Thumb arthritis

hi , i was offered this op years ago. i was told it takes about a full year for full recovery. thats 2 years for 2 joints. Im now 75. i may live to 85. thats 20% of the rest of my life recovering from thumb surgery. too big a price too pay and no guarantee of success.

i began researching alternatives to surgery. that was 6 years ago and i am now mostly pain free.

this is what worked for me.

arthritis compression gloves....very effective

PRP injections. Platelet Rich Plasma injections. expensive but effective ....gives three months relief.

micro current therapy.....works well. two electrodes that attatch to either side of the thumb when sleeping. works well

lately im having good success with supplements.

vitamin k2 Mk 4 capsules plus D3. there is only one brand that is suitable. PM me for details. other brands are way too low diseage.

i find that tumeric works very well also.

i have not regretted forgoing surgery one bit...actually feeling quite pleased with myself.

I have osteoarthritis in both thumbs CMC joint. I am 49 and joints are the age of a 75 year old i was told by hand surgeon. 85% worn down and very big spurs on both.

Today i am 8 weeks post op. on my right thumb.i watched many u tube videos of postop progress. everyone made it sound like it was no big deal.

Immediately after surgery to 3 days pain was tough. ended up at GP for stronger meds then ER for even stronger all in same day.

40mg morphine finally controlled the pain.

Gradually switched to T3.

Had cast and stitches removed at 2.5 weeks. No movement of thumb. Mew cast put on. NO use of right and 5 more weeks.

Cast was removed last Friday (3 days ago). Splint to be worn 2-3 more weeks . only to be removed for shower or to do prescribed exercises.

day 1 i did as i was told

day 2 started by rules, then quickly realized it felt good to have brace off during exercise. my hand starts to loosen up and then brace goes back on and takes me back to 0 flexibility then next time i take it off.

So i have kept it off and am very careful with movement but my can move it well. Cannot bend wrist nearly as much as my left hand but its not stiff.

I start physio virturally tomorrow and will have to explain why my brace is off and how i can do so much.

even gave the dog a bath yesterday, scrubbing him with my right hand. next to no pain.

The deciding factor for me was, my age and quality of the remainder of my life. the daily constant pain of arthritis and the thought of needing help to dress and feed myself at this age or in 20 years did not sit well with me .

I have an amazing surgeon who i was very confident with . 97% sucess rate of the surgery to be pain free. slightly less mobility in thumb and wrist , i could deal with.

My scar is about 1.5 inches and barely visible. Its about .5 " longer than he usually does because he used a piece of my tendon to stabilize my ligaments . I had the trapizium bone removed .

I had it 9 weeks ago today - the "tightrope" procedure.

Not gonna lie, there has been significant pain involved. Since the soft cast came off 7 weeks ago, I've noticed a just noticeable tiny improvement every day.

I got it done on my left thumb because the arthritis pain was holding me back playing guitar. About two weeks ago, I picked the guitar back up and I could play a few open chords (no barre chords) and just started playing a bit every day. I'm slowly getting to more and more chords. It does still hurt, but again, less and less every day. But it'll probably be another 3 or 4 months before I'm to a point where there's little to no pain. From another lady I've talked to who had it by 9 months it was great. So patience is advised. But it will get rid of the arthritis. You just have to go into it with the right attitude.