Patient stories
Midland Hand Clinic is dedicated to providing the highest quality of care for our patients.
We are proud to share the patient stories of those who have benefited from our services.
From inspiring journeys of recovery to powerful testimonials of success, we are honoured to have played a part in the lives of our patients.
We invite you to explore these stories and see the impact Midland Hand Clinic has had on the lives of those who have trusted us with their care.
Alison is the proud owner of Ice Hair & Beauty salon which is situated in the centre of Dickens Heath village, just on the outskirts of Solihull.
Late last year Alison started developing symptoms in her hands. “It started with a little numbness and then pins and needles which was having an impact on my ability to cut hair. It was really affecting my sleep as the symptoms would often be worse at night” described Alison.
Alison was encouraged to seek out the help of hand surgeon Mr Shyamalan from the Midland Hand Clinic who confirmed carpal tunnel.
Mr Shyamalan operated on both Alison’s hands to enable her to get back to work asap. Alison is now pain free and to the relief of her many customers who couldn’t wait to see Alison back working again!
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Motorcycle paramedic John Brown has been passionate about motorcycles from an early age.
His father was a bike enthusiast and John was the proud owner of his first bike by the age of 16. “My father loved his bikes! I grew up surrounded by them so I guess it was inevitable that biking would become such a big part of my life” explained John.
John has had a very successful career in the emergency services, starting with the fire service before training to become a motorcycle paramedic. John described that part of his career as a ‘dream come true’! “To be riding my bike daily for work and helping people was amazing!” said John.
13 years ago when on duty as a paramedic, John was involved in a serious accident which resulted in him losing his leg. However, this didn’t stop him getting back on his bike at the earliest opportunity.
Earlier this year, John started developing symptoms in his hand. “It began with tingling and loss of feeling in my fingers but it got so bad that I couldn’t even hold my knife and fork when eating. It also affected my riding as I couldn’t turn the throttle.
My bike is my main mode of transport, I use it every day and it was frustrating that it was becoming so difficult” explained John.
A family member recommended John should speak with hand and wrist specialist Mr Shyamalan to seek treatment. John described his experience “We were in the middle of a global pandemic so I was unsure what was possible.
However, Mr Shyamalan conducted a video consultation and diagnosed carpal tunnel. The following week I had my surgery and within 48 hours I had regained the use and feeling in my hand and the pain had gone.
Mr Shyamalan and his team were great and I was reassured by all the measures in place to keep me safe.”
Six weeks after his hand surgery, when the travel restrictions had been lifted, John was able to enjoy a 4000 mile bike tour around Europe.
John is really happy with the results of his treatment and he is busy planning his next biking adventure.
An electrician has finally been able to get back to doing the job that he loves following consultation at the Midland Hand Clinic.
Andy Thomson had started to notice a pain in his right hand that was becoming an issue while at work. The 49-year-old decided to try out physiotherapy and other treatments but after his course of sessions, felt that he needed something else, so he approached Midland Hand Clinic.
Following his consultation, he discovered that there were surgical and non-surgical options available to him.
Speaking about his experience, Andy said: "I started to notice with my right hand that every time I was clenching a screwdriver I had a repetitive strain injury and it was starting to restrict me. At first, I did see a physiotherapist who massaged all around my wrist and thumb.
"I came across Midland Hand Clinic and Mr Shyamalan, known as Mr Shyam. I had a consultation with Mr Shyam and he came up with two things for me."
Having given it a lot of thought, Andy decided to choose the non-surgical route first. He added: "After having the treatment, Mr Shyam gave me his number to see if I had had any release from the actual pain.
"Over about a six to eight week period of having the treatment, I was in touch with Mr Shyam about four or five times via WhatsApp and even telephone calls."
However, a break in Andy's work schedule meant he would be able to afford to take time to recover so he decided to opt for the surgery on his right hand.
He continued: "I got four to five months' worth of work out of it, but it came to May and I had a six to eight-week lull at work, so I decided to contact Mr Shyam again. Within a few weeks, I was in surgery.
"When I decided to go ahead and have the operation, I found out that Mr Shyamalan works out of Spire Parkway, which was a massive relief to me because it's local to where I live and I knew I'd be in good care."
After having the operation on both hands Andy says they have helped him enormously and he is very pleased with his results.
He continued: "For me, at the moment the operations have been a success. I've got no basal thumb discomfort and it's healing up quite nicely. I've got the movement in my hands and most of all, that clickiness is completely gone. I'm over the moon with everything, especially the Midland Hand Clinic.
"Both hands are at 80 per cent overall use and I’m back working four days per week. After having a good few months of total rest and building myself up, I’m back earning a crust.
I’m very happy with the overall results from Shyam and Midland Hand Clinic. It exceeded my expectations."
Following surgery to reattach tendons that were worn away due to wrist arthritis, June Shakespeare - a great grandmother in her eighties - is now able to grab back the many day-to-day skills that most people take for granted.
“It is amazing how just being able to brush your own hair can change your whole outlook on life,” June gushes, as she reflects on the aftermath of her surgery.
Having suffered from wrist arthritis for a while, the eighty-four-year had been gradually losing the use of her fingers over the past few years until it reached the stage where she could hardly use her hands at all. But after having surgery June, who lives in Great Barr, has been able to regain the use of her hands again.
“Opening doors, taking lids off jars, holding a cup or taking money from my purse. Even brushing my hair had become almost impossible. You can’t imagine just how much that impacted on my daily life,” she explained.
As the condition continued to deteriorate June met with Mr Shyamalan at Spire Parkway Hospital in Solihull, near Birmingham. Mr Shyamalan explained that not only could he help her get movement back to her hands but he could also perform the surgery while she remained completely awake.
He said: “Years of arthritis in the bones of her wrist meant that the tendons to her fingers had been severed or ruptured – it is not an uncommon condition in elderly patients.
“What I did was use sections of healthy tendons to repair the torn ones while carrying out repairs to the badly damaged ones. I used a technique called WALANT (Wide Awake Local Anaesthesia No Tourniquet) which meant she was able to stay awake throughout the entire operation.
“Not only does this seem to put patients at ease, it also means they don’t have to recover from the effects of a general anaesthetic which speeds up their actual recovery process.”
Now, following a series of physiotherapy June is delighted to have ‘excellent movement’ back in her wrist.
She said: “The operation went very well and I was delighted to be able to chat to people in the operating theatre as Mr Shyamalan carried out his work. It really put me at my ease both before and during the actual surgery.
“It really is beyond my expectations to be able to do some everyday things that most people take for granted and, as a bit of a bonus, there is hardly a scar to show for the surgery he carried out.”
I fractured my scaphoid bone 20 years ago playing football where it had developed AVN (Avascular Necrosis) causing the bone to die and loose its blood supply.
After 20 years of pain and suffering and being seen by many orthopaedic surgeons with no clear answer of fixing the scaphoid itself I had given up and decided I would have to live with the pain.
However, my everyday simple tasks were becoming more and more painful and my wrist was significantly weakening, which led me to go private. I was referred to Mr Shyamalan (Shyam), a specialist in scaphoid fractures and learnt that Shyalm actually fractured his scaphoid playing Rugby which ignited his passion orthopaedic hand and wrist surgery.
After seeing Shyam, I was so impressed with his friendly attitude and his confidence to fix my wrist, I felt at ease and confident he could get me back to enjoying everyday things without suffering.
The surgery itself wasn’t invasive and was done through key hole surgery, without cutting and leaving scars on my wrist. Shyam was transparant and open with me and explained my wrist would not be perfect due to it being a 20 year old fracture, which was more than understandable.
One year on my wrist has massively improved with considerably less pain and an improvement in strength.
I am able to do hard work without pain limiting the amount of work I can do.
I am ever so grateful that there are surgeons like Shyam that do not shy away from a challenge and are willing to attempt some of the most complex hand issues and surgeries giving back livelihood to many people.
I would totally recommend Mr Shyamalan for a scaphoid fracture as he is an expert in this area and this particular bone, the only thing I regret is I wish I came across him earlier.
I am originally from the West Midlands but live and work abroad, and when I found out that I needed to have surgery to release my trigger finger (thumb) I wanted to find a sensibly priced and safe surgeon back in the UK from a trusted regional expert to minimise any chances of complications.
Mr Shyamalan was recommended to me, and on arranging a Zoom video consultation with him, he explained all about the procedure, possible risks or complications and answered all of my questions, giving me a detailed timeline of what to expect, after which an appointment was made.
On the day of the surgery, apart from the initial shock of the local anaesthetic, Mr Shyamalan along with his staff did an excellent job reassuring me all the way through the procedure. I am happy to say that the operation was very successful and my thumb is now fully functional.
On returning abroad Mr Shyamalan has continued his ongoing communication with me, offering advice or reassurance as and when needed. Therefore, I would not hesitate to recommend him as throughout my experience I have found him to be friendly and approachable and offer continuing professional and reliable advice.
I suffer with Osteoarthritis and in 2003 l had both thumb joints replaced.
In 2016 the right thumb joint had broken down and knowing this was going to be no normal procedure, l looked for a hand specialist on the internet and found Mr Shyamalan on the Spire Healthcare website. He had a glowing reference for his expertise in hand surgery so I contacted him and immediately made an appointment.
Luckily l have private insurance but he does do NHS too, he was very positive with what he could do for my thumb, actually making a joint to suit as it was no normal operation. All went very well and l had my normal life back in no time.
Unfortunately this year my AXA insurance changed slightly with a few less doctors on the list but l actually checked that Mr Shyamalan was on that list. Thank goodness l did, as out of the blue about 6 weeks ago l developed trigger thumb on my right hand.
Mr Shyamalan remembered me, which l must admit surprised me with all the patients he sees, but he is such a caring man l shouldn't really have thought that. He arranged for me to have the operation right away as a day patient in Sutton Coldfield Medical Centre because of the Covid 19 problems. He operated about 4 weeks ago, l didn't have to have a general anaesthetic therefore it was done really quickly.
All his team including nurses, and l must include his secretary Pam who is amazing too, were all lovely and put me at ease throughout it all. My thumb is already back to normal and you can't even see the scars from either operation.
I cannot thank Mr Shyamalan enough for what he has done for me, osteoarthritis is not a pleasant thing to have, and its nice to know there are Specialists out there such as Mr Shyamalan that try their best to make life more bearable for sufferers of this awful condition.
I was suffering with pins and needles, numbness and pain in the night that awoke me from my sleep and injections from my GP weren’t working and I was told I had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Reading the testimonials online gave me a high degree of confidence so I decided to travel.
It was quick and easy to gain an appointment at a suitable time, and the communication was excellent communication and professional.
They tried to fit in to my every need, as well as it also being very cost effective.
The outcome was excellent outcome, so much I sought out Mr Shyamalan from the Midland Hand Clinic when I had problems with my other hand.
Any hand or wrist problem for an expert opinion I’d certainly trust the Midland Hand Clinic.
Make a short journey to see Mr Shyamalan even if you’re out of the area.
Having successful surgery for carpal tunnel was my only goal and that’s what they provided for me.
Our patient had been in pain for 2 months with a thorn in his thumb. After two courses of antibiotics he was still in pain, especially at night. He’d seen a NHS team and was awaiting a scan and then possible surgery 6 weeks later.
After much thought he phoned Midland Hand Clinic as a self-funding patient and asked for help, and saw Mr Shyamalan (Shyam) our hand, wrist and elbow specialist just four hours later.
Mr Shyam operated on the thumb that day and removed the painful thorn and washed out the infection. Our patient was delighted and could sleep comfortably that night.
“After some thought I’m so happy I’d gone to the Midland Hand Clinic at Spire Parkway and delighted at Mr Shyamalan’s confident diagnosis and treatment.
The team fills me with confidence and I’d recommend them to anyone.”
I have nothing but praise for Mr Shyamalan. After suffering with Dupuytren's Contracture for many years and seeing two previous consultants who were unable to help, I was amazed when Mr Shyamalan said he could straighten my hand with a simple treatment.
Frankly I did not believe it as first but after a simple injection of a special drug and a subsequent manipulation of the finger, it is totally restored.
Apart from the fantastic treatment, I would also like to say Mr Shyamalan is a lovely man. He has an extremely pleasant manner, is extremely knowledgable, explains everything very clearly and is kind and considerate. I recommend him unreservedly.
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