HAND INJURY--Have You Ever Heard Of This?

[electracoyote]

Okay, so I'm shoveling snow on the sidewalk last year. If you've ever shoveled snow on the sidewalk, you know that ocassionally the shovel gets hung up on a crack in the sidewalk and stops suddenly. It's happened to me dozens of times over the years.

I'm wearing thick winter gloves. The shovel stops cold, and my right hand jams into the handle, but this time, an excrutiating pain hits my hand in the thumb muscle, palm side. I see a flash of white light, you know the one when you really bung something hard, and my thumb goes numb.

Over the next few days, the pain and numbness subside a little and become intermittent. It comes and goes. And an unusual lump has formed in the muscle at the base of my thumb. It's about 1" long and 3/16" wide, approximately perpendicular to the index finger. There is throbbing, and I think it's coming from the lump itself, or maybe the surrounding tissue, but I don't think so.

I went to a hand surgeon who took an x-ray. Nothing broken. His prescription: No needles, no knives, PT.

So I go through the whole PT thing for a few months. Much more relief, but the throbbing lump is still there a year later.

Best way to describe it at this point is like a thorn stuck in your hand. After awhile, your body learns to accept it and the pain goes away, but it's still there.

I play guitar and bass, I do some fairly complex fingerpicking (Lindsey Buckingham style) and use a pick often. It seems like I've lost my edge. I'm not as swift or accurate. My handwriting is also a little different. Otherwise, I have pretty much full use and good strength.

Ever heard of this? Should I go back to a hand doctor and insist on an MRI?

[Fergie Fulton]

Go back and get a second opinion, this should have cleared long before now.

[Timlr]

This sounds like what I had a few years ago, which ended up being a ligament-tear (and nothing broken) in what sounds like the exact same place as you've described. It took a couple weeks in a soft brace and it healed totally fine, after seeing a doctor about it. I did it by jamming my thumb into the ground, causing it to stretch back, tearing the ligament.

Though I am nothing like a doctor, just sounds like what I had.

So +1 to Fergie Fulton on the second opinion.

[dan stanton]

Sounds to me like you ain't doing any stretching/exercising. Plenty of posts here on TB to show you how.

[TOOL460002]

Originally Posted by electracoyote

Should I go back to a hand doctor and insist on an MRI?

YES. MRI. get on this NOW.

sorry for the caps, but i really cant stress enough how much of a pain it can be to get an mri if you live in the states, because, realistically, youre going to need to see your primary care doc, who will send you to a specialist, who will have to check you out, and hopefully request the mri, which is, of course, not a guarantee that you will have it covered. i have good insurance and an mri still costs me a lot. if they wont cover it... jeez... hope you have money you dont mind lighting on fire... seriously...

so, the whole point is that you know nothing is broken, but you are still in pain, so it has to be a soft tissue thing, which means mri, and you need to set up appointments so you can start leaping all the hurdles that your going to get thrown at you.

heres one VERY IMPORTANT thing i learned recently: not all mris are created equally. no- not all places have the same image quality or techniques, and this can make your mri very helpful, or a complete waste. i know this because tomorrow im having my 3rd mri in the last 18mo.

in my case, the issue is a ruptured disc in my back (had surgery a while ago). it took me way too long to get to this new specialist im seeing, and when i finally got there and showed her the mri data taken hours before my surgery, and another one 6-8 months after, she told me the 2nd mri (done in the states [1st one done in thailand]) was pretty much worthless, because of the type of procedure that was requested.

i did not have dye injected into my veins for the 2nd mri. for me, i have a chunk of disc that got cut out, and then the idea is that a hard piece of scar tissue forms there. well, if you dont have dye injected, you could look at the place where the scar should be, and you could be looking at either scar tissue, which i guess is ideal, OR you could be looking at the disc starting to bulge back out. that is a HUGE HUGE deal (for me at least).

it wont be a fun process im sure, but you need it done and you need it done right. YOU are the only one who can make sure of this. i promise you that the hospital youve gone to for 5, 10, however many years may have been great to you so far, and they may have some great staff, but dont, do no EVER assume that what they are telling you is the bottom line.

i drive up to 1.5hrs away with a bad back that gets worse every drive to a doctor i trust. i could drive 5min to the hospital in town, but now i know better. my experience has been that the more you deal with the medical system, the more you become aware that you have experts at your disposal that can help you greatly, but dont be afraid to terminate your relationship with them if you find greener pastures.

sorry if that was long. the whole soft tissue and mri thing is someone near and dear to me, and mine doesnt affect my playing at all, really, so i feel for you man. make your first phone call tomorrow morning and never compromise. best of luck.

[electracoyote]

Originally Posted by TOOL460002

YES. MRI. get on this NOW.

sorry for the caps, but i really cant stress enough how much of a pain it can be to get an mri if you live in the states, because, realistically, youre going to need to see your primary care doc, who will send you to a specialist, who will have to check you out, and hopefully request the mri, which is, of course, not a guarantee that you will have it covered. i have good insurance and an mri still costs me a lot. if they wont cover it... jeez... hope you have money you dont mind lighting on fire... seriously...

so, the whole point is that you know nothing is broken, but you are still in pain, so it has to be a soft tissue thing, which means mri, and you need to set up appointments so you can start leaping all the hurdles that your going to get thrown at you.

heres one VERY IMPORTANT thing i learned recently: not all mris are created equally. no- not all places have the same image quality or techniques, and this can make your mri very helpful, or a complete waste. i know this because tomorrow im having my 3rd mri in the last 18mo.

in my case, the issue is a ruptured disc in my back (had surgery a while ago). it took me way too long to get to this new specialist im seeing, and when i finally got there and showed her the mri data taken hours before my surgery, and another one 6-8 months after, she told me the 2nd mri (done in the states [1st one done in thailand]) was pretty much worthless, because of the type of procedure that was requested.

i did not have dye injected into my veins for the 2nd mri. for me, i have a chunk of disc that got cut out, and then the idea is that a hard piece of scar tissue forms there. well, if you dont have dye injected, you could look at the place where the scar should be, and you could be looking at either scar tissue, which i guess is ideal, OR you could be looking at the disc starting to bulge back out. that is a HUGE HUGE deal (for me at least).

it wont be a fun process im sure, but you need it done and you need it done right. YOU are the only one who can make sure of this. i promise you that the hospital youve gone to for 5, 10, however many years may have been great to you so far, and they may have some great staff, but dont, do no EVER assume that what they are telling you is the bottom line.

i drive up to 1.5hrs away with a bad back that gets worse every drive to a doctor i trust. i could drive 5min to the hospital in town, but now i know better. my experience has been that the more you deal with the medical system, the more you become aware that you have experts at your disposal that can help you greatly, but dont be afraid to terminate your relationship with them if you find greener pastures.

sorry if that was long. the whole soft tissue and mri thing is someone near and dear to me, and mine doesnt affect my playing at all, really, so i feel for you man. make your first phone call tomorrow morning and never compromise. best of luck.

Wow, that was awesome, I really needed to hear all that. Much appreciated, good luck with the disc!