I'm having surgery next Wednesday. It is the subtotal palmar fasciectomy. That will be the zigzag incisions from my palm up into the pinky and middle finger of my right hand. The surgeon is going to use a nerve block with light sedation. He speculates that it will take about two hours to do the whole thing.

So I had a couple of questions for anyone that has had hand surgery. They said I'll go home with the 'boxing glove' bandage and that my hand MUST remain elevated above my heart for the first 24 hours, preferably 36 hours. As I was thinking about this, I realized that the only way to really do that is to lay flat and keep my entire arm propped on a stack of pillows. Is that the best idea? I can't picture any way to make it work if I'm sitting up at all.

I'm not sure how long the huge bandage stays on. I thought the nurse said 5-7 days. At that time they remove it and the stitches. But she gave me a ton of info and that one didn't stick in my head. Does this mean I won't have use of that hand at all? I'm thinking of just the day to day stuff like dressing, cooking, etc. Should I just count on not being able to do those things for a week or so.

Just trying to get some idea of what to expect. Since I am married and have kids, I want to have my ducks in a row.

~ dawn

humana:

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Hey Dawn,
I can help with a few ideas on how to keep your hand elevated. 1st idea would be to keep hand up resting on opposite shoulder,i still use this maneuver to elevate sore hand at work. 2nd idea is sitting on couch with hand on many pillows across your lap. 3rd idea is for sleeping, use a pillow to keep hand up on you stomach. You may need another pillow under your elbow to keep this position. The key is to keep your hand above you're heart.
After my segmental fasciectomy in Feb I had a big thick bandage on for one week. Nurse looked at incisions, I washed my hand with soap and water then told to keep bandages over stitches during the day and let the wounds breath at night. No baths or dishes but getting the stitches wet in the shower or hand washing was encouraged. My stitches stayed in for 3 weeks.
I wouldn't expect to make a home made super for atleast a month, mind you I still have problems with peeling and chopping veggies...

All of your hand is normally wrapped in the bandage. My stitches were removed about two weeks after the bandage was off.

Spend a day before Wednesday using only one hand during the day. You will quickly find out where your weak points are about doing things with one hand.

I showered after the bandage was off but you won't want direct spray on the wound. Let the wound air dry and then keep moist with a good hand lotion. I used Aveeno hand lotion and it worked great.

The worst pain I had during the whole thing was catching my stitches on fabric, or something. Not a big deal, but it caught my attention. I had 29 stitches from base of palm to PIP joint.

I always made sure I stayed ahead of any pain by taking Tylenol regularly during the first three or four days. At night for the first couple of nights it was the P.M. variety for a good nights sleep.

Compared to most recoveries from surgery, this is a piece of cake. You will have some clumsy moments, but nothing that is anything to lose sleep over. I will readily do it again if necessary.

I just talked with another person today that had surgery 17 years ago and he has zero contracture after all this time.