Your surgery day, start to finish.
Here’s what happens from your consultation to your follow-up visit, so nothing about the day is a surprise.
Step by step
Plan on about 90 minutes to 2 hours at our office on surgery day. Much of that is check-in and waiting for the numbing medicine to take full effect, and that wait is what makes the rest comfortable.
Consultation
Dr. Jackson or his PA or NP examines your hand, reviews any X-rays or nerve tests, and talks through all your options, including non-surgical ones. If surgery makes sense, you’ll decide together whether wide-awake is a good fit. Dr. Jackson performs every surgery himself.
Scheduling and your estimate
Our team books your date. Cash-pay patients receive a written Good Faith Estimate. Insured patients get an estimate based on their plan. We’ll review your medication list and tell you if anything needs to change. Usually nothing does.
Eat, take your medicines, come in
No fasting and no pre-op labs in most cases. Wear a short-sleeved or loose top and remove rings from the hand being treated.
Numbing, then surgery
A thin needle delivers the local anesthetic slowly. After a short wait, the procedure itself usually takes 10–20 minutes. You’re awake, comfortable, and can talk with Dr. Jackson throughout. You pick what we play on the radio.
Home
You leave with a light bandage and written instructions. The numbness wears off over several hours. Most patients manage pain with over-the-counter Tylenol and Aleve (naproxen).
Follow-up
We check your wound and take out any stitches, then map out your return to full activity. Endoscopic carpal tunnel release uses an absorbable stitch, so there’s nothing to remove. For cash-pay patients, follow-up visits are covered for 90 days after the procedure.
Morning-of checklist
0 of 6 done
The first few days
- Keep your hand raised above your heart to limit swelling.
- Gently make a fist and straighten your fingers several times an hour while awake.
- Keep the bandage on, clean and dry: 24 hours after endoscopic carpal tunnel release, and usually about 3 days after other procedures. Cover it with a bag to shower.
- Use your hand for light tasks like typing, eating and dressing. Avoid heavy gripping and lifting.
- Take Tylenol and/or Aleve (naproxen) as directed for soreness.
Call us if you notice
- Fever, or redness that spreads from the incision
- Drainage that is cloudy or smells bad
- Pain that keeps getting worse despite medicine
- A finger that stays pale or cold after the numbness wears off
- A bandage that feels too tight, or numbness that returns after first wearing off
Find out if wide-awake surgery is right for you.
Call (210) 729-1900 or book online. You’ll always reach a real person.