The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Once you've had ETS surgery, the side-effects you have when you leave the hospital are not the only side effects you are going to get. And for those that leave hospital with dry, sweat free hands and who are lucky enough to be blessed with no side-effects whatsoever, which does occasionally happen, you really need to wait at least 3-5 years before you see the full outcome of this surgery.

ETS surgery is not like any other medical procedure where you can add some physio and physical exercise into the mix and have your condition actually improve over time. With ETS surgery, it's the exact opposite. In fact, this is the very reason why you should never mess with any nerves in the human body.

When the sympathetic nerve is severed, the nerve naturally tries to repair itself, and as part of this process you get a gradual build up of scar tissue around the nerve ends. This scar tissue can take between a few months to several years to form and it then begins to exert pressure on surrounding, healthy nerves. This can then affect the signals being transmitted via these nearby nerves to other parts of the body, resulting in unexplained pain, numbness, pins and needles, and various other health issues which appear down the track.

And as to how badly each ETS patient is going to be affected is anyone's guess. That's why getting ETS surgery is a bit like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

But the biggest problem is, if this occurs let's say 5 or 10 years down the track, it is extremely hard to prove these new side-effects are directly related to your surgery. Who knows, they may have occurred anyway, right? That's the argument you're going to come up against. And who's going to be able to prove it for you, another ETS surgeon? I really don't think that's going to happen.