I’ve heard the sentiment thousands of times; “My carpal tunnel doctor doesn’t care.” I hear this so often that it's too difficult to ignore. The plain truth is - like all professions - medicine has it's share of uncaring or bad doctors.

Case in point is Paul, a 67 year old man from Atlanta, Georgia (USA). He called me to ask about his bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. He suffered over 7 years with unbearable pain and other severe carpal tunnel symptoms. 

So with high hopes and promises, Paul had open carpal tunnel surgery on his right hand 19 days before I'm writing this. But instead of the pain subsiding, it became much worse than before the surgery.

Here’s what happened during Paul's follow-up visit to his carpal tunnel doctor.

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On the follow-up visit after surgery, Paul told his carpal tunnel doctor about the persistent and worsening pain. The doctor advised waiting it out 3 more months. He said, “If it’s still bad then, we’ll do another carpal tunnel surgery.”

Paul told me, “Does he think I’m a @#$%*&# idiot? If he couldn’t fix it the first time, why should I believe he can fix it a second time?"

And since Paul has carpal tunnel symptoms in both hands, the carpal tunnel doctor had plans for Paul's other hand, too. The doctor advised that during the 3 month waiting period, Paul should have surgery on his left hand - in about 3 weeks from now. 

I could hear the frustration in Paul’s voice. He said:

“Really, my doctor doesn’t care. Whether the surgery works or not doesn’t affect him one bit. And he waves off my pain like it’s nothing, just prescribing hydrocodone. All he wants to do is cut me open as many times as he can just to make money for himself.”

I asked what the doctor’s response was to Paul being unsatisfied. Paul told me the doctor said:

"If you’re not happy, then find another surgeon.” 

Paul said the doctor had the worse bedside manners he ever saw.

I informed Paul that if he didn’t get pain relief immediately after surgery then it’s sign of poor recovery. As a matter of fact, according to NIH statistics, if symptoms didn't disappear with the first surgery, they probably never will.

Sadly, I hear stories like Paul’s at least once a day. When patients say “My doctor doesn’t care”, they’re not exaggerating. It’s a wretched indictment of some surgeons today. A few have put income goals and corporate targets first, before patient care and compassion. 

This issue was already on the radar of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) almost 20 years ago. That's the organization which regulates hand surgery practices. They realized that study after study showed show that half of these hand operations are completely unnecessary.

In other words, patients were advised to have surgery when they didn't need it.

As a result, the AAOS drafted guidelines for hand surgeons in order to avert the growing problem of runaway (and unnecessary) carpal tunnel surgeries. The guidelines clearly state when and under what conditions a carpal tunnel doctor should perform surgery. They say the following:

Every carpal tunnel doctor must:

1. Have their patient try every non-surgical intervention for their carpal tunnel.
2. Use such non-surgical treatments on a patient for at least 6 months.

If these fail, the doctor can recommend carpal tunnel release surgery. ( ref )

Pretty clear directions to doctors, right?

During a recent medical conference I decided to see how many carpal tunnel doctors were actually following the AAOS guidelines. I informally asked 23 hand surgeons the following question. 

“Of all the patients you diagnose with carpal tunnel syndrome, in how many instances do you recommend surgery right away, without other interventions?”

Every single surgeon - with no exception - looked at me, puzzled, like I was from Saturn. 

“All of them!” they invariably responded.

No wonder patients often tell me, “My carpal tunnel doctor doesn’t care.”

I advised Paul that it’s unfortunate he didn’t discover the CarpalRx last month, before his surgery. But it’s never too late. 

Many surgeons will try to scare patients into believing surgery should be done  immediately .   They advise without surgery, the problem will be irreversible.  However, there's not a shred of clinical or scientific evidence of this.

Paul is a great candidate for restoring both hands to normal again. So I recommended he let his right hand heal from the surgery. Essentially, he should just rest his hand for a month. 

In the meantime, he should apply the CarpalRx to his left hand twice a day for 3-4 weeks. Within that time, his pain symptoms will disappear. Then, after restoring that hand, he should apply the CarpalRx to his operated hand. 

About a quarter of my patients had a prior surgery that failed. Yet there’s a 97% probability they will restore their hands to normal again with the CarpalRx. 

Paul is somebody with post-surgical failure on one hand, and pre-surgery pain on the other. He’s what I’d call the “perfect” CarpalRx candidate.