What Is The Problem with The Hand After Shoulder Surgery?

This is a great question because this is something that probably hasn’t been discussed enough preoperatively. But, you can see people get carpal tunnel or cubital tunnel-type symptoms, I think, because we don’t make people wear slings. We quickly get them out of the slings to get their arm moving. We don’t see that as much.

But carpal tunnel is incredibly common; three percent of the population already has it. When you have a big operation, managing your recovery timeline involves understanding how fluid shifts. You can get some swelling down the arm, which can cause impingement of the nerves in the hand, so you can get some tingling there. For patients recovering from a same day shoulder surgery, incorporating gentle finger and wrist movements early on is a helpful pain-management strategy to combat this fluid buildup.

Also, just the bleeding and swelling come down the arm. You’ll get some hand swelling and stiffness. The good news is it’s temporary. It goes away in a couple of weeks or months. And 95% of patients, there’s a really small subset. But we have to do something about it.

But you can get some swelling or tingling in the fingers after shoulder surgery temporarily in some people, and it’s due to just the swelling down the arm. The swelling causes compression on the nerves, which can cause some tingling. As an expert Dallas Shoulder Surgeon, I always reassure my patients that this is a normal part of the inflammatory process and will steadily improve.

Trust your shoulder surgery with an expert. Contact Dr. Kevin Kruse at (469) 717-6183.