So... the appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon went really well yesterday, and I really liked him. I got all dumb and showed up an HOUR early (my appointment was for 6:00 pm), but they took me in by 5:15!
I explained about having carpal tunnel, the ganglion, a "green stick" break in the wrist when I was 10, and a work injury about 5+ years ago. And how now I'm having all this pain and tugging sensation when I reach for things. It's hard to grip things because it begins to hurt: the steering wheel, pens, the blow dryer. I must be able to use the blow dryer! You don't want to see this when I can't blow dry my hair!
So he examined my wrist and the ganglion and started poking around. He touched a spot on the fleshy part at the base of my thumb and I said "Hey. That kinda hurts." So he kept poking and finally pronounced "It's not your wrist. It's your thumb." Whereat he pulls out this plastic skeleton hand, and shows me how the joints of the fingers work.
(Warning: Science-y content!)
The joint that connects the thumb to the hand is a saddle joint - it allows a greater range of rotation/movement.
(End Science-y content.)
It's that joint that's bothering me: it's pre-arthritic. There is a history of arthritis in my mom & her mom, and apparently that makes me more prone to it. He says I'm too young ("only 30" "why thank you, doctor!") to actually have arthritis, but the symptoms I have indicate it's going in that direction.
So he put this semi-rigid splint on my hand - my thumb sticks out like "Yeah!" like "A-OK!" like "Goin' my way?" - and is sending me to physical therapy. They will make a hard plastic, rigid splint and give me exercises to make the muscle stronger, to support the joint better. He told me to continue taking ibuprofen for a couple weeks, and to see him again in July if it doesn't get better. At that point, we'll talk about cortisone shots... or surgery.
And that's it for the thumb/wrist/ganglion saga... for now. Anyone heading to anywhere I'd like to go? My thumbs always out for a ride!
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2 comments:
I'm sure glad it wasn't the joint in your middle finger or you'd be flipping everyone the bird everywhere you went:). I'm glad you got it figured out!
Haha, Erin, that's funny. Yeah, being a permanent hitchhiker is better than always flipping everyone the bird!!! Hope the healing goes well and you don't have to have anything major done.
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