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What a courageus story. The Physical therapist may have had some trouble reaching you. I might suggest you try to reach him/her again. Slow gentle but consistent hand exercise is what I taught. Grippng a insulation rubber condiut cylinder was also used with my patients. DO not grip a ball. It will deform the hand( unlesds it is very soft). Simple opposition of the thumb to each finger will help. Remember, gentle thumb opposiong, correct abduction, extension and flexion of the thumb should be done within pain toterance. Soft gripping puddy may have beern given you. These are standard exercises, but they need to be reviewed. Televideo with your Physical Therapist would give light to this routine and the the sequence he/she follows.. Good luck.( Please review any increase in pain medication with your Physicians office. Were you givena temporary soft wrap brace?
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@bill54321 I appreciate your reply. I am trying to be gentle as possible with my thumb.. if it hurts more than I think it should I am not doing it.
I think my first PT session was 3 weeks after surgery.. evaluation at 2 + weeks. I did 2 sessions a week. By the 5th visit I thought I was losing ground. Pinching motion hurt more and my thumb felt like it was catching. I saw my surgeon on the 10th of March. She said the pain was arthritis in the joint nearest my nail and the next joint was trigger thumb. She did an injection and it helped a lot. I am beginning to have this pain again and the catching sensation... started day after I did my post here. I have an appointment scheduled for 21 April. If it gets worse I will call her. Heat and less small motions may be enough to calm it. I cannot take nsaids.
I may have some of the rubber conduit. It sounds something very reasonable to use. I only grip the putty and I thought twisting it might take the place of the bolts, washers and nuts I put together at PT. I can now open most child proof caps. I had to have help with the cap on an eye drop bottle today. It hasn't given me a problem for a while. Our dog has to have eye drops twice a day and sometimes another type of eyedrops in between. I can squeeze the drops out okay. The joint nearest my nail os more swollen today. Overuse? the weather? We had a thunderstorm yesterday and more rain to come in the next couple of days.
Oh.. the putty.. he told me to buy. The therapist seems a bit stingy 😁 I could probably make a putty more similar to what we use in his office. I will try to reach him again Monday.
Oh.. I am off brace.. no soft brace. I do have one brace that is just thumb and the metal can be taken out of. The braces I had were just over the counter. The second one I got from Amazon the therapist liked and the dr said to stop wearing it about a week after I got it. I was just wearing it mostly at night and when I had to handle the dog. I continued to do so for a few more nights and when I had to take the dog to the nursing home to see my mom.. twice a week. He gets excited.. a 15 pound mini poodle. 😄
My pain med is though my family doctor. He controls it well. I only had to increase it for 3 weeks after surgery and then back to as needed. Right now needing it more for my back. Arthritis just sucks the life out of me sometimes.
Thank you again.
ZeeGee