Severed Ulnar Nerve!!!

Hello and thank you to anyone taking there time to read this.I fell backwards down my stairs.I hit my right elbow on my iron railing post.I sliced my arm open very bad .As soon as the injury occured I could not feel half of my arm,my pinky finger and half of my ring finger .To skip a long part my husband drove me to hospital where they gave me pain meds gave me an exray and told me I had broke my medial epicondyle.They sent me to another hosp.that place stitched me up and said call them in a week to set up appointment .I went home and was so upset because I knew there was somthing really wrong.The next morning I called my pcp.She set me up w a orthopedic surgeon that specializes in upper extremity.W in six days I had surgery to have my bone screwed back together where they found out I totally severed my unar nerve and they preformed micro surgery that took six hours total.since then I have claw fingers in my pinky and index finger .I still have absolutely no feeling in my last two fingers.my right hand is very week therapy is not helping.what I can feel is nerve pain .I'm on gabapentin 3xs/day and occasionally take a 7.5 hydrocodone.the meds are starting to not work.I'm scheduled to get an emg done this week to see how far the nerve has regenerated.upon this my surgeon wants to do a second surgery where they take nerve endings and plugg them into my ulnar nerve.He calls it super charging my nerve to help jump start the regeneration process since it's so slow.I am 31 year old otherwise healthy active mother of 3.very desperately seeking answers or opinions from anyone with simular injury..my right hand is losing muscle fast no matter what I seem to do to stop it .I just want to regain as much movement and strength that I can,just to be able to get it as close as possible to normal or at least know I've tried everything possible to regain full function.Thank you very much to any one that takes the time to read my post!!

Th for responding .what I meant w my meds is I think the dose I've been taking needs to be raised .it's losing its effectiveness.sorry I fell on November 10th 2015...and had the surgery November 16 2015.so it's been about 4 and half months since surgery.after surgery all I felt was pain from the trauma.now all I constantly feel is tingling burning pricked feelings in my pinky and that half of my hand even though it's numb to the touch.you can probably cut my pinky finger off and I wouldn't feel a thing .as for the nerve regenerating I believe it is .I feel new sensations everyday .I am starting to feel the nerve running down my arm .it is also very uncomfortable to place my arm on a table or rest it on a ledge .my hand is very week .I'm just starting to be able to hold a pencil and write w out dropping it fifty times .I can't unscrew anything (jars)/(bottles)..soo one of my major concerns now...is after I get the emg electric nerve test in my arm I find out how far my ulnar nerve has regenerated.yes the Dr said very slow 1inch/month.the nerve was severed at my elbow.so Dr said it would take about 1 year to heal from my elbow down to my pinky.the second surgery sounds amazing ...he wants to skip all that space that's going to take so long to regenerate .he wants to go in near my wrist very close to my hand take nerve endings from other to nerves and fuse them into my ulnar nerve to bring my hand back to life faster.the length of nerve that is healing that he skipped over will regenerate at its own pace .but the half of hand and pinky and every other numb part will be braught back to life!!faster so the atrophy stops progressing and my nerve going farthest from the injury wit h is the pinky won't die ...what do you think?it very new this kind of surgery and not many orthos can preform it im very lucky to be so close to a Dr that can do this .The founding Dr that started this kind of nerve surgery with great success is Dr Susan mkennin.go on you tube and look her up .if you have time .search :Susan mkennin,pioneering surgery .once on that you'll see her other videos they are all very good to watch .it better explains this second surgery I will be having.the posterior interosseous I think is the one .ty ty for messaging back I had no idea somone would respond that quick

Hello again. As I said, the nerve was not completely severed. I suffered no muscle atrophy. I still have some numbness, burning/tingling. Pretty good strength. I had a consultation about a second surgery but at that time the possible benefit was only 30/70, not in my favor. I believe they were going to attempt to move the entire nerve again. It was not worth the risks for me.

If I place my forearm on a cold surface, my brain reads the signals as 'wet'. I can feel 'itch' but I cannot feel 'scratched'. This can lead to injury from scratching too much. I've learned to gently scratch the area but also scratch that area of the other arm as well. My brain accepts that information as 'satisfied'. Heat sensation is still read as hot, thank goodness. The pinky is still mostly numb to pressure, as is that part of the palm. The ring finger also has reduced sensation to pressure. Both fingers respond to signals going 'out' from the brain but seem to have difficulty with signals coming into the brain. I hardly notice it at this point.

I should point out that my left is my non dominant hand. I had gone to school for vocational training after this, studying to be a dental assistant, but I kept dropping the instruments as they are 'picked up' with the left pinky. Issues with my left shoulder injury kept me from being able to direct the overhead light system and x-ray arm as well, so I withdrew from the training.

Has the surgeon discussed both sides of the surgery? What complications can develop? I don't want to be a 'downer' but, in order to make such a decision both sides must be weighed. I understand that muscle wasting is not reversible and that you don't want it to happen but messing with the other nerves of the hand...just sounds so complicated and potentially dangerous. I've had denervectomies done on my right wrist, in an effort to keep ganglion cysts from forming, but it failed. Now, the back of the wrist is numb and I'm still getting cyst formations. I've had 3 surgeries on the right wrist and refuse any more. Only you can decide. So many innovations have come about since I've 'had my work done'.

Keep posting. Let us know how things are going, please.

Butterfly,
I severed my Ulnar nerve when I fell on a building site four weeks ago tomorrow, the accident happened 16 March 2016. My nerve was severed at my wrist when I fell on a steel frame carrying my granddaughter, it was a trip accident that has changed my life. I also had a deep cut above my elbow which involved muscle and also very painful.
I also cut two branch nerves and the artery in two spots, it is my dominate hand and I am 61 years old.
I am devastated by the accident but also very thankful that my granddaughter was not harmed in the incident.
I work part time in an administrative position but I am not sure I can sustain this. I went back last week, three weeks post accident, and really struggled but needed to get some normalcy back in my life. I am not sure where I am going and I am only just getting my head around the enormity of the injury. Medical advice has been to resume normal life as soon as possible, try to meet the challenges, adapt and move on - to me that makes the idea of recovery is surreal..........
I haven't grieved, I am not sure why, not a tear shed - but the pain is haunting.

Good to see your update Butterfly. I am now 23 weeks post op, the
Atopic aspect of the injury has healed well although I continue to work very hard at physio to reduce the tightness and adhering of the scar tissue. I attend physio every week and work 3 times a day at my physio sessions myself. I apply a silicon dressing to the scar and bandage my hand every single night to flatten the scar. My biggest loss has been my fine motor and grip skills, I cannot hold a knife and therefore have no food preparation ability, my best friend is now my Victoranox serrated knife, which allows me to cut my food in a sawing fashion. I have gained some grip strength through physio but lack lateral strength & control. I am beginning to adapt to life with an impaired dominant hand, the pain remains basically unchanged. I feel the need to continually stretch out my hand and extend the ring and pinky fingers. I cannot write, use a child's grip aid on my pen & pencil, have worked on my signature. My typing speed has dropped dramatically but I continue to sustain my position in administration working 3 days a week. However I would be lying if I said I had moved on, there are some days the whole thing just does my head in! Looking forward to hearing more about yours and others progress.

Hello V d. Welcome to the forum. You've posted on an older thread that has been inactive for months. You might want to start a new thread as an introduction.

I'm so sorry to hear of your situation. Hopefully, your surgery will give you back nerve function.

As stated in the previous posts, nerves are tricky and take quite a while to heal and regenerate. Are you seeing a hand physical/occupational therapist? I doubt I would have as good a result if I hadn't.

As for the other part of your situation, I sympathize. I hope the two of you have found a better way to communicate before things escalate to violence. NO ONE should EVER strike another. YOU are worth more!

Seeking a little guidance.

I am in 7 months with an ulnar nerve injury which happened in January 2018 due to a bad fall which resulted in either a glass that cut the ulnar nerve above the elbow towards the hand.

MRI reports show it has been cut but after doing a surgery for nerve exploration/repair it was compressed with scar tissue and this was removed and I am now experiencing sever pins and needles and a ZING which has also increased from the cut area towards the wrist when I tap on. Pins and needles get worse at night and my pinky and ring finger are still crawling with no fine movements and 10% of sensitivity after the surgery which was done in May, 2018. Surgery was done by an orthopedic hand surgeon.

I went to see a neurologist and neurosurgeon for a second opinion first week of July, 2018 and repeated an ultra sound and second EMG test which are negative and show no signs of the ulnar nerve firing through the muscles. Ultra sound still shows that ( Neuroma growing from the ultra sound reports and no continuity either for the ulnar nerve but not painful as yet) although a scar tissue was already removed in the first surgery they still suspect some fibers have connected that's why I started getting pins and needles and more zings after the surgery.

Neurosurgeon recommends to do a AIN surgery to super charge the ulnar nerve motor components near the wrist towards the palm to get motor and strength function back.

Neurosurgeon also doesn't want to go back inside to the initial cut to remove the Neuroma because he thinks it will only take away the little sensation I have been getting and start all over again.

Has anyone done this type of a surgery? how are the pains after surgery? Recovery time? will it make my case worse then it is already? I am little confused whether if this will ever recover again or is it worth doing the AIN surgery. I was advised by the Neurosurgeon that he can only make it better and my right hand will never be 100% again.

thank you,

Ali

Post Edited (AJ110) : 7/9/2018 10:24:33 AM (GMT-6)

I feel bad for everyone and I am in the same position. Early this year on the 15th February I started to feel tingling and numbness in my right hand and the ring and pinky finger's.
I saw a Neurologist one week later and said it was in my head. So the numbness got worse and I saw a second Neurologist who did nerve conduction studies and sent me for an ultrasound. The nerve conduction studies revealed ulnar Neuropathy and the ultrasound revealed a compression at the elbow. I had a cortisol injection the same day on the ultrasound. Two weeks later I had a MRI of the elbow and showed arthritis aswell.

I was needing surgey as there was no other way as my compression was so severe I lost muscle In the forearm hand and could not do my shoelaces buttons or use a knife or fork.
I am now two weeks exactly one post surgey and I have had a transposition of the ulnar nerve under the muscle and am Anterior interosseous nerve transfer end to side in my forearm.
I do not feel any different I have all the same symptoms as before and I am waiting to see if this will make any difference. My surgeon said it has helped alot of people but what is helped exactly? I am trying to be optimistic although reading these stories makes me very scared.
Is there anymore input into recovery from this?

Sarge, I had my ulnar nerve transposition, sub muscular, back in 1997. While I still have some numbness and tingling with the occasional 'bad day'...all in all it has gone quite well. It takes time! Nerves regenerate slower than skin. Are you doing physical therapy? This, I think, made all the difference for my outcome.

Sarge, you have every right to have such mixed feelings about the entire situation. As hard as it is right now, try keep some positive thoughts going. The difference of opinions with the drs is really concerning but who knows what your outcome will be, lets hope & pray for the best. Drs are not God so keep that in mind.

Come here & write whatever is on your mind. If you feel the urge to vent go for it, we understand.

Sarge, just something to give you to think about while looking online for stories. More often than not, you will in online forums more failures than success stories. People that have done well are not posting in forums. They are getting on with their life. We have this very thing happen here at HW, people will post either right before or after surgery of any kind. Once they start healing & feeling better we will see less & less of them & they move on. I have been here a very long time & see this happen all the time here. This is why I get excited to see someone post positive things.

We have not had a current member in a while that has had this surgery. This is why you are not getting a lot of responses. Yes, people around us can be so insensitive & down right rude. Try to ignore them when things happen. I have become pretty thick skinned over the years.

Take care.

Yeah my ulnar nerve has burned for three years wanna cut my arm off on surgery number 4. Wish I could afford this guy... https://www.rmiclinic.com/about/dr-neil-riordan/ speaking of stem cells.

Hello Kiev & welcome to Healing Well. After reading your story there is no question how severe the injury was. However, worst of all the issues that you continue to have. While I have no real experience with your type of injury, I do understand nerve pain. What is have seen over the years here any injury to the arms requiring surgery the residual issue after surgery can be unbearable for some. I know any time there is nerve involvement it's just not good.

Are you continuing to receive treatment, if so, what type of dr is treating you? As much as you have going on with all of these symptoms what are they telling you? Have you been tried on any of the medications that is used to treat nerve pain? What about the shoulder & neck pain that is involved, anyone ever look at these areas? Sorry for so many questions.

I hope you will come back & fill in some blanks, perhaps we can offer up some ideas.