Thumb replacement?

[bearman49709]

Found out last week that I'll have to have this done in the future.

Why they call this thumb replacement I'll never know!

For those like me who didn't know what this is they take out the Trapezium bone in the wrist and place something in there to cushion the bones on ether side.

In my case I have arthritis pushing the Trapezoid bone out of place, and it will only get worse with time.

 

[old bear]

I have nothing to add to this, except to wish you the very best with your operation.

 

[bearman49709]

Thanks old bear, don't know when that will be may take a few years or not.

 

[DeathGrip]

That don't sound like much fun. I wish you the best.

 

[Cpo1944]

In my almost 50 years experience in Prosthetics & Orthotics I have learned one thing about Arthritis=
If you move the joint- it hurts
If you don't move it -it gets stiff
Surgery is the last resort since it stirs up a can of worms and may just make matters worse.
If I were you, I`d do my best to get by without any surgical intervention.

 

[H Richard]

Since we are on hands and arthritis, does anyone know if you can get injections in the joints with Simvisc (or similar) like you can your knees? I have terribly aching finger joints and shooting pains. I take 4 Aleve a day, and use a topical cream for pain, and am now trying a magnetic bracelet. I do use an rubber eggerciser to exercise my hands daily but stiffness and pain really gets bad at times.

 

[16thVACav]

It could be worse - you could have stuck that thumb up the south end of a north bound pit bull.

 

[BC38]

Since we are on hands and arthritis, does anyone know if you can get injections in the joints with Simvisc (or similar) like you can your knees? I have terribly aching finger joints and shooting pains. I take 4 Aleve a day, and use a topical cream for pain, and am now trying a magnetic bracelet. I do use an rubber eggerciser to exercise my hands daily but stiffness and pain really gets bad at times.

I'm sure Synvisc, Euflexxa, or Hyalgan (the 3 most common brands) would work on your hands. But you would need injections in every arthritic joint, which would be a LOT of small injections, and they are VERY expensive. I'll wager the insurance companies wouldn't want to pay for it.

 

[smitholdtimer]

bearman49709

Actually I'm only qualified to speak to the arthritis in the hip but my experience is/was that it will not get better, will actually depreciate further and hurt like heck in the process. If the surgery is inevitable the sooner the better and the pain is gone. Just one experienced vote for sooner as opposed to later and best wishes for a successful surgical procedure.

 

[Double-O-Dave]

Hi Bearman49709:

I had the surgery done to my non-dominant left thumb almost 10 years ago. The surgery isn't a problem, but the recovery/rehabilitation time of nearly a year is/was. When my right thumb started acting up, I saw a certified hand surgeon to see how medical science had progressed in 10 years. The short answer is - it hasn't. For the surgery guys, the replacement surgery is still considered the "gold standard". So, I started looking for nonsurgical options.

I have been seeing a PMR (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation) doctor for the past few years for my back and hip pain, and he has been treating me with prolotherapy:

What is prolotherapy? | Get.Smarter.com

In some cases, the prolotherapy worked. In others, I had to escalate to PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) injections:

What is a platelet-rich plasma treatment? | Get.Smarter.com

I had two prolotherapy injections to my right thumb without results. I then had a single PRP injection to the right thumb and saw at least 80% improvement within a few weeks of the injection. I am scheduled for my second, and hopefully last, PRP injection next week (3/30/16), and I hope to have 100% improvement - i.e. a "normal" thumb following the 2nd PRP injection.

The upside of the prolo and PRP is that if it doesn't work for you, surgery is still an option. The long and painful rehabilitation time, and the loss of manual dexterity of my dominant hand are the primary considerations for me to seek a nonsurgical intervention. The downside - well, there are two main ones: 1) finding a good PMR doctor in your area; 2) the cost. Both prolo and PRP are considered "experimental", and I don't know of any insurance company that will pay for the treatments. Thus, you get to pay for the treatments out of your own pocket, and it ain't cheap. Prolo usually goes for around $150.00/injection. PRP = $600.00/injection.

One thing you might consider in the short term is a special brace for your thumb. Here is one I like a lot:

Push MetaGrip® | by Push Braces

The brace costs about $80.00, but it is very good, and so far, durable. You can machine wash it (cold water only - air dry only) when it starts to smell funky, and I've had very good luck with it. It is especially good if you wear it at night.

You can contact me by email if you want to discuss this further: [email protected]

Best of luck,

Dave

 

[bearman49709]

Double-O-Dave
That all sounds great, but will any of that cause the arthritis to shrink and allow the trapezoid bone to return to its normal position?

 

[JSR III]

I have heard that a daily treatment of Captain Morgan's Private Stock works wonders on arthritis and other ailments of the aging. They say one of the negative side effects can be memory loss, but if the pain in your hands is one of the things that your forget about, then all's well that ends well.

There are apparently other oral medications out there that vary by region so you may find one more to your liking geographically.

PS: I understand for instance that the owner of this forum is very fond of the clear medicine that comes in a mason jar if I recall correctly.

 

[arjay]

I have heard that a daily treatment of Captain Morgan's Private Stock works wonders on arthritis and other ailments of the aging. They say one of the negative side effects can be memory loss, but if the pain in your hands is one of the things that your forget about, then all's well that ends well.

There are apparently other oral medications out there that vary by region so you may find one more to your liking geographically.

PS: I understand for instance that the owner of this forum is very fond of the clear medicine that comes in a mason jar if I recall correctly.

I've found a little snort to be helpful with my back and knees,but it can trigger a gout attack [emoji33]
There's just no winning this stuff [emoji57]

 

[Double-O-Dave]

Double-O-Dave
That all sounds great, but will any of that cause the arthritis to shrink and allow the trapezoid bone to return to its normal position?

The theory behind prolotherapy, and its big brothers, PRP and BMAC (Bone Marrow Aspirant Concentrate) is somewhat different, but related. In prolotherapy, an irritant, in this case, a dextrose (sugar) solution causes localized swelling. The swelling actually stabilizes the injured area - almost like a cast or splint. In PRP, you also have the stem cells from your body's platelets that help to repair the damaged tissues. Stem cells are building blocks in the human body:

Stem cells: What they are and what they do - Mayo Clinic

Thus, you get the localized swelling (splinting/casting effect), and hopefully, you get regeneration of damaged tissues at the site. I know it sounds a bit like mumbo-jumbo, and an honest doctor will tell you that it doesn't always work, but I had PRP and BMAC treatments to a torn labrum on my hip, and it worked great. The labrum is hard to treat as it doesn't have much of a blood supply. I was facing a hip replacement to fix a torn labrum where my hip joint was actually just fine (when they do a hip replacement, you no longer need a labrum).

Regards,

Dave

 

[Mule Packer]

I've been wearing a copper bracelet for over thirty years now since I was bucked off a young colt and the big stinker kicked me on the way down and broke my leg. Arthritis set in and it seemed like I was limping every morning for about thirty minutes before things got warmed up.

An old Forest Service packer told me about copper bracelets. He'd been wearing one for years. I kinda figured it was some sort of black magic juju or something, but, as he said, "I don't know if it works or not, but I don't hurt anymore."

I tried it for awhile, and while the pain seemed to be minimized, I noticed that the copper was turning my wrist green. I complained about this to the old packer and he said, "Heck, kid! Don'tcha know anything??!! That's just the poison getting sucked out!!!"

Anyway, I still have a few aches and pains...not as much as I used to. Or at least it seems that way. It might be psychosomatic, but I don't care...just as long as I don't hurt as much.

So far, I've been darn lucky and have only had to have shoulder surgery as a result of a mule accident, so I don't envy your operation. But, if the doctor says it will improve your situation, then that's great. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[johnmik1]

Found out last week that I'll have to have this done in the future.

Why they call this thumb replacement I'll never know!

For those like me who didn't know what this is they take out the Trapezium bone in the wrist and place something in there to cushion the bones on ether side.

In my case I have arthritis pushing the Trapezoid bone out of place, and it will only get worse with time.

I have had this surgery on both of my thumbs.They remove the Trapezium bone and cut a piece of tendon and bring it down to the thumb creating a cushion.I was in a cast for 1 month each time and did about 6-8 weeks of therapy.Fully recovered after that.A friend had it done recently and they are much less invasive that there were when mine was done in 2007 and 2009.It did relieve the severe pain that I had.In the old days they did a fusion that remove a substantial amount of movement ability in the hand.I would never have that done.Good Luck!

 

[finesse_r]

A good friend of mine had a younger brother that lost a thumb as an adult and a surgeon cut his big toe off and attached it to replace the thumb, but it did not take. So he ended up minus a thumb and a big toe. Good luck.

When he was a boy one of his tricks was to pick up a family size coke bottle (they were glass back then) with his toes, so he was well endowed in the toe department anyway. I had almost forgotten that until I started writing this. LOL

 

[Big Cholla]

Not A Cure

It could be worse - you could have stuck that thumb up the south end of a north bound pit bull.

LOL! I can tell you from personal experience....sticking your thumb up the arse of a Pit Bull is NOT a cure for hand arthritis. I have heard (from others more experienced than I) that placing an arthritic hand between the warming thighs of the right lady really helps. ........

 

[bearman49709]

I have had this surgery on both of my thumbs.They remove the Trapezium bone and cut a piece of tendon and bring it down to the thumb creating a cushion.I was in a cast for 1 month each time and did about 6-8 weeks of therapy.Fully recovered after that.A friend had it done recently and they are much less invasive that there were when mine was done in 2007 and 2009.It did relieve the severe pain that I had.In the old days they did a fusion that remove a substantial amount of movement ability in the hand.I would never have that done.Good Luck!

This is the way I understand it works.
I'm glad to hear it worked well for you.

 

[H Richard]

I guess I forgot to mention I do "treat" my arthritis daily with about 2 fingers of Single Malt in addition the the other medical treatments.