manny - tendons would more affect movement and nerves would affect sensation, i.e., lack of feeling or pain. if you still have feeling in the portion of your arm around and below the surgical area, you should be okay. make sure you can move your fingers (wiggle them), have someone else touch your fingers while you identify which fingers they're touching, and have someone check cap refill - meaning pinch the tip of your finger then let go - initially it's blanched (white) and it should turn pink again within 2 seconds to constitute good capillary refill. cap refill means that blood is getting all the way down to the smallest vessels at the point farthest away. also check the temperature of the hand on the surgical side vs the other, uninjured side to make sure there are no drastic temperature differences. but fyi, i still have spots on my knee from surgeries there that are fairly numb even though the surgeries came out fine. all that having been said, keep in mind i'm not a doctor and if you are concerned about it AT ALL, the best thing to do is to call your doctor's office and talk to someone about your concern. their job doesn't stop with the stitches and there's nothing wrong with checking back however many times you need to til you feel comfortable with things! best of luck with your recovery. kylie
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