@lotsofpain

I had thumb pain at age 68… I tried injections and splinting first, but to no avail. I had surgery in late January and again in first part of June of last year. Many have had the surgery up into their late 80s… it depends upon your overall health here in my area of USA.. the southwest section of Georgia.

I could not write even my name. For some reason my surgeon did not take care of the trigger thumb while doing the tight-rope surgery for the cmc joint. (I may have the letters wrong.. a bit tired from 9 days 8 nights of grandchildren 😁). So had the trigger thumb surgery in June of last year.. which I was mostly awake for.. kind of twilight for about 10 minutes. The cmc surgery was less than an hour. There are several types of surgery for it.

I had about 10 physical therapy sessions before covid hit. They were not good therapist.. they had rather look at their phones and laptops instead of showing one how to correctly do an exercise.. pretty much threw something in front of me and said do it .. and I had to ask what I was doing and the correct way to do it.

Since my therapy time was cut from the picture… mostly my choice.. I looked online for exercise videos to help me recover. I am now back to crocheting.. albeit slow going and needing rest periods. Back to other things I enjoy… writing, coloring, brushing and petting the dog.. and back to hand washing our dishes.. without dropping them. I will be 70 in a few weeks 🥳

I really wish I could be of more help. I know you are in a lot of pain. Before bed you might try a warm hand soak or heating pad or use ice if it feels better… then use a bit of arthritic cream. It only eases a little, but I take a little over nothing.
ZeeGee