Basal Joint Surgery with tendon & riding motorcycle
Posted , 4 users are following.
I'm getting ready for the basal joint surgery where they replace the joint with a wadded up tendon. I'm a long time biker (motorcyclist) and my bike is my primary mode of transportation for my 60 mile round trip commute. I have a pickup but it uses 3x the gas as the bike! I was wondering if anyone has had this surgery and also rides? How quick were you able to get back on the bike safely? My clutch hand is the one getting the surgery and it's my non-dominant hand.
Thanks for the help!
1 like, 12 replies
samantha38610 JamiFL
Posted
JamiFL samantha38610
Posted
I'm in Gainesville, FL. Dr. Powell is the only one I'd trust to do hand surgery on me. He's done 4 or 5 other hand/wrist sirgeries for me. He practices at The Orthopaedics Institute.
samantha38610 JamiFL
Posted
I'm in Lakeland and Gainesville is not that far to go. I want to make sure I find the best surgeon before I do it. When is your surgery schedule and how long will you be down/out of work etc... Go Gators!!
JamiFL samantha38610
Posted
Don't know yet. I want to go to Bike Week Daytona first plus I have biker political thing on April 10th in Tallahassee that I want to do If I can stand the pain that long.
wknight JamiFL
Posted
Ask the surgeon and physio they will tell you.
I have had two joint replacements and for them it was eight weeks before I could get back on the motorbike. Just had surgery again and and it's looking like six weeks before I will be able to pull the lever without pain
JamiFL wknight
Posted
samantha38610 wknight
Posted
JamiFL samantha38610
Posted
nope, haven't had it yet. When I discussed options with Dr. Powell, he said try cortisone first which I have done about 2 weeks ago. That hurt like the dickens! He said give it 2 weeks and that will be Monday. So far no luck. The only thing that helps is wearing the splint (http://www.push.eu/products/hand-braces/push-ortho-thumb-brace-cmc) almost 24/7. within an hour of removing it the pain is very bad.
samantha38610 JamiFL
Posted
I had the cortisone injection beginning of January. My doctor numbed it so I didn't feel anything. It worked for about 3 weeks and the pain came right back. He gave me Celebrex to try but I haven't tried it yet. I've taken Meloxicam and prescription Ibuprofen which helps some but not enough. I don't want to take strong pain meds. I was asking wknight if he had ever had the thumb basal joint surgery. He mentioned he has had quite a few surgeries and I was curious about his joint replacements.
JamiFL samantha38610
Posted
I've been a disabled vet since 1978. Pain issues are just a part of my life. I've tried all those meds and not had much luck. It doesn't help any that I also came down with fibromyalgia. I've had 16 operations plus a few ER type visits to sew up lacerations while I was a kid. No joint replacements but I have had 3 cervical fusions as a result of a C-3 fracture from a sudden dismount of my motorcycle. I've been on various pain meds for a long time, 20+ years. For me, it's no big deal. They allow me to function and continue to work a full time job in spite of my disability.
wall1409 JamiFL
Posted
Hi
I'm in uk . I had to unfortunately give up my bike riding days in 2004 due to dropping my bike in garage and dislocating my thumb badly. They put it straight and said no fractures but I was in agony for 3 months. Eventually my doctor sent me back to hospital where a consultant re checked my X-ray and found 4 bad fractures. The only operation they could do was to fuse basal and next joint up. Unfortunately after extensive physio , I couldn't get movement back in my thumb and sadly could no longer ride my bike . These days you can get clutch moved to opposite side etc but I'm now unfortunately riddled with arthritis and a disease called Lupus so I'm just about managing to drive my automatic car and rely on a wheelchair to get me about. Good luck and happy biking
JamiFL wall1409
Posted
I feel for you! I rode from about age 19 to age 32 then took a break while raising kids then at age 50 got back on. Been riding almost daily for the past 10 years. I routinely put 25K-30K miles a year on my bikes and usually less than 10K on my truck. I'm going to need to ride at least another 6 years because of finances. Plus in 2022, I want to start traveling on the bike and seeing the USA. I ride a Kawasaki Vulcan Voyager 1700 (non-ABS). It's a big bike but its a crap load of fun to ride. Friends call it a mobile couch.
I don't have thumb pain while riding it normally but the splint does get in the way some. Most of the pain is due to work issues although they denied the workers comp claim. I manage several labs and have to type and work doing bench stuff requiring pipetting and that taxes the thumb a lot! Fortunately its not my dominant hand. I do have outer wrist issues in my dominant hand. I've had several surgeries to clean out scar tissue in it.