Hand arthritis

[Deejojo]

anybody had hand surgery for arthritis in thumb joint mine is excruciating can’t grip had a steroid injection it didn’t help at all

[allanah]

Yes honey I have and I will be honest for me it was a very painful operation. However eventually after, for me ,3 /4 month and lots of physio it's much better and I can use my hands better. The scar does get tight even now, maybe 5 year later, so I constantly gave to massage and moisturise it now.It's a big undertaking so you'd have to be preprepared. But others here may have had an easier time

[julie1908 in reply to allanah]

just before covid I was due to have knuckles replaced and the plastic surgeon said at the time that I needed 3 more operations on my hand after but because of covid I got listed on the system and last year was referred back but because my wrist was so damaged they couldn’t do them operations until the wrist was replaced so I had that done 3 weeks ago and have my first physio this morning x

[allanah in reply to julie1908]

Good luck. Take some painkillers just before x !

[gussmithy]

I had an operation to remove a bone at the base of thumb, a trapeziectomy. Op was no problem and all fine since.

[Sarahg62]

I have too. Eventually ended up having 5 ops as it wouldn’t fuse. It’s the hardest joint to do. I now have half a thumb which is properly fused, but no pain 😀 so worth it in the end.

[sampete]

I had a trapeziectomy which has been a disaster, left me with a useless permanently bent deformed thumb. A different surgeon when he saw it said he would do it again for me. So after going through it again it looked exactly the same. He then proceeded to push the base of the thumb into position and put it in a cast for 6 weeks, with me silently thinking there is no way this is going to work. Guess what! It didn't.

[Maggsie]

I had a screwed plate inserted in base joint of my right thumb 25 years ago. It's still working well as it stabilises the joint to allow me to pick up items. I've had all finger knuckles replaced but most need doing again. Most of the pain I get seems to be from the tendons which are quite shredded because of the damage to the knuckles. I really do need to get back on the list as my right hand is pretty useless now

[LadyBug44]

hi there,

I had the CMC joint (base of the thumb) arthritis surgery done. They removed the bone and took a tendon from my arm rolled it up and put it in between so that the thumb wouldn’t cave in. You can look up that surgery on the internet and it will explain it. The surgery was hard and a long healing time, then physio. But before the surgery I was in so much pain for years, for me it was all worth it because I have full use of that hand again. You will never have the full strength as previously but I had none so for me it was worth it! A lot of people have success with that surgery but most people only post in forum when they have issues. No surgery comes without pain, and risk. You can message me if you have any questions!

[beeckey]

Hi Deejojo I had my wrist fused many years ago and that worked for me for a long time.I have been waiting for months to hear about getting my knuckles replaced on both hands as my fingers are almost bent into a permanent fist and very painful.I have had RA for over 20years and had many joints replaced bet worry about this one because i have not heard many people on hear who have had it done.