Top 3 Things Patients Wish they Knew Before Thumb Arthritis Surgery by Debra Anne Bourne, MD

In this video, Dr. Debra Anne Bourne discusses “Patient Perspectives after Trapeziectomy and Ligament Reconstruction Tendon Interposition: A Qualitative Analysis” by Stepan, Rolf, Zhu, Brody, et al, which appears in the December 2022 issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Volume 150 Issue 6.

[podbay]

I am having a suspensionplasty operation on the basal joint of my left thumb on 07 March 2024. This video was very helpful, thank you, Dr Bourne. I am a guitarist, so have accepted that I will be be playing guitar for at least 4-6 months after surgery. But I have watched a series of videos by another guitarist who operates (no pun intended!) three guitar music schools, and who had surgery on his basal joints in both thumbs, and his conclusion was that it was very worthwhile and a wise decision to have done. One thing he noted, which was of interest to me, was that his left hand was much stronger after the surgery, which is definitely encouraging.

[steph]

you need to mentally prepare that this is a LONG recovery, and you need the best surgeon and the best OT for after. im on month 8 of recovery of my dominate hand and still in therapy. buttons are still not an option. ive come a long way, and will be doing my left hand in September with the same team. worth it- but prep yourself!

[anitafmn]

I had CMC arthroplasty on my left hand in September 2023. Prior to surgery, my thumb joint pain was horrific. I couldn't live with that. My surgery went well. Surgeon was great! Almost a year later, I have full use and no pain. OT from January thru March. I purchased pink putty and 2 Theraband Flex bars to support my recovery. The surgeon that did my hand had done thousands of this procedure. He explained that he would avoid damaging my nerves. I was back to doing my workouts within weeks. While my left wrist was weaker, it's finally is back to 100%. A successful outcome is based on how many procedures a surgeon has performed and the reviews by patients. I will likely need to do my right hand eventually and will go to the same guy.

[inisaldridge]

I have exactly this surgery coming on the first of December. My doctor told me exactly the same, that it can take up to 6 months to have pain, but I have two sisters who got it done on both thumbs and they are fine and could manage as you still have 4 fingers free to use after a while. I hope all goes well for me because I'm on my own with 3 dog's and a cat, hallelujah 😂😂

[lindanchik]

You need to tell patients that although the vast majority of people get pain relief and are very happy with the results, there IS a chance you will be much worse off after the surgery and have even less use of your thumb than you had before surgery. This surgery has been the worst decision of my life. I’m almost 6 months post op and wouldn’t consider EVER doing this to my other thumb.

[lauracorner]

I'm 2.5 weeks into this surgery. I'm in a lot of pain... even in my shoulder now. The pain is very difficult to handle. I wish I knew it would be this painful and would last this long, and I know I've got weeks ahead of me maybe months. Can't say I'm glad I did it yet... prayerfully I will be glad, sure that will happen. I didn't keep the new plastic removable "cast on", it pressed deeply into my thumb and was very very painful. I made my own "cast" with foam material and an ace bandage, making it more tolerable. Beware... this is a painful and time consuming surgery... good luck to all who have it. I've also heard GREAT success for most, I had a great surgeon!

[behaviorman]

FWIW, I used a very high concentration of CBD salve (3000 mg/4 oz coconut oil) on my thumb shortly after surgery. I did not need to take any opioids that were provided and when I went to see my surgeon two weeks after the operation, he was amazed at how fast the thumb had healed and that I had not used any pain medications other than an occasional Advil. My overall recovery time (and I was 71 years old) was less than a couple of months. CBD (which can be further enhanced by adding THC) is an amazing anti inflammatory. But in my experience, unless it is in a high concentraion, is a waste of money. A 4 oz jar of the good stuff was around $100 and lasted the duration of my recovery.

[nicholascairns]

Why they are still doing it with using this very painful tendon wrap method is totally beyond me. I had this done on my left hand at Stanford 5 years ago and it was for sure a very painful recovery requiring at least a couple of weeks of Norco pain killers which I hate and took about a year to get 90% of my strength back. However, two weeks ago I had the right thumb done (which of course, I was dreading) also at Stanford but by a different surgeon who used the "twine" technique to stabilize the thumb, no snatching a nearby tendon, and, incredibly, I was on only tylenol (NO NORCO!) for only 3 days after the surgery and right now at only 2 weeks post-surgery, I am completely off of any pain meds and have about 75% of my strength back already (it took about a year with the tendon wrap method).

[jackierebbel]

I had this surgery in January of this year. it is now November and my hand and thumb area is STILL swollen and weak. I do exercises to try to help it and did PT for a few months. I would never do this on my other hand.

[susiepoo]

Mentally prepare yourself for the whole process, and also prepare for using your other hand alone. If you had your dominate hand operated on then train yourself BEFORE surgery to use the other hand.
There are videos on YouTube that will show how to prepare yourself...like learning to tie your shoes with one hand.

[vmtz]

They told me I fully recover in six weeks. It’s been a month, they took the cast off last week and I don’t see it happening anytime soon.

[JDKvideos]

I had thumb surgery 12/22. Removed the bone and I had the tight rope procedure. The Dr made the wire too long and my thumb joint wouldnt come up and let my hand lay flat. Also I ended up with nerve damage in my pointer finger from scar tissue. 2ns surgery 11/23 removed tightrope, some of the scar tissue, and placed 2 pins in my thumb joint hoping to retrain my ligaments to allow my hand to lay flat. In cast now for 6 weeks. If this doesnt work last thing available is a total fusion!!! Every bit of this injury is miserable and there is no good answers! SO far it has cost me a year of my life and who knows how much more now. 58 yr old man who does a lot of stuff... well I use too

[bobhazel]

My wife had this surgery performed 5 weeks ago. She still has no feeling in her fingers and they are a bit swollen. She says the pain is excruciating and I know she has had many sleepless nights. She has already told me that she will not have her other thumb done but rely on shots every 3 months.

[CindyGadget]

I wish more surgeons would try TENS units for pain relief. It really helped me through CMC surgery. Ive had 4 surgeries on my dominant hand with CMC trapeze wire implant being excruciating. Even with pain meds, it was awful. Then I used my TENS unit that I had for back pain on my wrist and arm. It blocks the pain signals. Mine is a medical one. I have not tried the online ones, but I am sure they are very similar.

[TRT]

Are people really that dim, before every, any invasive surgery everyone should find out all they can. Endless surgeons on line giving very good advise and accurate over view of pre/post op. It a hand, no other part of the body work as much as the hand, they must find out the simple mechanics of the hand and go from there.

[alreichle]

In the top 3 worst decisions of my life. My thumb is much worse.

[sandirhodes]

I am 2 weeks post op. The hand therapists I saw before surgery were great, and I would like to go back to them for post op treatment...but they are always booked weeks out. I wish I had thought to call before the surgery to schedule my post op visits.

[peterv]

How in the world do you recover for 6 months to a year? What about being able to work and pay bills?

[nessela]

just got it done 6 days ago on my dominant hand, it is so much more painful than i thought, i just want to go back to normal in no time and go back to work

[MsTawse-qh]

The Hottie Hand Seriously, nice vid. I am having mine done in two days. Thanks!