Joe A Shaw PA-C - 10/5/2012

Question
Hello dr,
         I Am due to have my surgery for tennis elbow and ulnar nerve entrapment next month.all other alternative treatments for tennis elbow is failed and I postponed the surgery twice already due to personal circumstances(pregnancy and child care).i had ulnar nerve decompression on my right arm early last year and this time it's for left arm.after d delivery  tennis elbow on my left arm got worst and I had my family to help me with child care  and. I am able to stretch arm completely but the pain is always there  both inside and outside elbow.for the past one week I dot have any help with child care and household chores so the pain is  slowly getting worst and I am finding hard to carry baby even for a minute.but ican feel that symptoms of tennis elbow is returning back.i am still having the problem of child care after surgery as my baby is only 6months old and husband not having any holidays to look after me and kids .will it be ok to postpone the surgery again.?my right arm took longer before I could start doing my normal activities after the ulnar nerve decompression.but this time my left arm will be having both surgery together.so I have few concerns regarding post surgery ?how long it will take for me to start doing my normal activities like baby care and household chores?How long the rehabilitation will be ?i am a nurse by profession and the neurophysician asked me stop working hard because the right arm is also slowly started tennis elbow symptoms.does this means will I be not able to return to work at all or will it be wise to change job to a less strenuous field?
Thank you very much for your precious time.
Nisha

Answer
Here in the states we would do nerve conduction studies/EMG to see if you have any nerve damage before decompression surgery is done. Only about 3% of cases need tennis elbow surgery. To do both at same time will take many weeks to get over 6-12 weeks at best. You need Physical therapy 2-3 x wk x 8 wks...Right after surgery you will not be able to do what you can do know..it will just depend on pain tolerance and how well you progress as to the length of your recovery..everybody is different in that regards..You should be able to do normal nursing duties after you heal