Well, not sure how its going to go. She put in for me to go get xrays as soon as i left the exam. She said the issues i am having are nerve related, not actually related to the ratings the va already gave me for my wrists so she told me to request nerve tests on my wrists amd elbows so i can submit them as secondaries to the current wrist ratings.
So these will probably stay as 10s and maybe get something for nerve issues later on?
The whole issue I’m having with my right hand is actually because I irritated the ulner nerve which is on the bottom side of your elbow. I’m far from a medical expert, but I know a lot about that nerve and my hand now.
Number one, nerve problems are usually progressive and degenerative if not corrected. They just get worse.
Number two, while your muscles and such will heal in a few weeks or a month, nerves can take several years to heal, if they heal at all, and may not come back to where they were originally.
Number three: They originally thought my problem was in my neck. I went through a pile of MRIs, CAT scans, ultrasound, etc., and physical therapy on my neck. Then they did a “nerve continuity test.“ Get one ASAP.
The nerve continuity test is as simple as jumper cables. They put a negative cable on your fingertip (for example) and then they stick you with a very fine needle with positive current (smaller than acupuncture needle) in different places and see how you react. They can zero right in on where the nerve is in trouble.
Number four, after they zero in, get the ultrasound. This is a little bit more precise ultrasound than a woman has when she’s pregnant or such. I was astounded when I could actually see the cross-section of the tube/canal that held my nerve, and the cross-section of my nerve in that tube. If you don’t know, all your nerves are in slippery tubes. Typical nerve damage is when something interferes with the tube, which irritates the nerve which has to be fluid, the nerve swells, and that perpetuates irritating it.
For me, I had some natural little lesions growing across the tube. Tiny things, like human hair size. But there were enough of them that they constricted the tube, which irritated the nerve, which swelled, which led the more irritation…..
My surgery, they cut my elbow open about 4 inches, and they use the scalpel that looked like it belong to Barbie, a tiny thing, and one by one they cut those little lesions to free up the nerve canal. Then they actually moved my nerve to the other side of one of the little muscles in there so it was a shorter distance from my shoulder to my wrist. BTW, all of my symptoms were in my pinky and the right side of my ring finger, and the right side edge of my hand when it was facing down. I didn’t feel anything wrong in my elbow.
Because of a couple of screw ups, I was delayed in the analysis and the surgery by about a year. I was suffering with this for about a year and a half or a little more before they figured it out, it got worse every week, every month, and then did the surgery several weeks later, march 21.
I have been going to physical therapy twice a week since April 15, and I have only recovered about 80% of the use of my pinky and the right side of my hand. After six or seven months of therapy, I can kind of do everything I used to do (except play the piano/organ), but I don’t have the strength and agility I used to have
I’m always long-winded, but my point is don’t delay this. It only gets worse with time.
Hope it helps
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