“Lingering nerve pain following carpal tunnel steroid (40mg Kenalog) injection”
Shooting pain occured up middle finger at time of injection. Still unable to use hand for even basic tasks without shooting nerve pain in palm and ring+middle fingers. Currently 70 hours post injection. Comes with use of the hand, even light gripping can elicit a painful "shock"
Male | 30 years old
Complaint duration: 3 days
Medications: n/a
Conditions: carpal tunnel sy.
2 Answers
Occasionally an injection into the carpal tunnel can cause trauma to the median nerve either from the increased pressure from the volume of the medication injected around the nerve or from direct, inadvertent injection into the nerve itself.
If your symptoms persist longer than 1 week after the injection you should return to see the surgeon who performed the injection. You may require release of the carpal tunnel to treat this problem surgically, but the surgeon would likely wait at least 6 weeks before performing the surgery to prevent wound healing complications from the steroid injection. If you aren’t already wearing a carpal tunnel splint while sleeping you should start that now.
If your symptoms persist longer than 1 week after the injection you should return to see the surgeon who performed the injection. You may require release of the carpal tunnel to treat this problem surgically, but the surgeon would likely wait at least 6 weeks before performing the surgery to prevent wound healing complications from the steroid injection. If you aren’t already wearing a carpal tunnel splint while sleeping you should start that now.
There can be instances when one receives a corticosteroid injection where one can get what is called a flare reaction. this is rare but it can last 2-3 days. I often tell my patients that if they get a flare they can use ice and Tylenol. However as there are several other possible causes or clinical scenarios to explain lingering pain after an injection. You should. speak with the physician who gave you the injection
