carpal tunnel or scar tissue?

[marajade86]

when i was about 5 i broke my wrist. it took about 6 hours total from breaking it til a doctor saw me. when they finally saw me my wrist had started to fuse back together and they had to rebreak it. since then ive had issues with my wrist, lately ive noticed that i can actually pull my hand any from the wrist which i believe means the carpal bones are not connected to my hand. i also suffer from intense pain in my wrist during winter and spring. this pain will shoot up from my wrist to my elbow. i have been told by many this is carpal tunnel and others have told me its scar tissue build up. i do not have any insurance to pay for a doctor to look at it nor could i afford for one out of pocket. if there is anyone that can tell me what is actually going on with my wrist i would greatly appreciate it.

[Maybe333]

I had a successful carpal tunnel surgery about 4 yrs. ago.  No problems once the healing was complete.  The scar was only noticeable by me until just a few days ago (years after the surgery) when it has become inflamed and itchy... along the precise scar area of approximately two  inches.
Will this go away if left alone?  I do not want another expense added at this time, but I cannot judge whether this is a serious condition and should  be looked at by a physician.
Any comments on this matter would be geatly appreciated.
I am currently limiting my use of the wrist by keeping it in a wrist brace for a while.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

Carpal tunnel syndrome will produce some more symptoms. Since the medial nerve is entrapped in the carpal tunnel, your outer fingers will have weakness and tingling and numbness. Since you have mentioned only of the pain which travels some distance up, I suspect either an injured nerve or reflex sympathetic dystrophy. This occurs at the site of fracture or surgery.

Regards