Having numbness in hand after shoulder surgery?

Cat Lady, it sounds as if there is pressure on the Ulnar nerve. This can be coming from one of two places. The first is the least likely as there has been too much time between the surgery and the present. This would be from the anesthesia being given in the upper trapezius area. This type of nerve block is called a Bear Block and it numbs up the shoulder down into the fingers. It can sometimes cause pain as well as numbness. Since you have not been complaining of this before I doubt this is the problem. The other more likely case is that because of the surgery you are keeping your arm in a position that is putting pressure on the elbow on the inside portion. This will put pressure on the Ulnar nerve thus giving you symptoms of numbness down the forearm into the last two fingers. The last possibility is that you are somehow placing a lot of stress or pressure on the neck in the lower portion, C6-7, which is giving you this problem. Make sure that your posture is correct as much of the time as possible. If you are still using a sling make sure that it is padded across the upper trapezius area. I don't understand that you called your orthopedist and he or she told you to call your doctor on Monday. Is the doctor that is away the orthopedist that did the last surgery? If not then the orthopedist that did it should be available to you for this problem. At this point you should be in physical therapy. Talk to them about this and see what they have to say. A call from them to your doctor may have more impact than just you calling. Even if you are not in therapy any longer ask them to take a look at it and give you a recommendation as to what to do.

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Hand Swelling After Shoulder Surgery

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That takes quite a while to heal, and your aren't done yet.

It would not be unusual to have numbness if you slept so as to apply pressure to a nerve.

If you are really worried that this pain is associated with something other than the ortho surgery, then go to the emergency department- but it wouldn't be unusual for it to happen after rotator cuff surgery, and for quite some time.

It takes far longer to heal when muscles and cartilage are involved - these are moving parts both before and after the surgery, and whatever was cut is healing on the fly while being moved around. It's gonna take a while - more months, perhaps even a year to feel normal. Talk to your doctor on Monday if you think it's more of the same.

Its been 9 weeks since my rotatercuff surgery w/ a neck nerve block inj. I m a working guitarist in trouble in that since the surgery, I can t feel the side of my thumb where it holds the pressure on a guitar pick, and not able to finger pick the guitar string without major discomfort. I ve been in p.t. For about 7 weeks and also had a hand specialist send me for an EMG test which confirmed a pinched nerve from c5-c6 which set off this problem in my right hand. The Hand dr. prescribed Gabbapentin. It seemed to lessen most pain, leaving my right thumb partially numb. The orthoped surgeon who did the rotatercuff surgery prescribed additional pt for my neck ,( neck traction pt and neck exercises), but it s not helping. The pharmacist said Gabbapentin is a better choice than Lyrica due to Lyrica s potential side effects. So, these days,I m not playing/ working, and frustrated. At least the shoulders loosening up these days two and a half months later. Some say it his can take the better part of a year to resolve, a few suggested legally going after the anesthesiologist who did the nerve block injection, but I m more concerned about my thumb and not being able to play be it gig,teach,perform for friends and charity events. Please, if you have any good suggestions, please reply. Thanks for your taking the time to read this post.

Hi,

First off, I'm sorry about your shoulder and the surgeries. Sounds like a painful process. You're probably experiencing numbness due to the nerves. Sometimes during surgery, nerds get bumped and will cause numbness. I've had two knee surgeries and after each one, I'd have complete numbness in certain areas. My surgeon told me it's because they bump nerves that causes it. Mine lasted for two weeks. I'd still go to the doctor just in case though.

The surgery you had was a complex one. Your surgeon was cutting and tightening everything up in your shoulder. It's going to hurt for awhile. It needs time to heal. I'm sorry you're in a lot of pain.

I'd still go to the doctor just to have it checked out.

Good luck!

I just had shoulder surgery due to two full tears and a partial tear and had to reattach my bicep all on the left side I have never felt this much pain before in my life I am kinda concerned due to the fact it was going on two months after the injury before they cold get me in and my Dr. Never did any nerve block but it s now been five days since surgery and the pain is still almost unbearable and my pinky and ring finger are numb and hurt if I put any pressure on them I hope the pain will lighten up soon because I can t take pain meds for awhile I ve been constipated since before my surgery and I can t eat

Hello I just had shoulder surgery on my R shoulder on Wed, 2 days ago I had a nerve block on my shouler just before going to the OR. My R hand is numb on the thumb side up my wrist to about the elbow the pinky side is OK. I can move and wioggle all my fingers and my hand is not completly dead just very numb. I just called the hospital , they said this is common an should go away. They said that it can be a residual temp effect from the nerve block and it can be from the trauma and swelling in my shoulder and upper arm. They said it should return soon and told me to ice my shoulder to reduce swelling. I hope so

I had a surgery in December. Due to pain cropping up Feb 14th week, I would up back at doctor. He did an injection for bursitis. My surgery, he just cleaned up some frayed tendons, said the tear had healed on it's own. I did a 2nd round of PT, and last day, when she was stretching me out, I swear she did somethign wrong. I'm in pain from shoulder, down to fingers, fingers numb. Most the the muscles in upper arm are in massive pain all the time now, and he said he really didn't "do " anythign to the shoulder when he was in there. I've given up. :(