Hand Surgery - trigger finger

[tlwwalker]

Two years ago, I had my first bout of trigger finger in my index finger of my right hand. I am right handed. It affected my finger picking pretty badly. I got an orthopedic surgeon to examine me and he treated me with a cortisone shot. Ouch. But two weeks later I got relief and no recurrence since.

Last April, trigger finger appeared in my middle finger of my left hand. Cotisone shot. Ouch. Relief until a month ago. Examined today. Scheduled for surgery to release the pulley in the left middle finger. Gonna get cut on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. And I am looking forward to this. Several weeks of recovery time are involved. 

Backstory on the doctor. Same guy repaired my left shoulder impingement 18 years ago. During the first cortisone shot (did I mention Ouch?) visit, we learned that we both play guitar as hobbyists. He had an upcoming gig featuring a Beatles revue. I have now jammed with him on four occasions, and we will again.  Good to have a sympathetic, understanding doctor. 

 

[Pinch]

1 minute ago, tlwwalker said:

Two years ago, I had my first bout of trigger finger in my index finger of my right hand. I am right handed. It affected my finger picking pretty badly. I got an orthopedic surgeon to examine me and he treated me with a cortisone shot. Ouch. But two weeks later I got relief and no recurrence since.

Last April, trigger finger appeared in my middle finger of my left hand. Cotisone shot. Ouch. Relief until a month ago. Examined today. Scheduled for surgery to release the pulley in the left middle finger. Gonna get cut on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. And I am looking forward to this. Several weeks of recovery time are involved. 

Backstory on the doctor. Same guy repaired my left shoulder impingement 18 years ago. During the first cortisone shot (did I mention Ouch?) visit, we learned that we both play guitar as hobbyists. He had an upcoming gig featuring a Beatles revue. I have now jammed with him on four occasions, and we will again.  Good to have a sympathetic, understanding doctor. 

 

Sounds good. Every hand surgeon should play guitar.

[Retired]

Best wishes on healing. At 13,  I nearly cut my left arm off.  I was supposed to bleed out and die before getting to the Hospital. They saved my left arm as the bone itself held my arm on.  It was cut all the way around with all the veins and nerves.  That took me almost 3 years to recover.  So this should be a walk in the park for you.  Still play guitar. That was 57 years ago. 

[Ceptorman]

Is this called The Barney Fife surgery? 

[RBSinTo]

17 hours ago, Pinch said:

Sounds good. Every hand surgeon should play guitar.

Pinch,

I wonder if guitar playing would be a detriment to a surgeon because of the lessened sensitivity of the fingertips of the fingering/ chording hand.

RBSinTo

 

[Pinch]

2 hours ago, RBSinTo said:

Pinch,

I wonder if guitar playing would be a detriment to a surgeon because of the lessened sensitivity of the fingertips of the fingering/ chording hand.

RBSinTo

 

So THAT's why they're collectors rather than players! (Or so we like to think. Or something.)

[tlwwalker]

On 11/13/2023 at 8:41 PM, Retired said:

Best wishes on healing. At 13,  I nearly cut my left arm off.  I was supposed to bleed out and die before getting to the Hospital. They saved my left arm as the bone itself held my arm on.  It was cut all the way around with all the veins and nerves.  That took me almost 3 years to recover.  So this should be a walk in the park for you.  Still play guitar. That was 57 years ago. 

That is an awful, wonderful, miraculouse and inspiring story that I have never heard before.  Thank you for your fine wishes.

[tlwwalker]

8 hours ago, Pinch said:

So THAT's why they're collectors rather than players! (Or so we like to think. Or something.)

The doctor's guitar (Not Doc's Guitar) is a custom Randy Wood (Savannah, GA) seven string acoustic electric with piezo pickup that sounds great.  A doubled G string only- the way a 12 string is strung.  Great sounding to play lots of open chords. He has a stratocaster of no geat note in the corner, but I have not seen him pick it up. The Randy Wood's is a one off by an artisan - only one is existance to our knowledge. That's pretty cool.

[Pinch]

7 hours ago, tlwwalker said:

The doctor's guitar (Not Doc's Guitar) is a custom Randy Wood (Savannah, GA) seven string acoustic electric with piezo pickup that sounds great.  A doubled G string only- the way a 12 string is strung. 

Interesting approach!

[RBSinTo]

20 hours ago, Pinch said:

So THAT's why they're collectors rather than players! (Or so we like to think. Or something.)

That's not at all what I was implying.

I thought it was dentists, rather than doctors who were the poser/ collectors.

RBSinTo

[Retired]

14 hours ago, tlwwalker said:

That is an awful, wonderful, miraculouse and inspiring story that I have never heard before.  Thank you for your fine wishes.

Yeah but I had a bet with my aunt. If I could drink a glass of water with my left arm, She would give me $100.00.  Of course there was a timeline there. Forgot what it was. I did fail but tried so hard doing it. I lost the bet and got zero for trying, Lol. Had another bet with my mom.  Forgot what it was about but I do remember what for. A 426 Hemi for my race car. At the time I wanted to race a Rail Dragster. So It needed to go 6 seconds for Alcohol. I won that bet but got ZIP.  Moral of that story? Never trust your parents LOL. 

[Dub-T-123]

On 11/13/2023 at 5:41 PM, Retired said:

Best wishes on healing. At 13,  I nearly cut my left arm off.  I was supposed to bleed out and die before getting to the Hospital. They saved my left arm as the bone itself held my arm on.  It was cut all the way around with all the veins and nerves.  That took me almost 3 years to recover.  So this should be a walk in the park for you.  Still play guitar. That was 57 years ago. 

Glad you pulled through and are still able to play guitar

[tlwwalker]

I had the surgery this morning. Prognosis is excellent. No discomfort after 5 hours. 

I will keep posting updates on recovery milestones.

[Dave F]

I've had the operation on the middle finger on both hands. I could use the hand immediately after the stiches healed, but it took about 5 months for full recovery. This is a good time of the year for the operation.

Best of luck.

[jdgm]

Best wishes.

[tlwwalker]

Recovery update:

Proceedure done 4 days ago. Zero pain from proceedure. Hand wrapped in immobilizing splint for two days. That dressing was removed after 2 days. Three stitches in hand .  They will be removed at day #10, next Friday. I have been moving the finger with me right hand. "Rolling" it with my right hand repeatedly.  This is is the physical therapy the doctor has ordered.  I actually played a few chords on my ES-335 last night.  All is very promising. More later.

[tlwwalker]

Update: Stitches (3) removed today. Range of motion increasing. Discomfort minimal. Full, forced extention of middle finger not quite there yet. I have been playing my electric guitar and having fun. Going back for final post op exam in 3 weeks.  Next jam with my buddies is next week.  I'll be ready .Treatment is switching from ice to heat. Eucerin cream to help heal the incision site.  Prognosis is excellent.  More after the New Year.

[tlwwalker]

Hand has been mending well. Physical therapy consists of squeezing a sponge a lot.  Then I stretch the fingers a lot in a "praying" motion. Range of motion has improved a lot.  Not back to perfect, but the choice for surgery was clearly the best route. I am playing guitar pain free and have no limitations other than my lack of talent. I am grateful that I can play as much as I like once again.

[tx-ogre]

Good to hear.  Congrats on your successful surgery.