Trapeziectomy With tendon interpostion

Bones, joints and muscles
1

Hi,

I am a week post operation of Trapeziectomy and tendon. Just wanted to check in on others experiences. I had day surgury and left hospital heavily banaged with strong medications. Took medications for about 4 days but the stopped as didnt like how they made me feel. Pain is back so just back on to parectamol and hoping that will help. I didnt have instructions of what to do or not to do over the next couple of weeks and didnt realise to keep it elevated when first coming home until i read a few posts on here. I wasnt put in a sling or given one. I am finding im getting shoulder pain and think this maybe the weight of the banadages / splint but woud be keen to hear if anyone else having this issue. I am due to have snitches out on 26th and then I believe a splint however no idea what the splint will look like!  I was also wondering if anyone else is feeling so tired with this as I am and to be honest feeling pretty grotty .I know i should have probably asked more questions before surgury however I expected more information when I attended on the day of the operation and was told the surgeon will go through it all with you however the surgeon spoke with me for less than five minutes on the day and the nurseing staff just gave me pain meds and a couple of leaflets re managing your pain and wound care  but neither were specific to my operation. If anyone can give me some infoas to what I should be doing it would be really appreciated.

Thanks  

2

I had my R thumb done on 6/18/18 & my L done on 8/23/18. I'm in the States & I thought my instructions were kinda sketchy, too. My pain has been very minimal. A few days of pain meds for the R & nothing but Tylenol for the L for which I am thankful cuz this surgery can be very painful. Here are my observations & interpretations of it:

1. While in cast-elevate above heart as often as possible. Make a fist & release as often as possible. Keeps remaining fingers from getting stiff. 10# weight limit. A gallon of milk weighs about 8#. Move your elbow & shoulders, also. We do have arthritis so keep moving to relieve stiffness. I found the cast heavy & cumbersome.

2. A splint is put on after the cast is taken off to support thumb while the tendon heals. Continue moving things as much as possible. The thumb exercises I was given involved taking off the splint & raising the thumb up like a hitchhiker. It gets easier as it heals.

3. I am surprised at the weakness of my hands. Pinching, pulling, turning keys isn't painful anymore but there isn't much strength. Healing time is 6-12 months soI just keep working on it. I also use a 1# weight to exercise my R wrist as I am only required to wear the splint when doing heavy work. When the splint comes off I'll do the same to the L. I work on pushing my palm down on a flat surface to try to get the palm flat again.

So far, I am happy w/the results. Best of luck to you.