Hand surgery

[JuanG]

Hey guys:
I'm just wondering if any of you has had any hand surgery?? I fell and then I was diagnosed with a lesion of the triangular fibrocartilague in the wrist of my left hand. So any folks out there with bad and Good experiences??

[embellisher]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I had a bout with RSI about 12 years ago brought on by a neck heavy bass.

Moved to Miscellaneous.

[BillytheBassist]

That's horrible man, srry about your hand..but i'm sure you'll come back twice as strong......ya got's too. Think of things as a lil time off from playing. They alway's say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Whoa, did i write that corn!?

[jazzbo58]

In 1988 I had a tumor removed from my left wrist. It took a fews months to heal. The scar tissue bothers me every now and then. But I love to play! Hope things go well for you.

Jim

[jbassbob]

I have an inherited condition called Dupuytren's contracture. It primarily effects my fretting hand (left), pinky and ring finger. It causes the fingers to contract into the palm. I had quit playing before the condition set in as it was. After surgery some years ago I am still able to extend them pretty straight tho the pinky still has a slight bend. I also cut the extensor tendon on my index finger (same hand) in an accident and even after surgery and therapy I am not able to completly extend or contract it. It's somewhere around 80% functional. I don't remember the bassist's name with the artificial arm but whenever I feel abit sorry for myself, I think of him and the image I saw of him. You adapt. I picked up the bass again about two years ago. Lucky for me I play now as then for the fun... and it's still fun. And I still stink!

[Folmeister]

I had prosthetic thingees inserted in both of my hands to combat Carpal Tunnel Syndrome back in 1997. The effects prior to surgery were really scary. I thought that I would never play bass again. After the surgery it took about five years to get to where I could play out again.

[Mojo-Man]

Broke my left hand in three places.
Had to put pin in hand.
Did not know to what degree my hand would return?
After 10 weeks, started rehab.
Doctor said that playing bass for rehab was the best thing I could do to regain use of hand.
Lucky, I had full recovery.
The power of the Bass????

[LarryO]

JuanG. Is this lesion effecting your grip stength? Are you in the US? What state?

[JuanG]

Yes, my grip strenght is not the same.
I'm in NY city. juan

[LarryO]

have you seen an orthopaedic surgeon? If not you'll need to. If that TFCC ligament tears, your Triquetrum and lunate can "drop down" and the articular surface at your distal radius ill start recieving excessive wear which will result in arthritis. Make sure you get it checked by a hand surgeon. No one here can tell you for sure what the best thing to do is. You need a physical exam, grip strength testing Xrays and MRI. After all of that your surgeon should be able to tell you if you need surgery or not. If you need resources on Orthopaedic Surgeons in your area www.aaos.org can help. If you wish to send me a PM go ahead. I hope this helps

[AaronS]

Originally Posted by LarryO

have you seen an orthopaedic surgeon? If not you'll need to. .... Make sure you get it checked by a hand surgeon. No one here can tell you for sure what the best thing to do is. You need a physical exam, grip strength testing Xrays and MRI. After all of that your surgeon should be able to tell you if you need surgery or not. If you need resources on Orthopaedic Surgeons in your area www.aaos.org can help. If you wish to send me a PM go ahead. I hope this helps

What he said.

Also, like jbassbob, I inherited Dupuytrens. Due to my very rural location and changes in insurance I had my left hand operated on by an orthopaedic generalist about 5 years ago in a small rural hospital and my right hand operated on last Spring by a hand specialist in a big city surgical center. My left hand took 4 months to heal before I could play again, but I have great flexibility and strength. My right hand recovered in 2 weeks so I could play again, however, I don't have quite the flexibility that I do in the left. The differences in quality of outcome could be a result of what the docs had to work with. However, I am sure that the difference in rate of recovery was due to having a hand specialist do the work the second time. You're in NYC, go for the best.

[LarryO]

most of the time with hand surgeries the speed of healing has a lot to do with comprimising conservative treatment to allow thorough healing (which normally results in loss of strenth and motion) vs being agrresive and initiating physical and/or occupational therapy early, which results in greater strength and motion sooner, (but at the increased risk of re-injury). This has a lot to do with the experience of the surgeon, which is why I recommend you seek out someone who has completed a hand fellowship or at the very least has treated many of these specific injuries.

[Indiana Mike]

I almost cut my right thumb off october 1st 2005. you know the valley in between your thumb and forefinger? I had a 1/8 " thick ,3" wide piece of steel go in at the base of my thumb several inches deep. It didn't hurt!!!!!! That was because i completly severed the main nerve that controls the thumb and forefinger and serves that whole area! It happened at work ,which was a blessing because of workmans comp and I happened to get the best hand/nerve surgeon in town because the other guy said he was to busy.$39,000 and a year + 2 months later the only problem I have is my pad of my thumb has no feeling , it pops when I move it and when it gets cold it feels like it is being smashed in a vise. Makes dialing a cell phone hard as well as other fine motor skill tasks using the thumb, such as holding a pick,I was/ am not a pick player though. The forefinger is A-ok.
Pick a good surgeon if you can, ask around,even ask other doctors/nurses.
I wish you all the best.