gets in there and the nerve looks angry, he will then cut a fiberous tendon and part of my python to make a new tunnel for the nerve. I am sorry I dont know the correct name of the procedure. If you have had this type of work done on you can you please share your recovery time and details with me? Based on previous surgeries, I am prepaired for the healing time the nerve will require. Pain, I have read a lot about pain. I do computer work. How long were you off work? Was there physical therapy involved? Anything else anyone can share I would appreciate.

I am not to nervous about the surgery. But I am a little bit nervous about the pain. Just because that is one common point in everyone posts.

See you on the table and thank you.

The Asthmatic

Hi There,

I just had my ulnar moved and put under my muscle ( not too sure all the technical terms or how it all works or I what I am saying is not right on- I apologized). At any rate, had the surgery and in my opinion was not bad. After the first day I went off the pain killers. They made my feel sick to my stomach so I stopped taking them and went with mortin. I was fine. I had to take it easy and not push things. I followed all my doc's orders. There were tendon glides that I had to do starting the day after my op, and even that was fine. ( I actually had carpal tunnel surgery at the same time . The worst bit of pain for me was after the stiches were out and the cast was off. The sensitivity after the fact was painful. It was hard falling asleep. Even a sheet on my elbow hurt. I reccomend sleeping with a body pillow and lots of other pillows to prop up with. Now that I am several weeks out, i use a heating pad and that really helps. I wish I had started to use it sooner. It is helping with the scar tissue. It is not has hard and not as sensitive. So, do that as soon as your swelling is good and you are not on the ice any more. I was told that nerves like heat when it comes to healing.

As for time off work, it just depends on what you do. I work all day long on a computer in a call center. So I am on the computer for 8 hours a day. I had my surgery on the 1st of September and I think I will go back on the 29th of October on a limited basis. My work comp doc told me to plan for 8-10 weeks.

It took a while for work comp to approve my phys. therapy but is did start that about 3 weeks after surgery. I was suppose to start it a week after but I am doing fine. Not too bad. Things ache a bit after but I expected that.

My opinion is rest, rest, rest after surgery. Easier said then done. I got so bored and got cabin fever. I recommend reading books and doing really hard puzzles with your good hand. Once I got my cast off and my stitches out my doc told me to start bending my elbow and getting range of motion again- and I moved my arm every chance I got. I could not use it to hold things for a while and even now it does not feel the best, we are working on all that in therapy. Doc told me not to be expecting 100% after my operation and I did not. I still have some pain and not sure how things will be long term but not having the pain all the time - day and night, is wonderful.

Good luck and if you need any more advice let me know!

I had a subcutaneous transposition on 10/5. Things went a lot smoother than I expected. I did have some pain and nausea right out of surgery but since then, pain hasn't been very bad at all. I've stayed on top of the pain by taking the meds regularly and now I'm weaning myself off them. I did have one bad night 3 days after surgery but it was likely my body finally catching up to everything and since then, I've been doing ok. I can't really tell you on recovery and using the computer since I also had carpal and guyon canal decompression at the same time so my hand is pretty useless. But all in all, not really a horrible experience. Take it easy the first couple days and stay on top of the pain with meds and ice and all will be ok.

I had submuscular transpositions done on 1/15 ans 2/12 respectively. I was very fortunate in that the pain for me wasn't too bad. I was off all pain killers within 48hrs after both surgeries. I was off work or about 3 1/2 months but I don't do computer work, I work in a factory . I also had carpal tunnel releases done at the same time so that played a part in recovery as well. Good luck!

I had surgery 10/5 and over all, I'd say it hasn't been all that bad. Yes, the pain right out of surgery was bad (I rated it a 7) until they got it under control. Then I rated it a 4 and it pretty much stayed a 1 or 2 after than except for one bad night three days later when my body caught up to itself. But I also had carpal and guyon release at the same time and that's where the pain was. Since then, things have been pretty good. I got my arm splint off today and my elbow is tender around the incision and I can't completely straighten my arm but I just got it unwrapped. My big recommendations - use ice and take your pain meds at regular intervals the first few days to stay on top of the pain. Don't wait for it to start hurting.