Don't do it. I bet your doctor will tell you he doesn't do both at once because then you won't be able to take care of yourself. Your hands will be immobilized.
I haven't had that surgery yet but worked with several that have and they are pretty restricted afterward.

in a nut shell.

you need to wipe and another 100 things even if the inconvenience is only a couple days.

i also did a left wrist repair and left thumb at the same time as the left carpal tunnel so maybe I am jaded but the pain sucked and without the other hand (and for myself, personally it does not matter if it is one day or 8 days or 30 days, I live alone who am I gonna holler for if I can't open a door or use a phone?) - no way man.

depot

Excellent advice from you both and I appreciate that. The "personal" care issue did concern me. I do have a husband who helps, but come on. :) There are some things even as his wife, wouldn't want to ask him to do. Great, now I have a pretty funny picture in my odd head.

I had both done at the same time and I would say...NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!

Yes, both hands are very swollen and immobile and you can't even "wipe" yourself. You can't hold a cup of coffee. And you can't shower or bathe because you can't get them wet and then you can't wash yourself anyhow.. You can't hold anything in either hand. No wrist or finger motion either.You are helpless doing both hands together. Biggest mistake of my life.

Basically, you are bandaged from finger tips to half way up the arm and depending on the surgeon, they may be braced as well so you can't move them. But you don't want to move them because they hurt from the swelling inside the wrist...makes the entire hand hurt and throb.

Think of yourself as having no hands at all and that is post-op bi-lateral carpal tunnel release.

Mind you, I had a crappy surgeon and had to go to Boston to a hand specialist to find out how to fix the mess he left me with but the surgery can't be that much different now. Make sure a hand surgeon and not a general ortho is doing the surgery. I had to go through months of PT to regain the use of my hands after he allowed major bleeding and swelling to occur. Just look at your wrist and palm of your hand and you can see just how many blood vessels go through that area and they can bleed a lot after. Yes, the incision goes into your palm...mine joins my "life line. The ligament they are cutting goes around the wrist right at the junction between wrist and hand so they have to go beyond that boundary to cut it completely so it's your palm and wrist.

One hand at a time...trust me.

hugs................Jen

I had both done but one month apart. My carpal tunnel was done a year before my RA was diagnosed. Had I known it was from RA, I would have treated the RA first. I must say, though, I've never had a problem with my wrists since. Typing can be difficult due to finger joints sometimes, but my wrists are good to go. Good luck!

Thank you 51. Not even on the fence about this anymore, thanks to all your responses. One at a time it shall be. Sometimes you hear others talk about someone they know and what a piece of cake this surgery is, their spouse or whomever went out the next day and started hammering etc., back to their normal activities. I wasn't sure if I was being realistic on the immobilization factor after the surgery.
Hope everyone has a terrific day.

I'm certainly not an MD but I would make sure you need carpal tunnel surgery........and not a de Quervain's Release for tenosynovitis.

http://www.healthcentral.com/encyclopedia/hc/de-quervains-tenosynovitis-3168821/

I had a de Quervain's Release done on my right wrist and I was pretty much back to normal the next day. What a relief. My orthopedic surgeon told me he spent a good part of the time in the OR "mopping" me up, as I had so much inflammation.

What a difference it made.

Make sure it's properly diagnosed.

http://www.ncra.org/Certifications/content.cfm?ItemNumber=8824

Thank you for your reply Cali. I had never heard of this and will ask the surgeon about it. The reason I call myself snappyarms is because of the loud snapping I get in both arms, from shoulders to fingers. Happens with most movement. Seemed to decrease with the larger dose of prednisone, was on 20mg now on 2.5 and the snapping has returned. Sometimes include knees and ankles.

Can you get a steroid jab done under scan into the least painful wrist? My RA caused carpel tunnel took so long to fix with a poor local hospital and long state waiting list I had the least painful jabbed and it hasnt needed doing after all though in some ways wish I had as that wrist has never been entirely right since.but at least the hand sort of functions.

But the jab can be a total cure for some people.

I wouldnt have both hands operated on at once but looks like you already decided against that.