I'm weighing up surgery on my thumb joints

I totally agree Sheila. It will be absolute last resort for me after exhausting all other options. 

I can see where you are coming from, but I tried all Caringbah's suggestions, and absolutely nothing worked, so  I bit the bullet and had the operation, and it has most definitely worked for me.

I had my left hand (second operation) done on 9/16.  I returned to work and was able to drive on 9/26.  I do not feel like my life has been on hold.  You do learn to adapt.   I use my elbow, teeth ha ha....I am in the removable brace now and I can touch the tips of all of my fingers with my thumb, so I am on track with the therapy.  It does still get sore if I do to much, which i tend to do.  My right hand was done in January 2017...I almost have full strength and generally no soreness...it has been a sore the last few months as it is compensating for not using my left hand.  Pull on pants, slip on shoes, and I did manage to get my bra on after a week..It is amazing what you can figure out to do when needed.  I have no regrets on either surgery and I am looking forward to being generally pain free.

Judith,   I'm with you.  The surgery is well worth the "down time" and I'm not a patient person with down time.<G>  I broke my wrist in early May.  No surgery for that but after it healed, my thumb was nearly fused, extremely painful, and virtually unusable.  I still blame that on the fact that the first ortho doc didn't consider a second fracture near the thumb and the cast was extremely painful in that area.  At any rate, I got a second opinion and was told surgery was the only option for improvement.  (Both docs said there was extreme arthritis.)   In spite of the fact that my bones crumbled during surgery and required three pins, it is well on track to normal, or what will be a new normal.  The previous pain is definitely gone and I'm doing just about anything but know when I've done too much.  I do use caution when lifting and putting too much pressure on the thumb,..just common sense stuff.  Hoping not to need surgery on the other hand but since it is somewhat affected I know that's a possibility.  I will definitely do it if/when the need arises.  My #1 advice is find a good orthopedic hand specialist you trust.  That was key for me after the first doc offered no options.  PT is also important although I didn't initially think so. So after both a broken wrist and thumb surgery, I am thrilled at where my hand is today.  My goal is to again reach an octave on the piano and I'm confident I'll get there.

Yes, I went to a well vetted hand surgeon as well.  Very important! Glad you are on the mend!

You really do not have to put your life on hold for 3 months, having had this done to my primary hand, I was only really inconvenienced for a week or 2 and then I had limited use of that hand as well. Within 3 months I was pretty well doing most things as before, but remembering to be careful and not to overdo things.

It is amazing what one can do with one hand when it becomes a necessity.  As they say necessity is the mother of invention.

As far as I am concerned it was well worth the inconvenience as the result is heaven by comparison to the pain I had. And I had another finger fused at the same time on the same hand, so it was a double hit for me.

I suppose it boils down to how much you want to put up with the continual pain by using the hand in its current state, one thing is for sure it does not get any better, as I can tell you my left hand is ready well and truly for the same procedure.

Peter, I agree with you that it's not going to get any better. However, I have seen plenty of you tubes where people take forever to heal properly. Plenty of reports of unintended consequences. Some people have lost the use of their hand through botched operations. 

I intend to drag it out as long as I can in the hope of something better turning up. 

So far I'm coping. I think the arthritis compression gloves work the best. Much better than painkillers....as soon as I put them on pain is immediately relieved by about 80%. 

Cheers 

I know where you are coming from, the thing is if one goes down this road to ensure that they get a surgeon who is absolutely qualified for this surgery. I would suggest that a lot of the bad cases may have a lot to do with people not doing their homework. and for sure one only tends to see bad results advertised, very few successful outcomes probably see the light of day.

 

 Dear Peter; I agree with you 100% that you must find a very good surgeon to do this type of surgery. These are the only hands with the good Lord gave us. So we must take care of them to the best we can.  Therefore you must do your own research and find the best surgeon you possibly can. 

Shelia, I'm hoping to hold off long enough for some better proceedures to be be developed. I'm 72....I don't want 2 yrs of my life taken us up with recovering from surgery. 

Cheers 

Hi Sheila, I don't have any major issues with that. I do my own research anyway. 

I wouldn't want to be the first to try a new procedure but I am okay with going early. 

For example...I was the third man in Australia to have a PAE (Prostate Artery Embolisation) for an enlarged prostate. This was instead of the more usual TURP, a barbaric proceedure with a high  incidence of incontince and impotence.

Theres probably been at least a thousand PAEs done now in Oz. I have been as good as gold since having that proceedure done.

Cheers