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Forum for Dupuytren's and Ledderhose 
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  • post surgery question (pictures included)
    • post surgery question (pictures included)
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    09/29/2013 23:23
    pia2some 
    09/29/2013 23:23
    pia2some      		post surgery question (pictures included)

    it's hard to type with just my left hand. it's not fully functional either. bear with me!

    had surgery last wednesday. right hand is in boxing glove bandage with all finger except thumb covered. i've had pain - throbbing, some sharp stabbing, achy - usual stuff. then this afternoon i started getting these horrible tingling zaps in all of my fingertips. i've not had numbness at all. is what i'm feeling a nerve thing? just seems strange to have it suddenly especially when there's been no numbness.

    ~ dawn

    Edited 10/03/13 05:39
    10/01/2013 01:03
    moondanc 
    10/01/2013 01:03
    moondanc      		Re: post surgery question

    pia2some:

    had surgery last wednesday. right hand is in boxing glove bandage with all finger except thumb covered. i've had pain - throbbing, some sharp stabbing, achy - usual stuff. then this afternoon i started getting these horrible tingling zaps in all of my fingertips. i've not had numbness at all. is what i'm feeling a nerve thing? just seems strange to have it suddenly especially when there's been no numbness.

    ~ dawn

    As you might recall, I had the zaps (love your description) also w/my NA. It's very disconcerting. It took about 2 weeks to go away although Dr. Pess said it could take 8-12. I didn't feel them very much for the first few days because I was taking heavy duty pain meds. I was surprised the meds surpressed them but apparently they did and once I went off them, I felt the zaps. Any chance that's what happened to you?

    Hang in there and let us know!

    Diane
    10/01/2013 01:27
    pia2some 
    10/01/2013 01:27
    pia2some      		Re: post surgery question

    didn't you have numbness, too? i'm still on the same amount of pain meds as i've been all along. i generally take them at night and not during the day.

    tomorrow i go to the hand therapist. she will take off this huge bandage and begin some passive work on my hand. i will ask her about the tingling zaps. my guess is that it is nerves starting to heal. i can't wait to get this bandage off. she will put another one on but it shouldn't be as large or restrictive. stitches have another ten days before they come out.

    ~ dawn
    10/01/2013 01:39
    moondanc 
    10/01/2013 01:39
    moondanc      		Re: post surgery question

    pia2some:
    didn't you have numbness, too? i'm still on the same amount of pain meds as i've been all along. i generally take them at night and not during the day.

    tomorrow i go to the hand therapist. she will take off this huge bandage and begin some passive work on my hand. i will ask her about the tingling zaps. my guess is that it is nerves starting to heal. i can't wait to get this bandage off. she will put another one on but it shouldn't be as large or restrictive. stitches have another ten days before they come out.

    ~ dawn

    Yep, I did/do have numbness but since you didn't mention it-- I didn't either :-). It may be getting slightly better but hard to tell. I'm just excited that 95% of the pain/zaps have disappeared and I can once again use my hands. I'm doing intensive OT hand therapy and have a gazillion little aids-- splints, finger putty, squeege balls, rubberband finger exercisers and I find a small electric hand massager wonderful (have been meaning to do a post with the specific name because I think it would help folks having pain in general). OT includes hot wax, red light therapy, ultrasound, massage and stretching. I'm really seeing the effects and it has decreased the contractures. I may splint for life!

    Good to hear you're going to hand therapy already!

    Diane
    10/01/2013 15:16
    pia2some 
    10/01/2013 15:16
    pia2some      		Re: post surgery question

    i'm sure the OT will keep me busy. doubt i'll be doing much the first few times.

    i've been wearing night extension splints on both hands for months. i think i'll always be wearing them. even if they don't prevent contractures, they do help my hand function and how they feel when i wake up.

    ~ dawn
    10/02/2013 20:15
    moondanc 
    10/02/2013 20:15
    moondanc      		Re: post surgery question

    pia2some:
    i'm sure the OT will keep me busy. doubt i'll be doing much the first few times.

    i've been wearing night extension splints on both hands for months. i think i'll always be wearing them. even if they don't prevent contractures, they do help my hand function and how they feel when i wake up.

    ~ dawn

    > i'm sure the OT will keep me busy. doubt i'll be doing much the first few times.
    >
    > i've been wearing night extension splints on both hands for months. i think i'll always be
    > wearing them. even if they don't prevent contractures, they do help my hand function and
    > how they feel when i wake up.
    >
    > ~ dawn

    I know you posted pictures of your splints some time ago. I remember them as full hand with extensions for several fingers-- is that correct? How on earth did you get used to wearing them on both hands at once? Best I can do so far is one hand, four hours (last go round I was able to do one hand all night for four months). I'm motivated now but still... One of the things I AM doing is wearing a splint in the morning for a couple hours and then again at night if I read or watch TV before bead.

    Each time I go to the OT, I get a new toy-in addition to the actual therapy which also changes - so I'm never bored. Heated corn husk machine!, hot wax, hand putty, rubber band finger exerciser, mini-massager. I'm also taking the leap and using individual knuckle dynamic splints and hoping they aren't making the disease more aggressive.

    Diane
    10/03/2013 02:32
    pia2some 
    10/03/2013 02:32
    pia2some      		Re: post surgery question

    Diane,

    I cannot wear both splints at the same time. It freaks me out when I wake up during the night without the use of at least one hand. So I alternate. I wear the left hand one night and the right hand the next.





    I took my right splint with me to my first PT session on Tuesday. It was nice because the hand therapist was able to just heat it up and reshape it to use post surgery. No need to pay for a new splint. Yay. Are these the kind that you are using?

    ~ dawn
    10/03/2013 02:39
    pia2some 
    10/03/2013 02:39
    pia2some      		Re: post surgery question

    The hand therapist took off the bandages that have been on since surgery last Wednesday. I was able to see how it all looked. It wasn't as gross as I anticipated. lol. We did note that there was some oozing from the incision in the palm. The surgeon really used stitches sparingly so there are gaps where the incision is open. The therapist was concerned that it was infected and since I'm diabetic she wanted me to call the surgeon right away. I saw him today and they said it was infected and started me on an antibiotic. Hopefully we caught it early and it won't cause any problems.





    They rewrapped my hand before I left therapy. Each day I am to take the bandages off and use a heating pad to wrap around my hand. Then I have some passive stretches I do. I use my left hand to bend down each finger on the right hand. It's easier to do that than to actually make a fist with my right hand. Go figure. The bandage can stay off for a bit if I'm just sitting around - watching tv or reading. But for the most part it has to stay on to avoid any germs getting into the incisions. Hopefully, after the stitches are removed next Thursday, it won't require such a bulky bandage.


    ~ dawn
    10/04/2013 14:45
    pia2some 
    10/04/2013 14:45
    pia2some      		Re: post surgery question (pictures included)

    So if an infected incision wasn't bad enough, I was diagnosed with shingles yesterday. I woke up with blisters on my left side. Great. But I've started on anti-virals and have an ointment to use, so hopefully this will be a mild case.

    ~ dawn
    10/04/2013 16:07
    moondanc 
    10/04/2013 16:07
    moondanc      		Re: post surgery question (pictures included)

    pia2some:
    Diane,

    I cannot wear both splints at the same time. It freaks me out when I wake up during the night without the use of at least one hand. So I alternate. I wear the left hand one night and the right hand the next.
    Are these the kind that you are using?

    ~ dawn

    Mine are not that big or extensive but basically the sdame kind except I have the silicon Otoform putty. On my RH the splint covers 2/3 of my palm but only extends to my pinky and ring finger. On left hand, only extends to my index and middle finger. I'd really freak out if it covered my whole hand. I wear my LH at night because have adjusted to that easier but still not for the entire night and then I try to wear my RH during the day in addition to the individual joint splint I rotate around for 15 mins on four PIP joints. Since the RH covers the ring and pinky, it's easier for me to grasp stuff during the day.

    Hope your infection clears up soon along with your shingles. As soon as you're allowed, inquire about getting a shingles vaccination.

    Best,
    Diane
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    stitches   included   pictures   shingles   surgery   incisions   disconcerting   numbness   splints   wearing   restrictive   question   therapist   surgeon   contractures   bandage   getting   mini-massager   Hopefully   because