When the surgery is over you are brought into the recovery room for about one hour. Your hand will be bandaged. If you were awake for the surgery and had a nerve block, your arm will still be numb. 

If you were given general anesthesia you will wake up and see other patients recovering from various other procedures. Any pain will be minimal because your doctor injected your hand with a numbing agent.

Your safety and comfort are of primary importance. The medical staff will make sure you're recovering well and feel comfortable. They will monitor the bandages for bleeding. They also will watch for excessive pain or anything unusual. You will be asked to wiggle your fingers to insure you have good finger function.

In the recovery room, these are the feelings you may experience right after your carpal tunnel syndrome surgery:

• Light nausea (from the general anesthesia). This is normal. Your attendant will give you a medicine to lessen the nausea.
• Maybe some hand pain. Your attendant will give you pain medication.
• Feeling cold or shivering (from the general anesthesia). A warm blanket usually eases the feeling.

You will be under the influence of the general anesthesia for 48 hour after surgery. Therefore, you cannot drive (even with a nerve block). You must be discharged to the care of another adult. That means you must pre-arrange a ride home.

When you leave the surgical center or hospital, you'll be given detailed instructions to follow when you get home. Read them carefully! They will help lessen the pain and make sure you heal quickly. Indeed, the biggest focus of surgical aftercare is devoted to keeping pain at a minimum.

No doubt, the first couple of days at home are the most challenging. When the anesthetic wears off, the pain in your hand will go from zero to intense in less than an hour. But your doctor will have prescribed pain pills to control any severe discomfort. Follow the directions for that particular drug.

In the first 3 days, moving around will cause more pain. So try to minimize unnecessary movements. Also, elevating your hand while sleeping will minimize the pain. It helps to use an extra pillow upon which to rest your hand.

Of course, avoid bumping your arm and hand. Evan a mild bump can cause brusing or even rip out stitches. Such an incident will inhibit the healing process a great deal.

It's crucial to never wet the bandages. Hang your hand over the bathtub when bathing. You can also wrap your hand securely with plastic when showering.

Moist bandages encourage infection, which prolongs healing. This is why your instructions will likely discourage showering or bathing altogether until the stitches are removed (about 10 days).

In about 10 days you must return to your doctor's office to remove the stitches. This is a simple, painless procedure. Then you'll be given a wrist splint to wear. The splint protects the wound site and prevents excessive hand movement, which can be painful.

Your doctor will show you hand and finger exercises to do regularly in the next 2-3 weeks. They will limber up your fingers and hand. They also will improve grip strength. Some patients may need physical therapy or even hand rehabilitation. That need will depend upon how much hand function you lost after the carpal tunnel syndrome surgery.

Returning to work will vary according to your functional abilities and pain level. Most patients can go back to work in 2 weeks after endoscopic surgery, or 4 weeks after open carpal tunnel syndrome surgery.

Several factors will determine your recovery time and your time away from work. Expect your carpal tunnel syndrome surgery recovery time to be delayed if any of the following conditions exist:

• The surgery was performed on your dominant hand. 
• You had open instead of endoscopic carpal tunnel release surgery.
• Your occupation requires overly-extensive hand use.
• You have a chronic disease (such as diabetes or COPD) or poor general health.
• You are smoker, obese, or older than 75.
  

Whichever surgical method your doctor uses, 50-70% of patients are "satisfied" with their carpal tunnel syndrome surgery by the second year. Another 30-50% of patients report being "not satisfied" with their results by the second year.

In general, the more severe your symptoms before surgery, the poorer your outcome. Other outcomes of carpal tunnel syndrome surgery are summarized as follows:

• 35% of patients experience some degree of symptoms relief within 1-2 days. Complete recovery may take 1-3 months.
  
• 30% of patients take up to 6 months to experience some degree of symptoms relief. 
  
• 35% of patients see no symptoms relief whatsoever at any time point. About 50% of those patients have worse symptoms than prior to their surgery. 
• Regardless of the outcome, scar sensitivity is a major complaint after carpal tunnel syndrome surgery. Your scar may feel hypersensitive or very tender for up to a year. This is especially true when open release surgery is used.
• Also regardless of the outcome, it's not unusual for patients to permanently lose some degree of grip or pinch strength. This does not depend on the surgical method used. The majority of these patients see much better recovery of their hand strength at one year.

Like any operative procedure, carpal tunnel syndrome surgery has it's own risks and complications. The major ones are listed below.

• Overall, pain symptoms persist or return in 41-90% of patients (called "recurrent symptoms").
• About 50% of patients experience partial or total loss of feeling for at least 3 months.
• Over 90% of patients have persistent symptoms after 1 year.
• 3-10% of patients may acquire a post-operative infection.
• 7-16% of patients have surgically-induced nerve damage. 
• About 18% of patients have abnormal stiffness or pain for at least 3 months.
• Up to 40% of patients experience some loss of hand or grip strength, even with physiotherapy.
• Most patients require reassignment of work responsibilities or a job change. 
• 30% of patients experience one or more carpal tunnel symptoms at some time after surgery. 
• Over 80% of patients who have carpal tunnel syndrome surgery never return to their original occupation.
• At least 15% of those patients who changed careers switched work roles in order to accommodate less intense hand use.
• When surgery's outcome is poor, a surgeon often advises patients to undergo another surgery (called revision surgery). It's success rate is less than 20%.

There are two basic types of carpal tunnel syndrome surgery: open and endoscopic. Your doctor will tell you which type he or she prefers to use. The type of surgery you receive will have a great impact on how well and how fast your hand recovers. Make sure you discuss the pros and cons of each type of surgical procedure with your doctor.