Are you wondering what carpal tunnel surgery is like? If you're about to have this hand operation, no doubt you have questions.

You’ve probably decided on surgery because your symptoms are now intolerable. Punishing pain or crushing numbness make you crazy. So surgery seems like your last hope for relief. 

• So how much pain will there be?
• What's the recovery like?
• How successful will the operation be?

You'll find the answer to these and other questions in this article. It focuses on what you can expect after you wake up from the anesthesia. If you want to know more about the details of the actual operation, I've described them in this other article.

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Once the doctor puts in the last stitch, a bandage goes over your hand. This is to keep the wound free of infection. Infection is one of the biggest complicationsof this surgery. So keeping the bandage clean and dry is an important part of life after carpal tunnel surgery.

Everyone who has carpal tunnel release surgery spends some time in the recovery room. There, you will either be wide awake or just waking up. That depends on if you had a local (regional) or general anesthesia.

With a local anesthesia, your hand will not hurt because it will still be numb. With general anesthesia, you may feel some discomfort even though you were given a pain injection.

You remain in the recovery room until the doctor or nurse sees stable vital signs. They also check for any adverse reactions or complications. Once they determine you’re able to walk then you can go home. This generally happens 1-2 hours after surgery finishes. You will be discharged to somebody who can drive you home.

People wanting to know about hand surgery usually care about one main thing: What carpal tunnel surgery pain is like.

There's no sugar-coating it. Your first day after carpal tunnel surgery will be rough. At home, your hand will start to “wake up” in a few hours. That’s when the actual post-surgical pain is truly felt. But you will have pain medication to help ease the discomfort. Take the pills on schedule and follow the medication label.

You will almost certainly have trouble sleeping for the first few nights due to the pain. But with the proper pain medication schedule it won’t be too bad. Elevate your arm on pillows to help keep blood from pooling. This reduces the pain. 

Be sure to remove all things from the bedside that you may accidentally bump your hand into. Accidentally ripping surgical stitches is very common. Doing so will make recovery even more miserable than it has to be. So take precautions now.

After endoscopic release surgery, post-surgical pain will start to decrease within 2-4 days. But it may take several more days after open release surgery due to the more extensive hand trauma of this procedure.

Then you will be able to stop taking the prescription pain medicines and take over-the-counter pain pills instead. If excessive pain persists, call your doctor. This is abnormal.

When bathing, keep your hand away from water. You can cover it with a plastic bag and tape when showering. Water will cause the bandages to decay and fill with bacteria. Avoid this at all costs.

It's important to try and wiggle your fingers as much as you can. But don’t over-do it. Some light exercises will keep your fingers from freezing due to adhesions.

Some people who have endoscopic release surgery can try going back to work in 1-2 weeks. But such is usually not advisable. After open release surgery you probably will have to wait at least 3-6 weeks to return to work - at best.

No matter which operative procedure you have, going back to work usually happens quicker when:

• The workload is light, and
• The operation was not on your dominant hand, and
• If you can take regular rest periods

Finally, about 10 days after carpal tunnel surgery, the bandages come off. What a relief! In its place, you'll get one of several types of a carpal tunnel braces. 

Wear the brace 24/7. After endoscopic release surgery you only need it at night. But after open release surgery you may need the brace for 1-2 more months. Then it can come off during the day. But you must still wear it at night for another 1-2 months.

When the bandages finally come off you can also begin hand therapy. Therapy aims at restoring your hand’s strength and range of motion. 

If you really want to know what carpal tunnel surgery is like in the ensuing months, it's therapy, therapy, therapy! Regular hand therapy and rehabilitation will become your new normal. 

Surgery aftercare aims to fully restore your hand function with therapy and rehab. Aftercare can last for months to a year, depending  on several factors. These factors include the patient's: 

• Age
• Commitment to hand therapy and rehab
• Particular healing speed
• Smoking status
• General health 

Some of these factors are not changeable. For instance if you have arthritis it will definitely slow your healing process. But other factors are within your control.

Studies show that patients who take proactive measures before surgery will heal faster and more completely. These measures are primarily losing weight and stopping cigarette smoking. 

And when it comes specifically to carpal tunnel surgery, commitment to hand therapy and rehabilitation is most crucial. It's probably the single most important factor in determining how completely you'll restore your hand.

In conclusion, if you ask patients who had good outcomes what carpal tunnel surgery is like, they'll answer, "The surgery was easy; aftercare was hard."

This article described what carpal tunnel surgery is like from recovery to ultimate hand restoration. Right after your carpal tunnel surgery you'll have some adjustments to make. Most of them begin when you arrive home. Be sure to follow your doctor's instructions in order to get the best results for your hand's recovery.